A group of individuals appeared before the Marion County Board of Supervisors on Monday to discuss the road conditions, mostly in black communities within the county.
Darrick McGowan spoke to the board about the conditions of the roads in Beat 3, specifically in the Little Rock community. He presented a petition citing dissatisfaction with the poor road conditions and said the roads in the community had not been paved in 40 years. McGowan said the roads are not only in bad shape, but also narrow and often restricting two vehicles from passing without one having to pull into a ditch.
“What we have is a safety concern because when vehicles pass and the school buses come in, one vehicle has to pull into a ditch to allow the other vehicle to pass by.” He said.
McGowan also expressed concerns about children being hit by vehicles and the tall grass conditions along the sides of the roads. He said that the grass and weeds have grown so high that people can’t see if it is safe to pull out of their driveways.
“We are here today to see what we can do working together with our supervisor to get more maintenance done,” he said.
Beat 3 Supervisor Tony Morgan said, “I have been in here nine years. I can honestly say I have spent more time in the Little Rock community than I have anywhere else. You can stand there and say what you want to say, but I think the roads are in pretty good shape.”
Morgan also said the county bush hogs twice a year and noted there is not enough money to bush hog more than that. A brief verbal exchange took place between McGowan and Morgan regarding whether or not McGowan lives in the Little Rock community.
“In the nine years you have been there, you haven’t done a great job,” McGowan told Morgan.
McGowan said, if he compared the roads in Little Rock to those in Morgantown, the difference would be night and day.
“Another thing, we get elected every four years. And if you don’t like the way I run it, you are welcome to run,” Morgan said to McGowan.
Before McGowan addressed the board, Delores Porter also spoke regarding the conditions of the road.
“Our roads continue to get bad, and our cars are getting damaged,” Porter said.
Porter, who was with a group of citizens, said people are interested in knowing what the county intends to do to repair the roads. She said people are incurring $500 to $700 in damages from hitting potholes in their vehicles, adding that the potholes on Gates Road were getting bigger.
She said that East Marion School Road, Hub Head Start where the buses are parked, and several other roads should not be left in such poor shape.
“We are wanting some answers as to why all this happening? Most of the damage to the roads, in the pictures I have, are in the black neighborhoods,” She said.
Beat 1 Supervisor Eugene “Blue” Green said all the roads Porter mentioned are in his beat, which he agreed are not in good shape, especially when he took over as supervisor.
“Every road in Beat 1 was all to pieces. We work on them every day that it is not raining,” Green said.
Porter acknowledged she had seen Green’s men working in Beat 1 on the roads. She said that Green and Beat 4 Supervisor Raymon “Tater” Rowell have been following behind the men to ensure the work is being completed.
Green said work on Gates Road is set to begin next week and that they tried to get a three to five cent per gallon gas tax added for Marion County for additional road repairs and maintenance, but the governor turned them down.
“We’re trying. We just ain’t got the money to blacktop the roads,” he said.
Green said damage to the cars was happening because people are driving too fast for the condition of the roads. The vehicle damage is nobody’s fault, but the individual drivers.
Beat 5 Supervisor Calvin Newson said a reality in life that must be understood is that Marion County is a small county. Every year, the county loses money because of citizens turning 65. Compounding the situation is that more young people are leaving the county instead of staying, because they will move where the jobs and the money are.
“Marion County does not have the amount of residents to take care of its own roads,” Newson said.
He told Porter that not everyone in the county pays taxes as they should. So when there is a tax increase, the burden falls on the smaller number of people who do pay taxes, and it hurts them even more financially.
Porter also mentioned there is no display of black citizens at the Marion County Courthouse.
“If we are going to live together and be here together and work together, let’s don’t do one part and not do the other. We all have a heritage.” She said.
