Atoka is a small, suburban community that lies in the crevice of Tennessee and Arkansas. It’s a small town that sits on the edge of Memphis and is a humble abode to many. Although a very welcoming town, there are various issues that our town has that needs to be addressed. If I was mayor of Atoka, Tennessee, I would make sure the issues were brought to light and fixed. I would ensure our town be hit with a wave of prosperity and growth.

There are many problems plaguing our town, but one of the biggest dilemmas is the road safety of our citizens. Since Atoka is such a minuscule town on the map, many of its natives walk to where they need to go. But, there are barely any sidewalks! The only place you can find sidewalks are near schools, gated communities, or parks. Sidewalks are a necessity to ensure the safety of our citizens. Sidewalks guide people on paths and let drivers know where they are. If the role of mayor fell to me, I would install sidewalks wherever they were needed, if plausible. Another concern that relates to road safety is that the roads are extremely small in width. The standard roadway lane width ranges from 8.2 feet to 10.2 feet. Atoka holds many backroads in its fissures of a city and these small roadways can cause plenty of accidents if not fixed. Buses and large trucks can easily overturn trying to avoid oncoming traffic. We must solve this problem by expanding the roadways a little at a time, making sure to not largely interfere with work and bus routes.

Another problem afflicting our small city is the lack of arts. The use of different arts have  been outlets for people to use throughout time. For example, the Harlem Renaissance. But, there are barely any arts programs in our town. My high school, Munford High, has a poorly funded theatre program and we have a community theatre in Covington which is at least 20 minutes away! There is no way for visual artists, actors, or dancers to express themselves. My solution to this problem would be to, hopefully, obtain money from sponsors, so our youth has a way to express themselves. As of now, Atoka’s youth has no way to hone their abilities, but there’s an easy fix. Inside of our facility, we would have a stage, art room, dance studios, and a gym. We would, also, provide snacks and the required equipment that is needed. If funding can’t be required through other means, I would make sure the budget is set toward this facility.

There can be times when Atoka is very boring. I would include more activities for the public to participate in. The only things we have normally are celebrations for Halloween, a back-to-school bash, celebration for the founding day, etc. These are widely spread apart and doesn’t give the public much to do. If I were mayor, I’d give more competitions to the public to help better our city, build tennis courts and forest trails, among other things. I would make sure that a citizen would be able to participate in something everyday even if it wasn’t as extravagant as a festival. 

Being selected as town mayor would be a great opportunity to better our town in more ways than one. Atoka has things that need to be fixed now rather than later. If I were chosen as mayor of Atoka, I’d make sure our town would have a long-lasting legacy.