Fort Smith Times Record
Jim Phillips has lived in his Booneville home since 2000. The house belonged to his mother and stepfather and had been in the family for generations.
But a couple of months ago, Booneville city officials decided to condemn his house.
“I have nowhere else to go, Phillips said.
Phillips, 45, is disabled and lives on a fixed income. He does not have the money to hire a lawyer and fight the city on its decision.
Before the city s move to condemn the house, Phillips received four citations all mandating that he clean up his yard.
Since then, Phillips said he has worked to make sure his yard stays clean.
Booneville Mayor and police chief: Drug use, addiction is a problem swtimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from swtimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Booneville works to clean up city
The Booneville police are working to enforce the law requiring people to keep their properties clean.
Police Chief Benjamin Villareal said that holding people accountable for the state of their properties was one of his goals when he took the position in July.
“I wanted to clean the town up and leave it better than when I become chief, Villareal said.
It is an issue that has been escalating.
“It’s been a problem, Villareal said. It’s just been getting worse and worse.
In 2018, the Booneville City Council amended the ordinance and allowed police officers to serve people with letters of warning. Prior to that, the officers could only enforce the ordinance if they received a complaint about the property.
Fort Smith Times Record
If the Booneville mayor has his way, starting pay in the city will increase for the first time since 2013 and all employees will see a $1,000 pay increase.
Mayor Jerry Wilkins said that there has just not been money to give raises and any increase would have to be included in the city s budget and passed by the city council.
“Well the reason is there’s just not money there to do it, Wilkins said.
He said if the city receives more federal and state funding, he would more likely be able to give people raises.
The amount of money the city gets is based on population, and Wilkins is waiting to see if the 2020 U.S. Census numbers mean an increase in the amount of money Booneville receives.