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MAYOR: POVERTY MAJOR ISSUE IN PINE BLUFF

By Scott Loftis/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL
Thursday, October 22, 2009 10:21 AM CDT

Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr. said Wednesday that he’ll try to turn Pine Bluff’s inclusion on Forbes magazine’s recent list of “the 10 poorest cities in America” into a positive as he seeks help from state and national leaders.

Pine Bluff was ranked third on the Forbes list along with nine other cities, and the magazine said it compiled the list using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey and other criteria including per capita incomes for a region, the percentage of food stamp recipients, the percentage of people under age 65 receiving public health care and the unemployment rate.

Redus said it’s no secret that poverty is a major issue in Pine Bluff.

The poverty problem

“It’s something I was knowledgeable of, but not knowledgeable of from the point of view that we were considered the third-poorest city in the nation, but I do realize that Pine Bluff is part of the poorest area of this nation,” Redus said. “I’m absolutely aware of the fact that poverty is a problem in Pine Bluff, not just Pine Bluff but in the whole state of Arkansas and to a great extent, a problem in the southern part of the United States of America.”

But Redus said city and state officials are working to address the problem.

“One of Gov. (Mike) Beebe’s goals for economic development is to raise the incomes of all Arkansans at a pace greater than the national average,” Redus said, “ and that’s one of the things that I’m looking to do in the city of Pine Bluff.”

One way he plans to fight poverty, Redus said, is by using the Forbes article to help draw attention to the issue.

“You have to look at it as, OK, we all know this … now how do we deal with it?” Redus said. “I’m trying to take it and turn it around and make a positive out of it. I’m going to speak openly with the governor. I’m going to speak openly with all our national congressional leaders from the state of Arkansas, and let them know this is a problem that’s been identified throughout the world. We’re listed as one of the 10 most impoverished cities, so what can you help us to do in order to rectify this problem?”

Lou Ann Nisbitt, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County, said the data used by Forbes actually was based on the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area — which includes all of Jefferson County as well as Lincoln and Cleveland counties.

“I think that’s where I’m a little concerned … because I think that changes the numbers,” Nisbitt said.

Nisbitt said the Forbes article also failed to quantify the spirit of Pine Bluff residents.

“I’m concerned that it might be a label it puts on us when the most important treasure here is our people,” she said. “ … I think also when you say ’10 poorest’ it also gives a feeling of hopelessness, and this is not a city of hopelessness. This city is filled with hope.”

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