Ole Miss instructor Lauren Fortenberry poses for a portrait with her book, "One Prayer Away: Healing Words to Speak Over Your Day," in her office on campus on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Oxford, Miss.
Ole Miss instructor Lauren Fortenberry poses for a portrait with her book, "One Prayer Away: Healing Words to Speak Over Your Day," in her office on campus on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Oxford, Miss.
Weekend & Opinion Page Editor
An Abandoned lot along Franklin Street has been converted into a nice green space and park.
Scene along Filmore Street in Corinth
Painted mural on a reviltalized area of downtown Corinth that noew hosts a variety of shops and other stores.
Shoppers make their way down the sidewalks as they check out local business' in downtown Corinth.
A rooftop view of Cruise Steet in downtown Corinth.
A rooftop view of Cruise Steet in downtown Corinth.
CORINTH • Many of the best principles for improving a community can be found in practical examples thousands of years old. Leaders in Alcorn County proved that when they drew inspiration from the Old Testament, then put what they had learned to work.
Bobby Capps is a minister with Crosswind, a Corinth-based group that networks individuals, social agencies, businesses and churches to apply the Gospel in word and deed to help people meet practical needs. Lane Williams Yoder is Community Development Director with The Alliance, the Alcorn County area’s primary economic development organization. The Alliance is a member business-based group that capitalizes on opportunities to help the area’s economy grow. Together, they kindled a fire that has helped make and keep their community one of Mississippi’s most welcoming places to live.
“(Capps) found his direction in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah,” Yoder said.
The two books in the Old Testament deal primarily with the rebuilding of the city and walls of Jerusalem. Work done by Nehemiah was community development executed at all levels, spanning the gamut from the most basic, local grass roots starting point and rising to the royal court and throne of King Artaxerxes, of Persia. At that time, the Persian empire ruled much of the world. The king provided the necessary building materials, and Nehemiah brought people together through heartfelt prayer, and through honest communication of the city’s clear plight and state of ruin. Living amidst the rubble and the people of a city that had once been great, Nehemiah demonstrated hands-on leadership and personal commitment to the work, which inspired others to join the effort. He rallied the local people by appealing to their sense of duty and pride in their city, then assigned specific sections of the wall to different families and groups. This created a sense of ownership and responsibility.
Ultimately, Nehemiah was able to lead the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls through a combination of strategic planning, strong leadership, community mobilization and unwavering dedication. The walls, which measure two and a half miles long are, on average 40 feet high and 8 feet thick. Under Nehemiah’s direction, the work was completed in 52 days in 444 B.C.
In Corinth some 2,454 years later, Yoder and Capps led their community’s constituents in an exercise that first identified the community’s areas of greatest need, then set about addressing them using the example Nehemiah long ago laid out. That led Alcorn County to become the first in a growing cadre of communities following similar missions of their own.
The CREATE Foundation’s Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi, an independent task force, has worked to overcome barriers in this corner of the state since 1995, and many of the better qualities the region’s hometowns exhibit today are a testament to the program’s success. In Corinth in 2010, local leaders inspired by Nehemiah and ready to work challenged CREATE to help them set up a similar juggernaut on a smaller, more local basis. This smaller group would help them better work toward their own precise concerns. They established The Commission on the Future of Alcorn County as part of becoming a Community of Excellence, an idea CREATE thought so good they offered to expand it to any community willing to give it a try. Several have. Others communities involved in the program today include Chickasaw, Lowndes, Pontotoc, Tippah and Union Counties, but Alcorn pioneered the idea.
Education is the key
The majority of issues faced throughout Northeast Mississippi involve aspects best addressed through improved educational attainment. From the miseries related to low household incomes to limited access to health care, a better standard of educational attainment across the board represents the best opportunity for an improved standard in the quality of people’s lives. The more broadly, deeply and thoroughly the general population learns, the better, on average, they’ll be able to do. To that end, the Commission on the Future of Alcorn County has embraced improved educational attainment as one of its key goals. Three of the paths currently being traveled to get there include Excel by 5, the implementation of career coaches into the schools, and the Future Forward Academy.
Excel By 5 is a community-based program that promotes and helps facilitate early childhood education. It is unique to Mississippi and is currently at work in 38 communities across the state. Corinth was one of the first.
Excel By 5 involves parent training, community participation, childcare and health care to help communities focus on supporting young children and their families. It was born of an evident need demonstrated by a shocking percentage of children who arrived for their first day of school utterly and totally unprepared to learn.
Career coaches, who are now part of every school CREATE serves in Northeast Mississippi, help students gain practical knowledge of employment opportunities through direct, in-person experiences like job shadowing, and through in-school presentations and discussions they’re positioned to conduct themselves. They lead their students on career explorations and help them understand the broad cornucopia of opportunities that exist in the world. They help students form a life plan and are a critical component of workforce development.
Learning by doing
Future Forward Academy is a cohort of students starting in the 8th grade and going through 11th grade from both the Corinth School District and the Alcorn School District. The program is a soft skills boot camp, helping youngsters learn resilience, teamwork and basic communication practices. From practical knowledge on tieing ties and shaking hands to interpersonal communication and conflict resolution, this program brings home the message that each student is responsible for his or her own personal brand. How someone comports themselves, either online or in the real world, has real consequences that carry across both.
“One thing we have learned through our local commission is how important it is to always be innovative,” Yoder said. “The world changes, our community changes, and it’s critical we stay in tune with our own issues. Something powerful can happen when community members come together and are aligned on what the future of the community needs to look like. We’ve recognized each generation stands on the shoulders of those who’ve come before. We’re all stewards of what the community will come to be.”
That understanding is a testament to the best of human nature. It’s a foundation strong enough to support the kind of sheltering walls we build around the best of what our communities represent.
Kevin Tate is the weekend edition and opinion page editor for the Daily Journal. Contact him at kevin.tate@journalinc.com.
TUPELO — Officials are in the throes of budgeting season with a balanced budget that accounts for increased property values and slightly lower sales tax estimates.
Tupelo officials mulled the budget for the upcoming 2024-25 fiscal year, which they estimate will have a requested expense and revenue generation of about $50.9 million, up from last year’s $43.3 million. Officials also noted $4.7 million in tax revenue that will roll over into the next fiscal year.
“Everybody certainly had their wants and wishes,” Tupelo Mayor Todd Jordan said. “We are balanced as of this point.”
The city got about 2% less in sales tax than had been projected for last year, a deficit of more than $4 million in its collections. The city received $21.4 million, which is less than 2022-23’s actual fiscal year collections of $25.8 million.
Though sales tax collections dropped, officials said ad valorem tax collection increases made up the shortfall with property values increasing and a host of new construction and industry bringing in more revenue. Financial Officer Kim Hanna said the city saw a 12.8% growth in assessed value. The city stayed the course, projecting $25.8 million in the upcoming 2024-25 fiscal year.
“To have this type of increase means people are investing here,” Hanna said.
Almost all city departments saw a rise to salaries in their individual budget. Hanna said this is to make up for the cost-of-living adjustment raise the council approved in January that ran through September of this year. She also noted this budget accounts for the raise for the rest of this calendar year plus the salaries throughout the upcoming fiscal year.
The Tupelo Police Department asked for a raise to its budget to accommodate vehicle maintenance supplies, training and inmate costs, among other smaller things. Its total budget is $13.6 million.
Police Chief John Quaka said the department needed an increase of $20,000 for vehicle maintenance, a total of $120,000, a $50,000 increase in training for $242,502 and a $200,000 increase for inmate care for $600,000.
The increase in inmate costs comes as the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, through Lee County Board of Supervisors approval, raised its rates from $25 a day per inmate to $40. Quaka said this was in line with the area, noting the office was well under the average cost in the region before that change. On top of this, the department is arresting more individuals, Quaka added.
“(TPD) has become more proactive,” Quaka said. “That number (of arrests) is going to continue to grow as our city grows.”
The Fire Department, meanwhile, asked for a 0.7% increase with its budget at a little over $8 million. A majority of the increase, Fire Chief Brad Robinson said, will go toward vehicle maintenance, fire prevention and uniforms.
Before digging into his department’s budget, Public Works Director Chuck Williams noted he planned to retire on Dec. 27 and said the requested budget reflected that information.
The budget, he said, has a $7,500 increase, cutting part time salary and overtime that the department general does not use and adding to the vehicle maintenance and building maintenance.
The Development Services Department saw a 3.5% raise to its overall budget, with an increase in supplies, travel and dues. Development Services Director Tanner Newman said the increase in travel and dues comes with the increase in code enforcement and their annual training and fees associated with certifications.
Tupelo Parks and Recreations Director Alex Farned noted the department shaved from its athletic supplies, travel and other areas to make up for increases to janitorial supplies, maintenance and other supplies. He noted cuts to those areas last fiscal year led to the department quickly going over budget.
Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau reported a slight increase in its budget specifically for supplies and insurance. CVB generates its revenue through a 2% sales tax for restaurants and hotels, which totalled close to 6.5 million.
The largest increases were to advertising and promotions. CVB Executive Director Stephanie Coomer said next year would have been Elvis’ 90th birthday and B.B. King’s 100th birthday as well as multiple anniversaries for local landmarks, such as the 80th anniversary of Johnnie’s Drive-In and 70th for Dairy Kream among others. She said the bureau is looking to hold events throughout the year to celebrate these anniversaries.
CVB also received funding through the American Rescue Plan Act for advertising, so, Coomer said, the money that usually goes to advertising will instead go into destination development. The bureau’s in-market strategies budget also went up 200% from $10,000 to $30,000 to accommodate increased output for programs in the city.
The CVB board voted to approve the budget in August and awaits final approval alongside the city budget.
The city’s debt services rose by 49% with the increase stemming from the last payment to the Mississippi Development Authority for the purchase of the Old National Guard building.
Hanna presented the community service budget, which includes money for local organization partners of the city. It stayed nearly the same at a total of $1.2 million in expenses. Most organizations stayed at the same funding request save for an increase to E-911, Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association and Council of Government fees.
Meanwhile, the Link Centre requested $30,000 for a matching grant for renovations. Hanna and Lewis both said it was up to the administration and council to add that to the budget officially, with it not in the current budget draft.
Ward 4 Councilwoman and Council President Nettie Davis gave her support to giving the nonprofit the requested funding, but the rest of the council were more hesitant.
“I’m just concerned. The Link Centre does a lot for this community,” she said. “I would like to see us come up with some amount.”
Lewis said it was up to the board, noting that the city had until Sept. 14 to figure out where the city would cut to find the needed $30,000.
The Lee-Itawamba Library System also asked for increased funding to help give raises to its employees and build up its supplies. The Lee-Itawamba Library System got $538,000 last year and Phillip Shackelford requested $691,700, a 28.5% increase. He said it was important to reward his employees who have not seen a raise in some time. The current proposed city budget does not grant that $153,700 increase, instead supplying a $44,000 increase.
Chief Operation Officer Don Lewis said the city expects to dive into its capital plan next week during work sessions to let the council solely focus on the budget itself.
Tupelo Water & Light is required to split its budget off from the whole of the city’s budget, and to further dissect it by electric and water funds. Both budgets saw a decrease, according to TW&L Director Johnny Timmons.
These decreases come from the fact that last year, the budget was raised to accommodate multiple projects. Now the city has paid for the brunt of the projects which were purchased through ARPA funds and State Revolving Loan funds. The budget decreased in response.
The electric department budget went from close to $70 million to about $68 million, a $2.1 million decrease. The water and sewer department fell from $28.4 million to $27.6 million, a $813,881 decrease.
Meanwhile, Timmons noted Tennessee Valley Authority raised its wholesale electricity prices by 3.2%, so TW&L customers will see an increase in the next fiscal year. The city’s customer rates increased in 2022, from a base bill of $11.88 to $13.34 (a 5.8% increase). Last year, the city raised commercial rates by $1.60 per $100 to accommodate a 1.6% increase in TVA rates.
As of Friday, Timmons said the department plans to raise rates by 2% to accommodate the TVA increase. He noted the council will likely vote on the measure at the next meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday. He also said TVA has over $15 million worth of projects in the works over the next five years and expects their rates to continue rising to accomplish that.
Efforts are underway to designate and develop a preexisting gravel road alongside the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway into a bike and running trail, which would stretch from Bigbee to Bay Springs, if approved by the U.S. Corps of Engineers.
Sherry Parkhurst, who is leading the effort for the Tenn-Tom Bike Trail, was inspired by the need for a safe place for her grandsons, Tuff and Cannon, to ride their bikes.
BIGBEE – Behind the scenes work is underway for a potential trail designation alongside the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway for cyclists and runners originating at Highway 6 and ending at the Jamie L. Whitten Lock at Bay Springs in Tishomingo County.
During its Aug. 5 meeting, the Monroe County Board of Supervisors heard a presentation from Sherry Parkhurst of Amory about the proposed Tenn-Tom Bike Trail project during an executive session.
Later in the meeting, supervisors asked for Kyle Strong of Cook Coggin Engineers to provide a quote for work on a layout of the proposed trail in order for Parkhurst to move forward with another step.
“Years ago when I raised my kids, I was able to take my 4-year-old to ride her bike all over Amory relatively safely. We just moved back from Oxford a couple of years ago, and it just didn’t work. It was terrifying because of the distracted drivers, and I just started trying to find a place that was safe,” she said after the meeting.
Parkhurst has been in communication with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the preexisting gravel road alongside the waterway’s western bank to designate as the trail.
“I was told to get a drawing, a conceptual write-up and some endorsements about how good it would be and for what purpose. There hasn’t been a negative along the way, and everyone has been very supportive and very encouraging with it,” Parkhurst said.
“People who ride around here are ecstatic,” she added.
Parkhurst has already established a board of advisors to obtain her 501(c)(3) status and will soon be set up to receive local donations through the CREATE Foundation.
She said work would need to be done around a couple of spillways on the trail, but the path is already established.
“It would go through three or four counties and could be everything the Tanglefoot Trail is and more for our area. It would bring in some more businesses and more people to the area. The most important thing is it’s a safe place for our people to ride bikes and run,” Parkhurst said.
She will have to get final approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers but has already received support from the Monroe County Board of Supervisors, Sen. Hob Bryan and Sen. Roger Wicker and Congressman Trent Kelly’s offices about the potential trail.
A feasibility study is another step.
Anyone interested in providing an endorsement letter may send it to tenntombiketrailproject24@gmail.com.
