PINE BLUFF—A CITY PREPARING, PARTNERING
AND PROGRESSING
Good Morning to the citizens of Pine Bluff, members of the City Council, elected officials, partners, city employees and guests.
Today, as I look back over the year 2007, we have many accomplishments to be proud of; there are areas that deeply concern all of us; and we can be grateful for the many partners who have worked tirelessly alongside the City of Pine Bluff; most importantly, we can be hopeful and excited about our future. The state of the city can best be described as forward thinking, therefore, forward moving.
It was just one year ago that my administration announced that Pine Bluff would engage in a community-driven visioning and strategic planning initiative to determine our course for the near future. In the time since that initiative became known as Pine Bluff 20/20, nearly 1,000 Pine Bluffians--private citizens of all ages and ethnicities, non-profit organizations, faith-based organizations, business leaders and political leaders--came together and defined the kind of Pine Bluff we want and began the process of laying out how we are to accomplish that goal.
Pine Bluff 20/20 participants said we want to create a more successful community for now and for generations to come. We want the citizens of Pine Bluff and others from the area to come together in a spirit of consensus and collaboration to create a prosperous economy that benefits us all; an educated and skilled citizenry; safe and clean streets and neighborhoods; first-class roads, housing and other infrastructure; and recreation facilities for all generations.
This year we are working to craft the Pine Bluff 20/20 master plan and, as many of you are aware; hopefully you are as excited about it as I am. Last Thursday evening about 80 of our citizens, volunteers and the facilitator formulated a priority “To Do” list as part of the initial implementation phase. As I discuss what the City departments have done in 2007 and give you a forward view of what will be accomplished in 2008 and beyond, you will see that the City is in sync with the 20/20 vision.
First of all, your City employees are working hard to bring you the municipal services you expect as citizens in this community. Their efforts have been recognized with a cost-of-living increment, thanks to our citizens and local businesses that supported the recent fee adjustments.
Attracting new businesses to our community and growing our existing businesses is vital to our stability and progress. We will continue to partner with organizations such as the Alliance / Greater Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce, other state and national agencies and the private sector to infuse our economy with more sustainable jobs. I can assure you we are constantly looking at every potential opportunity to provide jobs for our citizens. The successful effort in attracting the Pine Bluff Poultry Company and 300 jobs is indicative of that effort. That is progress.
We continue to rely on our higher education institutions here in Pine Bluff -- SEARK and UAPB-- to help provide the skills that are needed to attract and keep jobs. We enjoy a great working relationship with them because of our shared vision for this City. However, we won’t be satisfied until we can boast about full employment in our City. Until that time, we will continue to support showcasing the skilled workforce we currently have available to potential employers. Moreover, we will certainly lend whatever expertise we have to the development of the database proposed by the 20/20 participants and goal team.
We believe developing the heart of this database begins with introducing our high school students to the workplace, its responsibilities and culture. In 2007, under the leadership of Alderwoman Irene Holcomb, our Human Resources Department recruited and interviewed 200 students and was able to hire 50 of them for assignment to various departments as part of the Summer Youth Program. We will continue to look for funds to increase that number and expand the program for the students’ benefit. Our Human Resources Department also offered the students, along with all City employees, training that focused on “good customer service” so that a friendly and receptive atmosphere will continue to exist in all aspects of city life.
Attracting new employers to the area often means providing them with direct access to our City. The Grider Field Airport completed a new 8-bay hangar in 2007. It will provide space and services for the private aircraft that many larger companies use. This $562,000 hangar was made possible from grants awarded by the FAA Airport Improvement Program, the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics and a $55,000 match from the City.
Additionally, the 48 year old airport terminal will be renovated with funds from a state aeronautic 80/20 grant. The City’s share of the $300,000 cost is $60,000. This will enhance our ability to attract more air traffic into our city in general. Each time a plane lands at Grider Field we have an opportunity to provide a revenue-generating service. Furthermore, an attractive customer-friendly facility will certainly put us in a more competitive position.
We can be proud of the newest addition to our waterfront; the $4.2m Saracen Landing Pavilion which is a multipurpose facility dedicated this past June. This facility, also the new home of the Farmers Market, is the result of partnerships between the public and private sectors. Additionally, the City provided $80,000 and management resources to the Big Recreation Building project which officially opened in December 2007. We will look for opportunities to work with some of the same partners to help us realize the multipurpose recreational facility for children and seniors that is a priority on the 20/20 “To-Do” list. We’re convinced that we know how to work with others in order to achieve the desired progress for Pine Bluff.
Improving the city’s landscape is high on our priority list.
Please note the work that has been done as part of our Shoreline Restoration plan as you drive down University Drive and the Martha Mitchell Expressway. You can see that trees have been thinned and the lake shoreline is visible from different points in the community. This is in readiness for improved recreational amenities that are planned (but not yet funded) around Lake Saracen.
Making our neighborhoods better places in which to live and deterring crime, in many instances, go hand in hand. The Inspection and Zoning Department has made a concerted effort to help us with this task. 77 houses were demolished that not only distracted from neighborhoods, but were potential hot spots for criminal activity; and 610 vehicles were removed from streets and properties. There is still a lot of work to be done but we are making progress and will continue to do so.
Economic and Community Development’s Revitalization plan was realized, in part, by the acquisition of 6 properties; by the construction of 5 affordable homes in different areas of the city; and by the rehabilitation of approximately 30 properties. The efforts led by the Jefferson County Development Corp to jumpstart the University Park North housing development is moving forward. Their effort to obtain home buyer assistance funding for affordable housing is in progress.
Our Transit Department’s partnership with UAPB resulted in an agreement to transport students and faculty at no cost based on a contractual student fee payable by the University to the City of Pine Bluff. I hope you have seen the two buses that have been wrapped with UAPB’s logo and that invite you to follow them to “Lion Country”. This has been a simple yet effective way to promote the University.
In order to make the necessary improvements to our transportation system and draw more economic activity to the city, we will study what needs to be done in response to what has been proposed by the Pine Bluff 20/20 initiative. This is certainly an area in which the City can contribute time and talent to a group of partners committed to an achievable long range plan. Other stimuli to our city’s economic activity includes expanding infrastructure around I-530 interstate at the intersection of US 63. Congressman Mike Ross provided us with approximately $400k to initiate the sewage extension in preparation for commercial and retail growth in the area.
In the short term, the Street Department and Regional Planning have requested that the Arkansas Highway Department upgrade the traffic signals along the Martha Mitchell Expressway in order to improve the traffic flow and provide safer pedestrian crossing. Traffic signals have been upgraded to LED and installed at key intersections throughout the City. Working with what we have to move traffic effectively thru our city streets and expressway is an immediate remedy for transporting our residents in a timely and safe manner.
Public Safety is our most important business.
Our Police Department has works tirelessly to safeguard our citizens.
Lines of communications were addressed in a number of ways by our Police Department in 2007:
The initial installation of ADSi (Applications Data Systems Inc.), a very valuable communicative tool not only for the Police Department but for all entities in or cooperating with our Public Safety Departments was begun in 2007. This system was purchased with the help of a Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) that was awarded to our Police Department.
When the conversion is completed this year, multiple organizations will have access to the same data based on their needs—this essentially links the police, fire and metropolitan communications agencies with other city entities such as the courts, Inspection, and so forth. This is not only a cost effective and efficient means of storing and retrieving data relevant to the work of public safety units but will greatly improve the accuracy of the data available.
The Police Department was awarded a U.S. House and Senate grant of $535,000 to upgrade and expand the City’s Emergency Response Communications Network;
To increase the interaction with the people we serve, Chief Howell implemented “Talk with the Chief”, a series of meetings over breakfast designed to bring local clergy and other community leaders/residents together to dialogue about the problems in their areas and the remedies they propose. These meeting have given the residents of our city an opportunity to express their expectations of the Police Department.
To better serve and repurpose our resources after the opening of the new jail, the number of officers required to transport prisoners was significantly reduced and instead these officers were made available for citizen needs.
Throughout the 20/20 process we heard from our citizens there is a growing concern for better protecting our children and neighborhoods. In 2008, I am happy to announce that two (2) resource officers will be returned to our schools and that various gang, weapon and drug classes will be conducted in the schools by these officers. Also, the Bike Patrol Unit will be re-established initially with three officers; the 2008 budget includes funding for the hiring of three (3) additional police officer positions.
An aggressive approach to obtaining grant funding for program implementation, training, equipment, computer systems and manpower which will enable this department to better carry out its responsibilities is planned.
The primary goal of the police department in 2008 is to combat crime to the extent that a measured reduction in crime of 8% is realized. To facilitate this goal, the Vice Division will work hard to reduce the availability of illicit drugs and convict those responsible. A computer testing system for entry level police applicants will be developed in order to maintain a ready pool of potential officers and we will continue to work with federal, state and county drug task forces in our concerted efforts against crime. We ended 2007 with 19 senseless homicides, of these 15 have been solved and the suspects have either been indicted or are awaiting trial. This is certainly disappointing after the work our policemen did. We clearly have an enormous amount of work to do in reducing crime in our community.
Another vital component of Public Safety is the Pine Bluff Fire Department. The Fire Department takes very seriously its duty to save lives, prevent loss of property and protect the environment. To this end, the department responded to 4,170 calls, both fire and EMS. Property and contents valued at $3.8m were saved; unfortunately, $2.8m of property and contents were lost. In order to facilitate a quicker response time, the Fire Department will have access to data found on the ADSi system mentioned earlier.
In 2007, the Fire Dept implemented projects such as Rapid Intervention Teams (RIT’s) which are safety teams composed of firefighters who are on the scene to rescue downed personnel. A Public Information Officer was assigned as the spokesperson for the Department to ensure the timely and accurate release of information to the public and media.
In 2008, a number of projects designed to improve the safety of our citizens are planned by our Fire Department. Home Surveys will be conducted to help make residents aware of potential fire hazards; and Smoke Detectors, provided by funds from our Economic and Community Development Department will be distributed. The Blood Pressure Screening program will provide free checks at prescribed times and at designated fire stations; and the Child Safety Inspection Program will allow residents to have their child safety seats inspected for proper installation—again, at prescribed times at designated fire stations.
I encourage you to visit our website, cityofpinebluff.com. We are updating the website more frequently with valuable information about our community-oriented programs and with information about the progress that is being made in our city.
A less publicized component of Public Safety is our Animal Control Department. We have seen a continued reduction of complaints about pit bulls from 2006. The enforcement of the Pit Bull ordinance by this department has been quite effective in 2007. We are always looking for better ways -- more humane ways -- to manage our animal population and educate our pet owners, so in 2008, Animal Control will partner with the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Humane Society in this endeavor. Finally, our financial state is sound. The City finished 2007 with revenues over expenses thus allowing us to increase the General Fund Balance by $550k. The surplus in the General Fund allowed the City to increase the Emergency Reserve by $500k instead of the budgeted $295k, resulting in a $1,230k Emergency Reserve. Salary and benefit costs were lower due to increased monitoring of the head count and restrictions on hiring in some areas.
The review of last year’s work and accomplishments, and a look forward to 2008 make some things very clear to me -- our ability to form Partnerships is the key to our Progress. Through collective and collaborative relationships, the resources needed to achieve the results desired and deserved for our community is within our reach. To all who partnered with the City of Pine Bluff we look forward to another year of successes.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the employees of the City of Pine Bluff for their dedicated service to this community.
Thank you for coming.