With only two commissioners at Clarksdale’s board of mayor and commissioners meeting on Monday, the city once again discussed cleaning up Clarksdale, but took no formal action on the issue.
Mayor Chuck Espy said he would like to see the city take action on one of his three suggestions to cleaning up junk cars, abandoned houses and grown up property by the end of July.
Espy has repeatedly said his main concern is he doesn’t want to see the city start writing ordinance violation citations and imposing fines on poor people who rent houses.
“I am not interested in a blanket standard where people in poverty get tickets and citations,” said Espy at a previous meeting. “This has to be select.
“I will go on record time and time again, if we do a blanket higher standard, people in poverty will be impacted more than the affluent,” said Espy, adding. “I will pay those tickets and I will personally sue people; this city if I have to.”
But Espy is beginning to get push back from other commissioners and from city residents wanting neighborhoods cleaned up.
Ward 4 Commissioner Ed Seals for the third time asked public works, code enforcement and city board attorney Melvin Miller to look closely at two vans parked on Ohio Street that have been there for years and also a red sedan on Ohio that may be a junk car.
Ward 3 Commissioner Willie Turner led the charge earlier this year to get commercial property cleaned up in his district after homeowners repeatedly showed up at city board meeting asking something be done about property they felt was a safety issue and health hazard.
Espy brought three ideas to commissioners that he said his executive team hammered out:
• Maintain the status quo and leave current ordinances in place.
• Hold a citywide referendum and vote for or against stricter ordinances.
• Allow residents to petition, block by block, if they wanted tougher ordinances.
Ward 4 Commissioner Ed Seals questioned how select ordinances for some would stand up in court.
“I see a problem with Option 3,” said Seals. “If you have 30 blocks and 30 different code requirements. How would the court know what to do?”
Seals said he did not know of any other community with an ordinance like that.
Discussion has also addressed code enforcement notifying property owners to clean up or cut the grass and allowing five working days to fix the issue. After five working-days the property owner is written a ticket. Then a ticket is written every 30 days until the property is cleaned up. Failure to pay the ticket can result in contempt of court charges, which can have the owner arrested and taken before a judge who can impose his own fines and even jail time.
Victor Wheatley, of Nebraska Avenue, said the time for talking is over, but he doesn’t feel any of the three options will solve Clarksdale problem.
“I went to Batesville recently and it’s like night and day compared to Clarksdale,” said Wheatley. “We’ve got codes in place and just need to enforce them. If we enforce what we have on the books, it would make a difference.”
Wheatley said working with people to clean up their property and haul off cars was a definite option.
But he also said don’t fine single-parent renters.
“You need to go after the property owner, not the renter, and make them clean up,” said Wheatley.
He also said a car can start and roll and still be an eyesore and detriment to the community.
“If it does not have a current tag, it’s a junk car,” said Wheatley. “If it’s not insured it can’t be on the street. If the person at the house does not have a driver’s license they can’t drive it. These are things the city could check out in 10-minutes.”
Wheatley also pointed out crime and city blight go together.
“You have a choice and yes, you have some hard decisions to make,” said Wheatley. “I urge you to do what is best for Clarksdale.”
In other business:
• Police reported 585 calls over the past two week that generated 369 incident reports, leading to 24 arrests with four of those felony arrests and one being a homicide. Three of those incidents involved juveniles and there were 26 motor vehicle accidents.
• Police Chief Robbie Linley said he hoped to bring several new police officers before the board for possible employment next month. Linley said the process to select, train and then hire a Clarksdale Policeman takes four to six months.
• Griot Arts Inc. requested the use of the stage and grass area at Kaboom Park for their team building activity and access to the water to play water kickball. The city approved the request.
• First Baptist Church and Friendship AME Church requested blocking off Martin Luther King from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 15 as they will host a Family & Friends Picnic.
• Shelia Ray approached the board saying a public works truck was picking up limbs on Wysteria Drive and stopped to go pick up limbs on Ann Street. She said she felt the issue was racial and the knuckle boom truck should have finished Wysteria first. Mayor Espy said he would conduct an investigation.
• Commissioners approved a $1,000 donation to the 35th Annual Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival.
• Commissioners voted to reimburse the City Debit Card account in the amount of $1,507.55 for the month of June.
• Commissioners voted to pay June bills in the amount of $127,419.69.
• Commissioners voted to partially reimburse incidental expense account in the amount of $3,703.85 for June.
• The city made the following payments: Chaplain John E. Givins, $400; Sundial, $175.68; Cathy Clark, $1,000; Cornerstone, $6,203.88; Becky Nickle, $250; Chuck Espy travel $795.04; Willard Concrete, $2,950; and MS Development Authority, $1,858.09.
• Commissioners were informed Two 2023 Dodge Chargers will be picked up in Brandon and fitted with police lights and emergency equipment.
• Commissioners approved travel to a police report writing class for Capt. Hill, Sgt. Taylor and officesr Sanders and Harper.
• Commissioners approved travel to a Constitutional Law Class for Capt. Norsworthy, Sargentss Harris and Coley and Corporal Leavy.
• The city tabled a quote from Automatic Gates Construction to provide and install a new gate and automation package for the Public Works shop in the amount of $33,412.
• The city accepted the lowest quote from Willard Concrete Services for concrete work on curbs, gutters, and drives in the amount of $11,300.
• The city offered offered employment to Albert Nickson as a truck driver and Greg Young as a knuckle boom driver in the Public Works.
• The police department promoted Johnny Jones from Sergeant to Captain.
• The fire department saw the resignation of Teddye Rushing and Edward Williams.
• The city paid a Notice of Claim from Nahon Saharovich & Trotz, PLC for an automobile accident involving a Public Works employee.
• Commissioners accepted Planning Commission Special Meeting minutes involving Ashley Gipson and Courtney Jordan to obtain a conditional use permit to open a special event center at 1108 Desoto Avenue, currently zoned C-1 neighborhood commercial.
•The city entered executive session to a personnel issue in the police department.
• The commission voted to recess until noon Thursday, July, 20, 2023 at City Hall. All board meetings are open to the public.
