With the Pine Bluff City Council set to vote Monday on whether to refer a five-eighths cent sales tax increase to city voters, the Go Forward Pine Bluff initiative held the last of four community forums on the proposals Thursday night at Immanuel Baptist Church. At the request of the council, supporters of the plan have held meetings in each of the city’s four wards to explain the plan and ask for support. As they have in previous meetings, Mary Pringos, chairman of Go Forward Pine Bluff, Carla Martin, who served as chairman of the Pillars group, and Tommy May, chairman of the Simmons First Foundation, were present to discuss why the program was created, and why it is needed.
More than a year in the making, Go Forward Pine Bluff was created by a grant from Simmons Bank to the Simmons Foundation and involved 100 members of the community who met each month to brainstorm and discuss ideas in four different areas, government/infrastructure; education; economic development and quality of life. Go Forward officials say the entire program is designed to improve the city’s economy by offering things that people want in an healthy city, such as improved restaurants, sporting activities and a vibrant downtown.
Among the recommendations within the government/infrastructure component are a complete update of city codes, the elimination of one way streets, and improved planning and zoning. Martin also talked about the Hotel Pines, which was purchased by Pine Bluff Rising and is currently being renovated, along with the addition of a park in the downtown area with green space for picnics and family gatherings.
“Other cities have done it,” she said.
Most of the recommendations dealt with quality of life, including more neighborhood associations, such as neighborhood watch, which has hosted all four community forums. If approved, the tax is expected to generate almost $32 million over its seven-year lifespan, with another $20 million collected from grants and the like, including, May said, $7 million from the business community. May also said that every penny of the tax money will go through the Pine Bluff City Council, which will be responsible for approving its spending.
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Alderman Steven Mays, an outspoken critic of the plan, questioned the use of the phrase “responsible party,” which is used in the literature published by Go Forward Pine Bluff, specifically since the literature refers to Go Forward Pine Bluff as the responsible party. Martin said the term means that Go Forward Pine Bluff will work alongside people who can make the plan’s objectives happen. For example, people chosen by the mayor and council who have particular expertise in areas such as community development, zoning and the like.
Former alderman and community activist Jack Foster asked if the business community will still be asked to contribute $7 million if the tax fails. May said no.
“We’re asking the citizens to vote for the tax increase and the private side to donate $7 million,”May said. “If the citizens do not vote for it it means they don’t want it.”
Pringos added: “If the citizens are not willing to have skin in the game, why should they.”
Gary Wilson, a member of the Civic Auditorium Commission, said many citizens in Pine Bluff live on a fixed income, and that voting for the tax might mean not putting food on the table or buying medications. Wilson said entertainment and tourism was the answer to generating additional revenue.
“We are the jewel of Southeast Arkansas, but we don’t even have our own signature festival,” he said. “Entertainment would draw in outside revenue and would go a long way to paying for these programs instead of a tax.”
With the vote set for Monday, Foster said that there are only three signatures of aldermen on the council paperwork calling for the special election, when there are nine spaces, one for each of the eight alderman and one for the mayor. Aldermen Win Trafford, Bill Brumett and Donald Hatchett are sponsoring the legislation. Hatchett, who was in attendance Thursday night, told Foster to “be there Monday night and see who supports it.”