Pine Bluff, Arkansas) – After receiving endorsements from key leaders, labor unions and a women’s PAC, Vivian Flowers has received more pivotal endorsements in support of her candidacy for Mayor of Pine Bluff from the Pine Bluff Education Association and Rev. Jesse Turner, a local pastor and nonprofit leader. “The earlier endorsements were incredibly important voices from leaders and organizations who are respected statewide and nationally, but the public support from the local education association of Pine Bluff teachers along with a local faith leader is just as big,” said Flowers.
The PIne Bluff Education Association released its mayoral endorsement of Flowers in a February 27 notification letter, following their February 19th candidate forum and subsequent vote. The letter states, “We, the members of the Pine Bluff Education Association, do hereby fully endorse Representative Vivian Flowers for the office of Mayor for the City of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. With a proven fighter and advocate for the good of all citizens of our great city at the helm, we are confident that this city will move forward for a better today and a brighter future.”
Rep. Flowers currently serves on the House Education Committee and was one of the most vocal legislators opposing the LEARNS Act, challenging numerous problems and inequities with the legislation, including the expenditure of public school funding for private school tuition and home school expenses. According to Flowers, “As mayor, I will commit city resources to school partnerships to ensure safety and student internships, as well as advocacy for a privately funded Pine Bluff Promise scholarship initiative.
In addition to support from educators, Rev. Jesse Turner distributed an email Friday night endorsing Flowers in a letter entitled, “The Elections of a Pine Bluff Mayor.” A prominent nonprofit leader of ICVR (Interested Citizens for Voter Registration), Turner penned a letter that emphasizes Pine Bluff’s longtime needs and mayoral leadership that can engage a resource network outside of Pine Bluff, and ultimately endorsed Flowers as “the best candidate for the time.”
Flowers is serving in her fifth term in the Arkansas House of Representatives, and made a surprise announcement to run for mayor just before November filing last year. She is an inaugural graduate of the Clinton School of Public Service with over thirty years policy, political and public service experience, as well as numerous legislative and policy accomplishments on the state and national level. According to Flowers, “I decided to run for mayor to put my experience and relationships to work for Pine Bluff, and am humbled by the broad support our campaign is receiving.”
The Preferential Primary Election will be held at 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, with the last day of early voting taking place on Monday, March 4, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.
###
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
———- Forwarded message ———
From: <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Mar 1, 2024 at 9:16 PM
Subject: The Election of a Mayor
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
The Elections of a Pine Bluff Mayor
Real city progress depends on networking; those needing access to networks can only produce anemic results. Multiple candidates are running for mayor with a message that they can change the trajectory of unmet, depressed, and deteriorating housing, abandoned buildings, economic development, poor street lighting, five hundred miles of narrow streets, open ditches that are breeding grounds for mosquito beds that produce the West Nile virus.
Research has proven that criminal activity follows abandoned and dilapidated houses and trashed-up communities, which makes the perfect storm for criminal activities. These conditions seriously threaten public safety and the health of those living in these communities. Education, quality of life and place, resident retention, and business development are also affected. Who has a written plan that includes the problems, solutions, and revenue source to address each issue they believe they can solve? Grants for public safety and infrastructure are only temporary fixes. Pine Bluff must have solid revenue to sustain itself, and that is a thriving tax base to address essential services. Pine Bluff has had a flooding problem for decades, which only worsens without immediate attention and funding—developing a relationship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers goes a long way in building a network.
Over the last eight years, there has been no strong ordinances implemented to stop the defacing of city property with cars making donuts in the streets, litter laws, and illegal dumping. Some areas have many broken-down vehicles in their yards, which must be removed. Residents on the east side must take anywhere from thirty to forty-five minutes to travel to and from their homes to purchase a loaf of bread or a half gallon of milk. The mayor should prioritize bringing a grocery store back to the east side of the city that is compatible with the removed one. Gas stations should be strongly encouraged to have smooth and clean parking lots without potholes, trash, overgrowth, and other eyesores. To tackle the city’s aesthetics, a mayor needs the courage to take on property owners, landlords, and convenience stores. No longer active businesses should maintain their property and buildings as occupied.
There appears to be no urgency to make Pine Bluff a clean and vibrant city again. The old Chief Pontiac building at Eleventh at Main has become a sore thumb on Main Street. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of picking up other people’s trash. Progress takes capital, but without citizens, there is no tax base. A mayor should advocate for better public safety, job creation, essential services, clearing sidewalks of grass, street repairs, street lighting, improving economic and community development, and attracting new businesses, retail, and big box stores. Reveals plans for updating code enforcement, giving it teeth to punish violators. The time has come for a mayor to hire a professional city planner who can connect the dots and make development and improvement contiguous, not spot improvement.
A mayor should begin networking closely with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff for research and development instead of spending thousands of dollars on out-of-town consultant fees and traveling. Much of the expertise needed is on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Couple that networking capability to include the University of Arkansas System puts community development on a fast track and within reach. Networking closely with UAPB can opens to the family of other HBCUs; this networking power has yet to be utilized and overlooked for far too long.
Many of those seeking the position of mayor have yet to scratch the surface of building a solid network system or are willing to connect with others who do because networking helps any mayor become more effective. Gentle readers, think about this. Samuel Glover, Steven Mays, Charles Washington, and Joni A. Robinson still need to build an effective network outside of Pine Bluff to include the state and national organizations, which is critical to becoming a successful mayor. If the mayor controls the city and the judge controls the county, you shall quickly find yourself under a straightforward de facto dictatorship. Finally, gentle reader, only one candidate has come close to building and establishing a network that gets this city moving forward. The best candidate for the time is Vivian Flowers.
Rev. Jesse C. Turner
Pine Bluff Resident
870.413.6345
It is upon us to refuse to dehumanize each other, and gracefully give witness to the consequences of humanity as we transform civil wrongs to civil rights
