In Apr. 5 issue, Russell County News
By Barbara Sharp Zimmerman, Columnist

I just don't understand it. Banks are in the service business, aren't they? Their customers are mostly working people - you know, people who work 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. Monday through Friday. When are they supposed to do their banking business?

Oh, I know the banks say that they have Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) that are open all the time. You can deposit money. You can get money. But what if you want to deposit a check and get some money back from it? What if you want to apply for a loan? What if you want to get a safety deposit box, or get something out of one? Tough.

What if grocery stores decided they only wanted to be open when everybody's at work? Or what if gas stations closed at 3 P.M. most days as well as all day Saturdays and Sundays? Surely they'd be out of business soon.

I just don't understand why businesses that are supposed to be service-oriented really aren't. But then again, I don't understand why our tax-supported government offices don't really operate to serve the people (exceptions: the County Court Clerk, the Circuit Clerk and the Property Valuation offices, which are open on Saturday mornings).

Why aren't our City Halls open on Saturdays when people have the time to stop by to pay their water bills, provide a little input and ask questions?

The Jamestown City Hall was open one Saturday morning - the morning that the Jamestown Farmers' Market opened. Some 35 people came into the office that morning, and 10 more phoned in. The Farmers' Market did pretty good that day, too. It looked like Jamestown was going to have some life on Saturday mornings - to the delight of our local restaurants and those businesses that are open on Saturdays.

But then, oddly enough, the mayor pulled the plug. City Hall, he declared, would be open only when the bank decided to be open on Saturday mornings.

Without City Hall open, the Farmers' Market had less and less business; it also needed more promotion, but that's another story. Instead of helping build activity in Jamestown on Saturdays, the mayor backed off - probably because some of his staff, who are employees of the city - didn't want to work on Saturday mornings.

Well, here's a news flash: waiting for somebody else to do something is not going to get anything done; that's what got the city in the shape it's in now. The Bank of Jamestown needs to be open on Saturday mornings not only as a service to its customers, but also as a public service to help bring activity to Jamestown on Saturday mornings.

City Hall needs to be open on Saturday mornings for the same reason.

Fact is, waiting for somebody else to lead is not leadership, and leadership is something this town desperately needs.