There are two hard-news stories on the front of your Clarksdale Press Register today.
One deals with the complex issue of vagrants, bums and mentally ill people degrading the quality of life, not only in downtown, but in every neighborhood in Clarksdale.
The other story reveals the latest people announcing their desire to work and make Clarksdale a better place for all of us to live, work and enjoy life. We hope you will read both.
To our incumbent candidates we say, don’t tell us crime and mental health issues are found in other places. We don’t live in other places. We live in Clarksdale and if we are going to stop people leaving this community to the tune of about 500 people a year, we need answers.
And while this newspaper doesn’t want to applaud President Trump too much, but we are impressed with the quick way he is bringing about changes that he promised on the campaign trail.
Clarksdale candidates need to figure out one, maybe two, major issues they want to accomplish if elected. They need to figure out how they are going to implement those changes and be ready to get started the day they take their oath of office.
Clarksdale has suffered at the hands of “bouncing off the wall” leadership that has promised the world, but failed to deliver.
And the next four years may be our last chance to change things in this town. We will reach a tipping point where businesses no longer invest in our town, industry can’t find quality people to fill jobs and our schools are baby-sitters and not places of excellence and learning.
Please remember our city commissioners and mayor appoint city school board members. Please remember out city board appoints city judges. Please remember our city leaders hire police, appoint economic development leaders and everyone who runs an office and pushes a shovel in this town.
There is much that needs to be done in Clarksdale, starting this summer.
This newspaper can’t tell you what the major issues will be six months from now. We can point to problems that have been with us for years and need the wisdom and courage of good leaders to fix.
Maybe this is the year we elect a woman to the city board. Maybe this is the year we elect the wise and capable people to our city board and not our friends who will cut us in on a government deal. Maybe this is the year we pick people who have a real plan to bring real jobs to our community. Maybe this is the year we elect true leaders who are ready to do the hard things and work to make Clarksdale the Delta’s Shining Star once again.
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