Mayor Angela Pearson: In her own words (part 2)
Were you surprised after the harsh coverage you received by the local newspaper that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch took notice of your fight?
Having the Post-Dispatch come in and do a very thorough review was a surprise and I am thankful that they saw fit to do a detailed investigation and look into things more objectively rather than dismissing my concerns so harshly.
It was a breath of fresh air to see some unbiased coverage for once. They were very professional and I feel honored that they took time to listen to my side and all sides for that matter.
A lot has been made of Poplar Bluff Internet’s debt to City Cable which was sold the night before the transformative elections. If somehow they still owe a bill to the city do you intend to do whatever is necessary and prudent to collect the bill?
Of course I do, however it has come to light that with the previous administration’s rush to push through the sale, they may have forgotten a very important detail. My understanding is that they did not put an exclusion in the contract that would allow the City to collect the debt from Poplar Bluff Internet. If the previous administration did not want this debt included with the sale along with all other debts, I feel that we needed an exclusion in the contract. A simple email is not a sufficient legal document in which we can rely on in my opinion. Every other bill to the city was sold to NewWave as debt, but for some reason, the previous administration may not have wanted this one bill included in the sale. This situation has to be researched and rectified due to lack of due diligence from former leaders.
What are your goals for the city?
My goals for the city are to see it become a very prosperous place for everyone. More fairness with companies that work with the city. I want to see improvements to infrastructure. I want to see more manufacturing brought into the city so that we have a good base of jobs for the people here. I want people to be able to live a comfortable life. I want to see the Downtown finally get to a good place where we have business and fun activities going on all of the time down there. I would like to see Poplar Bluff become much more like a technological hub of sorts and great innovation. I want to see our existing deficits in the city budget resolved and the city functioning more economically and more efficient. There are many improvements I want to see all over. If I can make a difference with any of these things, I would be very happy.
The late Mayor Louie Snider used to say, “Isn’t it great to live in Poplar Bluff?” Why have you and your husband chosen to live here?
We chose to live here because of family who live close by. We missed our hometown when we were away for college. I think this place has a lot of great things going on. I love it here. I love my city and I love the people here and I think that with all of us working together, we can make it even better.
Photos courtesy of Linda Venable Photography