Go Forward report puts facts in order

Last week, some of Go Forward Pine Bluff’s contributions to the city were highlighted during a progress report delivered at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. The session was good for a number of reasons. First, there were scores of people in attendance. That shows there are either a lot of fans of the tax-and-improve program or there are a lot of folks interested in what’s up with it. Either way, people thought enough of how their tax dollar is spent to come out for the presentation.

Mainly, though, it was good because we all need a reminder about all the positive elements that Go Forward has been involved in. It’s easier to look out across the downtown landscape and see the work that has been accomplished, such as the streetscape effort that took a ramshackle Main Street and turned it into something inviting. And if you’re a little more aware of what’s going on, you’ll notice this dilapidated house and that dilapidated building in other parts of town that have been sitting as eyesores for years are suddenly gone. That’s Go Forward in action.

But then there are some behind-the-scenes efforts that aren’t visible but are nonetheless another shoulder to the wheel in making Pine Bluff a better place. One of those efforts involved a half-million dollar investment of private money combined with $160,000 in Go Forward money used to help teachers meet licensing requirements and improve their credentials.

That reminded us of when the state Education Department was analyzing the Dollarway School District and it was determined that a child could go from kindergarten to graduating high school in the district and never have a fully certified teacher. Hence, the need for such improvements.

Then there was a first-responder program in which police and fire officers could get money to use in rehabbing a home. The trade-off is that they have to serve in their departments for five years.

For one, there are lots of homes that need rehabbing, and for another, the city is desperately looking to hire firefighters and police officers. Such an effort on Go Forward’s part gets at both of those problems.

You get the idea. Or the folks at Go Forward hope you do. During the meeting, they said one of the biggest handicaps they face in carrying out their mission is misinformation. If someone says it and it shows up on social media, it must be the truth, right? That’s what passes for facts these days.

No one can change the inanity of social media, but public meetings like this one can dispel some of the misinformation that floats around, and if these sessions are routine, maybe the truth will actually be what people come to understand as the facts of the matter.