Infignos Media - Youth development, infrastructure remain common themes from residents attending Anniston Listening Tour

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Youth development, infrastructure remain common themes from residents attending Anniston Listening Tour

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

During a relatively smaller third stop on the Anniston City Council's ongoing Listening Tour, interactions between the roughly 25 attendees and city leaders were not in short supply. The hour of public discussion at South Highland Community Center just southeast of downtown Anniston touched on common themes heard at previous stops on the tour.

Anniston youth continued to be a topic of conversation Monday evening. Parents and grandparents spoke to the crowd about potential career training opportunities along with making extra-curricular activities more accessible to younger residents. One woman said if she and other parents were unable to transport groups of children to a variety of local sport events, “they wouldn't have an opportunity to participate.” She recommended a focus on localizing community sports to help children without reliable transportation.

Councilman Seyram Selase said that addressing Anniston youth and education is important for several reasons. “If we don't turn around our educational system, we're not going anywhere fast.” Along with improving Anniston schools, Selase said that incorporating improvements across all four city wards would improve the city as a whole.

Most residents and council members brought up education and youth programs, but some also spoke of city streets and dilapidated properties. Marcus King address the crowd about getting “good people in bad situations” into homes with the help of city and private resources. King said he wants to see jobs created by rebuilding properties across the city and offering them to residents in need.

Another resident echoed King's recommendation and Mayor Vaughn Stewart reminded attendees of specialized task forces designed to address housing and community development. Stewart said grants are already available for projects similar to King's proposal and invited him to participate on a planned task force.

Stewart said the task forces are “coming along,” but he could not release any more detailed information. “We will not announce those until the consultant gets here because we don't want to outrun our coverage.” Stewart said task forces will not officially be announced until priorities are coordinated with a strategic planner.

The Anniston City Council in January approved the formation of a five-person screening committee to help select a strategic planner for the city. Stewart said that 16 nationwide candidates have applied for the position and the screening committee will select five of them for a final selection. He hopes that the council can vote on a final strategic planner to “have somebody on the ground” by the beginning of April.

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Keywords: Anniston City Council One City One Vision Listening Tour South Highland Community Center Seyram Selase Vaughn Stewart Marcus King

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