THE ISSUE: Go Forward Pine Bluff is a proposed multi-million revitalization plan for the city. Much of the plan hinges on the passage of a proposed tax increase.
THE IMPACT: If the tax passes, supporters of the plan say the city will see a renaissance.
Former Simmons Bank president and current-chairman of the Simmons Foundation Tommy May urged police and firefighters Thursday to support the more-than $50 million Go Forward Pine Bluff proposal to remake the city. It was the first of several scheduled appearances aimed at winning community buy-in.
The Go Forward plan, whose research and development was paid for by the Simmons Foundation, would be funded by $19 million in private grants and donations and a 5/8-cent sales tax projected to raise $32.5 million over seven years. The Pine Bluff City Council is scheduled to vote April 3 on whether to send the tax proposal to voters.
Mays said he had lived in Pine Bluff for 32 years, during which he had witnessed a deterioration of the community that “scares me.” He called Go Forward Pine Bluff “our last big chance” to arrest a decline in population that has seen Pine Bluff dwindle from 56,000 residents in 1980 to 49,000 in 2010, with roughly 44,000 projected by 2020.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
His comments came in a discussion during Coffee with the Chiefs, an event held regularly at First Assembly of God Church on Ridgway Road. May is scheduled to speak to the Pine Bluff NAACP on Thursday, March 9 at 6 p.m. at Bethany Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, 1923 S. Olive St.
Part of May’s speech was tailored to the audience, while he also addressed criticisms that the plan focuses too much on downtown.
May said city government exists to provide services to citizens, but it cannot do that without money.
“I think you as first responders understand that, cause you haven’t had salary increases in six years,” he said. “We know what’s to blame. There isn’t enough money.”
He acknowledged that $50 million is “a lot of money,” but he said there were a lot of challenges facing the city. The Go Forward Pine Bluff non-profit corporation intends to raise $5 million over seven years from local businesses, he said. It also plans to offer “a $2 million naming pledge,” he said. “One is a square downtown. A place for people to go do things. That leaves 12 million from grants from the state, from other places. We’re going to do that.”
May said that if the proposed sales tax passes, public funds could not be used to raise salaries or be spent in the public school system. But Go Forward Pine Bluff is intended to introduce measures that will increase tax revenues, he said, which will then allow the city and county to provide services for residents and raises for employees.
Pine Bluff Fire Department Chief Shauwn Howell said the department lost 15 firefighters the previous year. Their replacements earned time-and-a-half during 15 weeks of training, “which adds up quick,” he said.
“We have to do something to stop the bleeding,” Howell said.
May urged the police and firefighters to stay despite making as much as 15 percent less than their counterparts elsewhere in the state.
Some City Council members have criticized one aspect of the plan that would have the Go Forward Pine Bluff non-profit corporation request tax funds from the city for projects it deems helpful. May has countered that the council will have authority to veto or modify any requests.
“Please don’t be confused by any discussion that we’re trying to tell the city what to do,” he said.
May said the Go Forward Pine Bluff plan was “the product of a diverse group of citizens” who met for more than a year to address problems. When the group conducted a survey of citizens to ask what their number one issue is, he said the answers were blight, education and downtown.
Improving downtown was important to bring in visitors, both to shop and to attract prospective businesses, he said.
“Pine Bluff must become a point of destination. It truly must. People that live elsewhere must want to come here,” May said.
“We’ve got to have a point of destination that means you’re giving people something they want. So they’ll shop, spend their money, increase our revenues. Make pine bluff look better, feel better, so when [Jefferson County Economic Development Alliance President] Lou Ann [Nisbett] recruits businesses, they want to stay here.”
Gary Bell, senior pastor of First Alliance, said he supported the tax despite being “a free market guy [who believes] a rising tide lifts all boats.” However, he said he hears from people who ask what the city is doing with the 11.9 percent sales tax it already has.
“How do I respond to that?” Bell said.
May said he could not speak for Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington, but he said a 2011 sales tax was bonded and spent on fire stations and other capital projects. A multi-purpose center and streetscape project to be paid for by that are still in the works, he said, and Go Forward intended to help with the cost of the multi-purpose center, which has risen with inflation.
“Remember that it is expensive to run a government,” he said.
Nisbett said that the 3/8-cent sales tax scheduled to sunset in 2018 has helped bring in $10.4 billion worth of business. That includes Highland Pellets, Newland LLC and the natural gas-to-liquid fuel production plant, as well as companies such as Kisswire, Mondi and Strong Manufacturing.
She argued in favor of the new tax, saying it was important to improving the look of downtown.
“I know when I drive prospects through town, it hurts,” Nisbett said.