PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Early voting is once again underway in Pine Bluff as two prominent organizations spread their message about how people should vote on several sales tax initiatives.
"Nobody would invest their money, and not knowing what it is going to be invested in. so we're encouraging all of our citizens to come out until Go Forward one more time. that no means no," Ivan Whitfield, President of the Pine Bluff NAACP, said.
"We've had so many people come back and ask us to come back and put that referendum on the ballot because they see the progress that needs to continue, that we have already been using and that we've already started for six years now," Leigh Cockrum, Go Forward Pine Bluff Office Manager, said.
The first sales tax is focused on public safety, while the other tackles education and economic development.
Both failed in May and back in 2017, voters passed the five-eighth cent sales tax for the incentive which focused on education and economic development. However, Cockrum said things will be different time around.
"The tax is so important to our city and it's just not a tax that people in Pine Bluff pay. If you're a visitor to Pine Bluff, if you're driving down the interstate, and you stop for gas, you stop for food, you're paying for that tax as well and all of that goes into the coffers of our city government," Cockrum added.
Whitfield said he feels no progress has truly been made by Go Forward Pine Bluff and doesn't think giving them more money is a wise investment.
"They expect our citizens to allow them to have another $30 million with an open plate to spin it where they want to spin it and I say to you, I believe our community is much smarter than that. and that won't happen," Whitfield said.
Early voting runs until next Monday at the Jefferson County Courthouse and election day is set for November 14.