Accomplishments

Over the last four years as your Forrest City Mayor, together we have accomplished the following:

Lower City Property Tax Millage Rate 

Forrest City residents benefit from a lowered millage rate (from 4.9% to 3.9%).   

Sales and Use Tax Passed 

Resulting in Water softener system (in progress)

Drainage 96 million awarded (not quite sure what that means)  This was a separate announcement from Chief Terry Cosby of USDA.  

Job Creation

Jobs were created through the opening of: 

  • Delta Rehab
  • CoreMark
  • Boars Head
  • Bellville
  • Speedway-
    The first location on Arkansas is located in OUR Forrest City
     The location will benefit from I-40 traffic

 

City Improvements

  • Starting wages for City jobs increased from $9.25 to $12.50 an hour
  • Workforce Improvements include:
    • Youth program Don Zimmerman Pinnacle Award-1st time for Forrest City
    • Solar Array-1st in Arkansas on Co-op( Woodruff) and  Entergy
  • All municipal buildings retrofit with LED lighting project
    • LED lighting upgrade in progress to improve citizen safety
    • North, South, East, West city limits updated
    • Division street in progress
  • Completed the City Hall and Aquatic Center projects (previously over budget) left over from previous administration
  • Repaired and reopened Fire Station #2
  • Completed many storm related repairs from June 2, 2018 storm
  • Renovated Stuart Springs Park, including an All-inclusive playground and Walking trail.
    Local contractors were used for this project.
  • New sponsors for scoreboards at ballfield -1st in 20 years

 

Balanced City Budget

Balanced budget all four years and increased surplus in reserves

Community Improvements

  • New city camera system
  • Updated police department use of force manual-1st time since 1996
  • New spot shotter system to increase response time to shots fired calls
  • Community risk reduction unit under fire department
  • Removing dilapidated houses ( over 30 houses removed )
  • Redoing code manual ( first time in 20 years)

 

Leadership through Adversity

  • Wal-Mart shooting incident
  • COVID
  • Snowmeggaden
  • Ice Storm
  • Clean up June 2018

 

City Upgrades

  • Computer, IT and website upgrades
  • Servers ( newest server  was 14 years old)
  • Telephones ( city wide)  (discovered  32,000 credit on prior long distance charges)
  • Updated website to be interactive and user friendly
  • Streaming of Council meetings and events to improve transparency
  • Purchased needed updated equipment
  • Lawn mowers
  • Police fleet of vehicles
  • Fire department vehicles and brush truck
  • Crack sealer
  • Paid 2 sanitation trucks off

 

Took over mowing clover leaf and bypass exit to help beautify entrance to the city

Addition of City Landmarks to Historic Register

  • Library
  • Old City Hall
  • Forrest City Colored Cemetery

 

Other Accomplishments

  • Move commodity location to complex
  • Organized quarterly community clean up events
  • Prayer events with clergy
  • Meetings of Importance
    • Had events in FC-Both parties
    • Chief Terry Crosby
    • Governor Hutchinson
    • Lt Governor Tim Griffin
    • WRF & Black Mayor

 

Grants Received ( multimillions of dollars)

  • ARF
  • USDA
  • Street Aid

 

Public Safety and Wellbeing

  • COVID Support
    • Created Task force to reach the most vulnerable
    • Provided citizens with PPE, Masks, testing kits, vaccination clinics
    • Testing Clinics
  • Renamed confederate drive after long time business person Oral W Edwards
  • FBI presentations on police shootings
  • Stop the violence march
  • George Floyd Rally

 

Mayor Williams’ TV appearances:

  • MSNBC
  • SugarDitch video

 

Farmers Market

  • At one time close to Closing
  • Now is a WIC SNAP food truck

 

For the Future

Updates coming to remaining parks

  • Beech Grove
  • Southside 
  • Lake
  • Sycomore