PINE BLUFF -- City leaders in Pine Bluff continue to debate whether they want help from inmate laborers and parolees to tear down hundreds of dilapidated houses.
The Pine Bluff City Council tabled a vote on a resolution Monday night that, if passed, would have partnered the city with the Arkansas Department of Community Correction in a pilot labor program involving felons.
The department has received an $830,000 grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission for the three-year project, which will allow up to 40 inmates a chance to learn job skills and to help them prepare for life outside prison walls, said Kevin Murphy, assistant director of re-entry and volunteer services at the community correction department.
Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth said after Monday night's meeting that "apparently a few council members wanted a little more time to understand the concept."
According to the program's rules, the inmates would be housed at four highly supervised duplexes adjacent to the Southeast Arkansas Community Correction Center in Pine Bluff. Murphy said the inmates would all be from Jefferson County and would be released back into society once they complete the program.
Inmates would be accepted into the program in groups of 10 for six months at a time, he said. The laborers would work primarily on the demolition of houses, not other kinds of buildings, in the city, Murphy said.
In addition, 10 former inmates who are already paroled and living in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County would be paid to work as part of the program; those living at Southeast Arkansas Community Correction Center would not receive payment for their labor.
Murphy said the program would be beneficial to both the community and offenders.
"These people will be identified as some of the most likely to re-offend, so we want to take special care with making sure they have all the tools they need to succeed in life after prison," Murphy said.
"It's very difficult to take on life when you are a felon on parole. We hope to make a difference in their lives. It's going to be a win-win for everyone involved."
With about 600 houses in Pine Bluff scheduled for demolition, city leaders said the task would take several years without some help. The city currently spends $90,000 each year on home demolition, Hollingsworth said.
Still, some Pine Bluff aldermen have reservations about partnering with the department because they say it could take money away from local contractors who already have been hired to tear down houses for the city.
Hollingsworth has maintained that's not the case, saying that the city would "conduct business as usual" when advertising bids for contractors.
"I still think it isn't fair for contractors who have been working in the city for many years," Alderman Thelma Walker said. "These are people who have a lot invested in this community."
Many residents in Pine Bluff think partnering with the department is the only way the city can tackle the mammoth task of tearing down abandoned houses.
Others worry about felons working in their neighborhoods.
Sandy Watkins lives near several derelict houses and said she would "definitely like to see the city get help tearing these eyesores down. Wherever the help comes from, bring it on."
Watkins said she isn't worried about her safety if inmate laborers come to her neighborhood.
"They will be supervised, and I trust in that," she said. "We need all the help we can get."
State Desk on 08/19/2014