We really enjoyed meeting Wednesday with Pine Bluff Mayor-elect Shirley Washington. It was our first time in her presence, and her ideas for the city really resonated with us. We welcome her to the mayor’s office and hope she knows that we will do whatever we can to help make our city a better place to live, work and recreate.
Washington has her work cut out for her, to be sure. The turmoil on the City Council has been great over the past few years.
A retired educator, Washington is pledging to bring strong leadership skills, promote the positive aspects of the city, prioritize education, encourage residents to patronize restaurants and consider giving tax breaks to attract new businesses.
“You cannot successfully lead until people share your vision,” Washington told our reporter, David Hutter, on Wednesday. “I am walking in equipped to work hard, provide good government and be a servant leader. I am always aggressive when it comes to getting the job done.”
The incoming mayor also said she is setting high expectations for city employees.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“I have already starting communicating with the City Council members and working together to develop goals,” Washington said. “I feel like we should be very transparent. … The main thing is to work cooperatively with department heads and let them know my vision and expectations. … When people feel good about where they are and what they are doing, they do a better job.”
We especially like that Washington has the city’s top needs at the forefront of her plans for the mayor’s office. She told us that she considers “the current state of Main Street to be very problematic. At the same time, Main Street did not get into this condition overnight. I will be taking an extensive tour of Main Street.”
This statement comes just a day after the City Council’s Development and Planning Committee heard that yet another downtown building is in danger of collapse. Carla Covey, special projects coordinator of the Pine Bluff Fire and Emergency Services, told committee members that a property at 219 S. Main Street suffered a partial collapse last month and recommended that the building be condemned.
We can’t see any other choice but for Washington to declare a state of emergency for our downtown when she enters office. Cleanup between Fourth and Fifth avenues of several collapsed buildings has been ongoing for nearly two years, and a building owned by Garland Trice, which partially collapsed two years ago, still has Main Street blocked between Sixth and Eighth avenues downtown.
When will it end? When will our city’s core see some sense of normalcy?
So far, no one has had the answer. In any other community, such a disruption of downtown would have been met with an immediate cleanup response, we believe. We understand that there are private property owners at play, many of whom are from out of town and have no stake in our community, and that makes things a bit more complicated.
Still, it seems to us that something can be done to expedite the reconstruction of our downtown. We certainly wish Mrs. Washington the best in figuring out this complex problem.
Additionally, the new mayor must also figure out a way to unite the city’s residents. Too many people feel as if they have no stake in our community. Just drive around and look at some of the neighborhoods that are unkempt and in dire need of TLC.
Folks who take pride in the community take care of their neighborhoods. Too many neighborhoods in our city lack that sort of loving attention.
So, Mrs. Washington, these are some of our feelings about you and the task ahead of you when you take office on Jan. 1. We look forward to speaking with you again — hopefully often — as we all try to work together for a better Pine Bluff.