Clean up volunteer says officials not doing enough to maintain city's appearance

Unfortunately, he said he's seeing the same thing happening to Trumann.

"I've been a resident of this town for 10 years and I have slowly watched this town go downhill," Winningham said.

Winningham, chairman of Operation Trumann Clean-up, appeared at the May 9 city council meeting and accused officials of not doing enough to enforce the city's current laws designed to maintain the town's appearance.

"We've elected several of you who say you are going to clean up the town, and yet today there has been nothing done," Winningham said. "We've had five (council) meetings and there has been nothing done. My question is this. What are we waiting for? You said you were going to clean it up. You've not done it.

"I'm pleased to be heading up the committee to do this. It's just kind of sad that I had to call and say 'when are you doing to clean this town up?' then being asked if I want to be head of the commission. If y'all don't take pride in your town, nobody in this town is going to take pride."

Winningham said people outside of Trumann have a negative opinion of the city.

"Every time I got out of this city -- Jonesboro, Harrisburg, Marked Tree, Lepanto, Memphis -- I say, 'I am from Trumann, Arkansas. I get a negative response," Winningham said. "I get 'yuck!' or 'ick!' I don't want that."

The remarks drew a sharp rebuke from Councilman Larry Henderson.

"Why don't you move somewhere else?" Henderson said. "That's the way you fix that. Marked Tree doesn't have any junk cars? I don't agree with your statement that the city has gone downhill in the last 10 years."

Henderson said most of the dilapidated properties in Trumann are owned by absentee landlords who don't care what condition they are in.

The city has very little control over those, he said.

"What would you like us to do with private buildings?" Henderson asked. "A lot of those buildings are owned by people who do not live in Trumann. They don't care. And if you contact them and tell them we want you to spend $40,000 on your building, they are going to say take a flying leap. We've been there before."

Councilman Don Cole agreed with Winningham and pointed the finger back at Henderson.

"Are you aggravated because you have been here 16 years and haven't done anything?" Cole said. "We all ran -- except Henderson -- on cleaning this town up. We've had five meetings and we have yet to come up with anything concrete to clean the city up."

The one time he asked for volunteers nobody on the council stepped forward to help, he said.

Winningham said code enforcement officer Gary Anderson isn't doing enough to enforce the laws already on the book.

"If Gary Anderson's plate is too full or overloaded, then let's delegate those jobs out," Winningham said. "We need to enforce the laws regarding the properties. Hold the landlords responsible. If his tenants aren't going to mow it or his tenants aren't going to keep trash out of it, then hold them responsible. Every one of our ordinances states that it isn't supposed to look that way."

Mayor Sheila Walters said Anderson recently compiled information for the city council about overgrown lots.

She also pointed out that the city has taken on owners of blighted property, but said the issue is mainly a legal problem.

"There are legal issues and you have to have our city attorney look in to it," Walters said.

Walters said 90 percent or better of the yards in Trumann are clean and neat and added that several properties have been renovated in the downtown in recent months.

"I do not dispute that there are some areas of town that need to be cleaned up," Walters said. "That is true. I don't deny that. But I disagree that over the last ten years improvements have not been made in Trumann.

"I like Brian. He has been in my office several times. He's entitled to his opinion. But I don't agree with him. And I don't agree with the manner in which he approached it. I'm taking the positive and he is pointing out the negative by picking a few places that are not."