Greenwood, AR is a town that doesn’t change much. Every year it’s the same stuff, the same people, the same sights. It’s not a bad place to live, for the most part, but things need to change around here, and one area where there are some glaring corrections that need to be made is public service. By this I mean, of course, services for the public, and in this case I mean, specifically, the fixing of our town library and the addition of more crosswalks.
In Greenwood the citizenry takes great pride in its fantastic educational facilities, nigh-unbeatable football team, and the amount of community involvement available to those who want it. The public library is not something to take great pride in. It is a crumbling building, mildewy and cramped, with hostile fluorescent lighting and employees who do not seem to care much about the state of their workplace or the few customers who can stand to spend time inside. If a space was shown to be conducive to happiness or learning, this building would be the precise opposite of it. When you think about this at all, it’s odd. The city and its corporate sponsor, Farmer’s Bank, are willing to pour millions of dollars into the school system - constructing new buildings for the influx of up-and-coming students, re-turfing the football field every few years - but the same financial courtesy is not extended to what should be one of the more basic public facilities available: the library. If I were mayor, I would seek to correct this issue. I would seek funds from the city, or perhaps even from a large business or philanthropist looking to enhance their public image, and dedicate those funds to the public library on the grounds of safeguarding not only this generation’s thirst for knowledge, but that of any future generations, as well.

Around the town square and around the schools, you can find a wealth of crosswalks. But there are many places in town where crosswalks are noticeably absent, such as the most populated strip in town. Almost every day I see pedestrians run across the road, not protected from oncoming traffic in any way and sometimes even halting in the middle of the turn lane, simply because there are no designated crossing zones for a mile in either direction. There have even been multiple incidents involving pedestrians being hit by cars because there is no way for them to cross the road without putting themselves in danger. I think a relatively easy way to solve this problem is to construct more crosswalks on the populated roads of town. This would assist in my mission to protect the interests of the citizens of Greenwood, would cut down on dangerous foot traffic, and could possibly even encourage more people to get out and walk around town. It would increase the sense of community and safety my town so proudly defends.

I think if we institute these changes, Greenwood could become an even better place to live than it already is. We could make it so that later on we won’t have to implement this kind of thing. If I were mayor, I would make sure that we acted in the interests of the public, and that’s exactly what these specific alterations would accomplish.