By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
When a visiting civic researcher pointed out last week that one out of four children in Salisbury lives in poverty, it grabbed the attention of Salisbury City Council.
City officials already had decided they must call for an economic recovery summit ó an effort to link those in need with the resources available to them.
But after hearing speaker Dr. Suzanne Morse’s concern about the child poverty level in Salisbury, council members agreed they also should initiate a community-wide effort to address that issue.
Mayor Susan Kluttz acknowledged, however, she was having a difficult time knowing what specific things the city could do toward reducing poverty. Others agreed.
“I don’t have the answers and don’t know who does,” Councilman Mark Lewis said. “…What do we need? We need the community to tell us.”
The city knows where its impoverished neighborhoods are, Lewis said. He suggested each Salisbury neighborhood should have a needs assessment that can connect those in need with community resources.
The city also could make efforts to develop community leaders to help identify the problems related to poverty, he suggested
No matter what they eventually decide, the council members came away from their annual goal-setting retreat persuaded that the poverty numbers link to low reading and math scores among elementary school students, which lead to troubling high school dropout rates later, which drain community resources and increase crime.
The cycle of poverty for children then continues.
City Manager David Treme said he was struck by Morse’s message that third-grade reading levels are a good indication of what will happen to children down the road.
The community needs to have some kind of intervention that ultimately reduces the dropout rate, and Treme liked the idea of a second- or third-grade reading academy that tries to bring at-risk children up to the reading levels where they belong.
It may take a combined effort of city government, churches and the business community, Treme said.
Council concluded its two-day, goal-setting retreat Friday afternoon and identified seven things they wanted to concentrate on over the next year.
Three of the initiatives dealt with holding an economic recovery summit, looking into the possibilities of a Salisbury reading academy and exploring ways to reduce child poverty.
The other short-term goals:
– Build a fiber optic cable utility to offer residents television, telephone and Internet services. City officials spent a good portion of Friday hearing from two other communities which have done the fiber-to-the-home cable initiative.
– Take steps ó it will require a local bill introduced in the General Assembly ó to implement an additional 3 percent hotel occupancy tax for Salisbury only. The county already levies a 3 percent room tax on hotels, but county commissioners have not been willing to go to the maximum of 6 percent.
Councilman Bill Burgin said community tourism efforts need the additional revenues and suggested that the city and county could split the 6 percent total tax revenues.
“Our citizens are paying those dollars (a 6 percent room tax) in other communities,” Burgin said.
– Offer a summer youth program at the Salisbury Community Park. The Parks and Recreation Department has plans in the works for an Outdoor Adventure Camp, which will be offered for eight weeks and provide city transportation to the park on Hurley School Road.
– Seek local permitting authority for extensions of water and sewer. Developers sometimes face weeks of delay now in waiting for the state to sign off on utility extension plans. Salisbury-Rowan Utilities could issue the permits much sooner, if it was granted the authority.
Council also was intrigued when Morse, president of Pew Partnership for Civic Change, observed that Salisbury should do more to identify with Cheerwine, its homegrown soft drink.
Council set exploring the possibility of a Cheerwine festival as a goal. The Public Art Committee, an offshoot of the Community Appearance Commission, has held some preliminary discussions about a Cheerwine-related festival.
Treme suggested that maybe the Parks and Recreation Department and Downtown Salisbury Inc. also could be involved.