New year welcomes historic Mayor in Pine Bluff

After a rocky 2004, the city of Pine Bluff has a new leader at the helm. Monday night, the city swore in its first black mayor, Carl Redus, Jr. A crowd large enough to almost fill the Pine Bluff Convention Center auditorium showed up for the special swearing in ceremony. The city continued with its regular agenda meeting, but what mattered most to the crowd there, was what happened just moments earlier. "I didn`t think I would ever see it in my lifetime," said Chestine Sims, a local business owner and pastor. Redus promised to make the quality of life better for all residents of Pine Bluff. But he knows his work is cut out for him. "It`s a hard-working class city that`s been neglected for the past 10, 12, 20 years," Redus said. In 2004, Pine Bluff`s news hasn`t all been good. Legal troubles came for two councilmembers, Jack Foster and Billy Freeman -- a department one Redus supporter says may be the first that needs addressing. "The council, the city council needs fixing. It has to be fixed within for an effective job without," said Patricia Donald, a teacher in Pine Bluff. And the city struggled with budget woes. "I`m gonna have to live with the budget put forth by the former mayor and former council," Redus said. Pine Bluff was also on the receiving end of a lawsuit from the county over a dispute about jail fees. But with a new leader, both sides are now optimistic about a brighter future. "I think they were willing to put out the olive branch and say let`s work collectively together," said Redus. The city also chose, last year, not to fill several position on the police force for budget reasons. Redus says he is meeting with the police department this week to talk about which direction to head now.