Your Clarksdale Press Register applauds the Mayor and Board of Commissioner’s plans to clean up Clarksdale.
Those who have lived here for some time may not realize what our community looks like to tourist, industrialist looking to locate a factory and retail companies looking to open a new store.
You know the story. Old Mrs. Smith’s house on the corner has been vacant for years and while we have good memories of Mrs. Smith, she no longer lives there and the house has fallen into disrepair.
We all probably have a house in our neighborhood like this.
The house is unoccupied. It gets a couple of broken windows and juveniles crawl in for a look. The more sinister adults come around and steal anything of value. At some point the house catches on fire, the fire department puts it out and the neighborhood has an eyesore for years.
We said earlier it is good the city has finally decided to embark on an effort to clean up their dilapidated homes.
The plan is for the city and contractors to quickly tear down these properties and haul the debris to the dump. Contractors have also been hired to come in with dirt and level the property. The goal is to have a lot that can be mowed next spring.
And Clarksdale apparently has a little unencumbered cash to pay for this work. Steady sales tax revenue, collecting past due municipal court fines and a low interest rate on the recent infrastructure bond sale have bolstered the city’s bottom line.
We also want to point out your Mayor and Board of Commissioners have held the line on spending and stood firm on a balanced budget over the past couple of years.
In this budget season, we hope the county and our schools will look at the city’s good fiscal management and realize good stewardship of taxpayer dollars has its rewards.
Your Clarksdale Press Register is a conservative watchdog when it come to spending your tax dollars, but this is one project this town needs.
Let’s clean up Clarksdale.
