By Ray King
A resolution calling for the removal of a wall that had been constructed inside the Pine Bluff Street Department offices was pulled by its sponsor before it could be considered by the City Council Monday night.
Council Member Ivan Whitfield had sponsored the resolution but before the meeting started, said the wall was down so there was no need for the resolution.
At a meeting of the council in June, the resolution said the council was told that a restroom at the street department was locked and only certain people had keys to access it.
Whitfield said he and Council Member Glen Brown Jr., visited the street department to see if that situation had been corrected and discovered that the wall had been built, creating, in the words of the resolution “the unlocking of the door and the construction of the additional wall gives the appearance of deliberate contempt for council members by the persons responsible and a reminder of the days of segregation.”
In public comments before the meeting, Kamaya Seals, representing a group called Social Justice spoke about the resolution and said while she was glad the wall was down, “there appear to be issues that deeply separate employees by the color of their skin, and we want to look into them.”
Seals said her group has questions and they want answers.
An ordinance dealing with abandoned, wrecked, non-operable vehicles, trailers and boats was pulled before it could be read for the first time and sent to the Development and Planning Committee which will meet Tuesday.
The council also appointed Chantel Ayers Jones to the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library Board of Trustees to complete the term of Hazel Linton who the board asked to be replaced. Jones will serve until Oct. 31, 2022.
