It wasn't even close. By a more than 2-to-1 margin (3,831 to 1,708 by first unofficial count) the River City's voters decided to strike out for a new-old destination: a thriving city full of jobs and visitors. And decent public services for its own citizens. At what cost? A sales-tax increase from more than 9 percent to above 10 percent. The city's average household can expect to pay about $15 a month--little enough for residing in a storied city reborn.
The election went smoothly with only a minor kerfuffle here and there at the city's various polling places. Talk about checks and balances, this election had more than its full share of them, all of which wound up verifying a landslide.
As in any other election, the occasional snafu had to be ironed out. But ever-faithful Stu Soffer was on guard. As election commissioner, he's never hesitated to blow the whistle on any irregularities he spotted. This election night, he simply counted the number of signatures on voters' sign-in sheets to make sure the number of votes cast at each voting place was the same as had been recorded. And all was well that ended well.
The happy ending wasn't just a matter of luck, for as the late great Branch Rickey of the old Brooklyn Dodgers once explained, "Luck is the residue of design." And this plan to rejuvenate Pine Bluff was well designed and long in the making. Yes, voices were raised from time to time. But this plan had been developed over the course of a couple of years of painstaking work. It concentrates on maintaining and improving local education, local government, local economy and local public works. All of which contribute to the quality of local life.
About a hundred folks from all over town spent a year working up this broad and far-seeing plan to give Pine Bluff the new start it's long needed. They had to put the details in place and make sure the final result was one that local government would approve. So that this final plan design would be both forward-looking and accountable to the people of Pine Bluff, who would have to approve it. As they now have done.
Go Forward Pine Bluff, the official name of this independent steering committee, includes the city's mayor, and all the tax revenues collected will go through city government before they're spent. An impressive combination of local leaders, including local clergymen, was assembled to work up the plan and then to campaign for it. With this single election, Pine Bluff may have gone from a city that had become synonymous with failure to one that could become a model for every other town in Arkansas struggling to make a comeback.
A local preacher who now has become a pillar of the local establishment--the Rev. Jesse Turner--stood with Mayor Shirley Washington in her quest to lead Pine Bluff back to prosperity. Not to mention a racial harmony that too often has eluded its citizens in the past. "We strongly support Mayor Washington's vision of a stronger Pine Bluff working together," Brother Turner announced. But as election day neared, any prediction about the outcome would be clouded by long-simmering local jealousies and narrow ambitions.
But once the election returns were in, the clouds parted and the sun shone on Pine Bluff. All was as bright as the city's future now is. There's many a twist and turn in any old road taken again, but in the end leaders who are prepared to sacrifice their time and their pride can guide even the most seemingly lost of cities back on the right path. So let us congratulate the winners of Tuesday's election in Pine Bluff and console the losers--for their participation in this campaign made the election representative of all factions. Its outcome wouldn't have been possible without them.
Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their city. Pine Bluff can now indeed go forward together. For in unity there is strength. And without vision, as the Good Book says, the people perish. The same principle applies to cities, and Pine Bluff's future looks bright in the glow of its voters' decision Tuesday.
Editorial on 06/18/2017