Turrell needs a car

Turrell needs a car

Old vehicles have nearly outlived their usefulness

news@theeveningtimes.com

Turrell is in desperate need of a city vehicle and officials are hoping someone in the county will step forward and donate a car for the city to use.

Mayor Dorothy Cooper said the city currently has two vehicles — a 1999 Ford F150 pickup truck and a 2000 Crown Victoria — both of which are in poor shape.

“I don’t have a vehicle to drive,” Cooper said. “And I met with the council and was told there isn’t any money in the budget for one. So I would like to reach out to see if there is somebody out there who can help and could donate one to the city.”

Cooper said she has been driving the 1999 Ford F150 but that is now in the shop, and the Crown Victoria is in such bad shape that she only uses it in town.

The city has spent money on the vehicles to keep them on the road, but it doesn’t make sense to keep spending any more money on vehicles which are nearly 20 years old.

“Both of them are in terrible shape,” Cooper said. “I have put tires on the car.

But I only drive it in the city. If I go to West Memphis I am really taking a chance. And the truck is now down completely.”

Cooper said she doesn’t have a personal vehicle of her own to use in its place, and because of her own economic hardship doesn’t have money to buy one.

Although she is looking for a full time job, the mayor’s salary isn’t enough to get by on. The city cut the salary from $2,000 a month to $1,000 a month.

Cooper said there are several meetings which will require her to drive to Little Rock, and not having a reliable vehicle is a hindrance.

“It’s hard to get to a meeting driving that truck,” Cooper said. “And now it is in the shop. That is what I had been using to drive to Little Rock in. But I need to be safe. I can’t drive an unsafe vehicle. So I am hoping there is somebody out there who has a vehicle they can donate to help the city out.”

By Mark Randall