Black History Month
February 2006

I am honored to speak to you this afternoon and thank you for your invitation. Your Theme: “It Can be Done” Exodus 14: 21, 22, is a testament to God’s awesome power and that His promises can and will be fulfilled.

February has been designated to remember the many contributions of African Americans. We as a people, blessed by God, are interwoven into the intricate fabric that makes this great nation, from it’s birth, brave men such as Crispus Attucks, an escaped slave, the first American (African) to die in what we would be called the “Boston Massacre”, through today, when Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. was elected the fifth African American United States Senator (only the third since Reconstruction). Simply put, nothing is impossible for God! Through God’s divine blessings we have always been an integral part of the history of this nation and can take great pride in our many contributions.

This is also a time that we mourn the lost of some of our inspirational leaders, Mrs. Rosa Parks and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, women of grace, dedication and devout faith whose lives exemplified all that we can be as a people.  But, the work is not done and we all must remain vigilant in our dedication to the betterment of our people, country and nation.

I was asked to speak to you about my accomplishments of the past year, but I wish to share my continued vision for our city and how all of us must continue working toward these goals.  Last year, 2005, was a time for learning, evaluation and discernment; it was a year that has reinforced my commitment for the betterment of this city and the quality of life for all our citizens. IT CAN BE DONE!

City officials know from meetings they attend, from newspaper articles they read, from television reports they see and from just talking to the people of this community that Pine Bluffians from all walks of life want three things for our beloved city:

Pine Bluffians crave safety. We want our children to be safe. We want to be safe in our homes and neighborhoods. We want our businesses to be protected. We are tired of being afraid and tired of others being afraid to come to Pine Bluff.

Pine Bluffians hunger for success. We want successful retailers, restaurants and industry. We want successful small businesses and schools. We want successful sons, daughters and families. We want successful careers and, yes, we want successful local governments.

We yearn for community self-respect. We want to be proud of ourselves, our homes and, again, our local governments. We want to be proud to be Pine Bluffians and, yes, we want the respect of people from other communities.

Pine Bluffians will no longer settle for anything less than a higher standard of living, a better quality of life. Safety, success and self-respect are essential components of that higher quality of life.

In 2006, Pine Bluffians will see even more positive steps toward our ultimate goal. However, the City of Pine Bluff can’t go it alone. We need the participation of every Pine Bluffian. The City needs the vast and diverse pool of our talented people to be more than just residents; we need an active, engaged citizenry. And because we as Pine Bluffians will share in the fate of this community, whether bad or good, we must likewise act in concert to ensure that the outcome is good.

Last year, 2005, was a hard year for the city of Pine Bluff from a public safety perspective. Pine Bluffians endured an 11.75 percent upsurge in crime from the previous year, with violent crimes increasing 1.71 percent and property crimes by 11.75 percent. We were not alone, though, as other Arkansas communities, particularly Little Rock and Hot Springs had to contend with the same issue as they neared the top of the crime stats pack themselves.

In my state of the city address given on January 31, 2006, I shared the 2005, results of the Pine Bluff Police Department and its officers, who have worked diligently to curtail crime within our city. Despite their tremendous efforts, though, the current crime rate is intolerable. We must do more to reverse the upswing in crime in our city. IT CAN BE DONE!

All City departments, in recent years have experienced budget cuts and staffing reductions including the police department. These have obviously had a negative effect on the City’s current ability to fight crime. In order to reduce crime in our community, we must make it a priority to increase the number of officers in the department to the originally authorized level of 157 officers.

We will also continue working toward the reinstatement of tried-but-true strategies that have fallen by the wayside that will help our officers in their mission. We know from Pine Bluff’s recent past that community-oriented policing programs such as bicycle patrolling work. We have already seen the return of the bike patrol program in three of the highest crime areas of the city.

We must strengthen support of the SAFE (Support Abatement with Fines and Enforcement) Team. In simple terms, the SAFE concept entails increased interaction and information sharing among departments to reduce crime and increase quality of life in Pine Bluff. The code enforcement officers of our Inspection and Zoning Department and our fire marshals can approach a problem…and solve it…from a different legal and operational direction than can the Police Department. So, in addition to improving our quality of life, the code enforcement officers of the City’s Inspection and Zoning Department can also have a tremendous impact on the reduction of crime.

Through our CLEAN (Community Litter Elimination Action Network) Campaign there were four ward sponsored clean-ups during 2005, and we have established dumpsters for yard waste, heavy items and debris at the Street Department on 16th & Pennsylvania, contributed by Waste Management, that provide our private citizens a location for drop-off of these items, at no cost, and eliminates the appearance of our “curb-sides” being dumpsites. We must all support these efforts.

Our City government is actively engaged in the betterment of this community and by example hopes to encourage others in Pine Bluff to do the same. I believe IT CAN BE DONE, we ALL must believe IT CAN BE DONE. But, know it will require commitment, support and action from us all. So, come to council meetings, join a civic club, volunteer, do anything you can to help us move forward. All that we desire for our beloved city CAN BE DONE! Through your help, the City of Pine Bluff will be able to achieve the safety, success and self-respect we all want for Pine Bluff, Arkansas.