Indianola Enterprise-Tocsin
Letter: Municipal Drug Court Needs to be Supported
Dear editor,
I would like to take this time to urge our community and leaders to support the new Indianola Municipal Drug Court that will be phased in shortly.
I am grateful to have been involved from the beginning by arranging the initial meeting with Circuit Judge Margaret Carey-McCray of Greenville, Dr. Adrian L. Brown of Brown & Associates, Inc., Alderman Marvin Elder, Sr., and Judge Kuykendall Horne-Murry.
I supported this project from the beginning with Judge Horne-Murry and wanted to make sure the right team was put together to ensure that the City of Indianola was successful in being awarded this grant.
In fact, because of Dr. .Brown’s WK Kellogg Foundation Fellow connection with Judge Margaret Carey-McCray, the meeting was expeditiously set up and thus, the planning began for the Indianola Municipal Drug Court. After this initial meeting, it was Judge Kuykendall Horne-Murry’s desire to assist a vulnerable population and her most specific request that the City retain Dr. Adrian L. Brown of Brown & Associates, Inc. to lead these efforts. I am glad that the City supported this local business who has provided so much to the local community. I encourage the City leaders to consider bringing Dr. Brown back so that other departments can receive the benefits of his talents which often leads to results.
I would also like to personally thank a few people who played a critical part in this process that often go unnoticed: State Representative John Hines Sr. D-50, who has given his support and made many much-needed connections to help secure funding from the State, U.S. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson 2nd Congressional District, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Sunflower County Board of Supervisors and Board President Glenn M. Donald, City of Indianola Board of Aldermen and Mayor, Police Chief Edrick Hall, Corporal Regina Simpson, City of Indianola Police Department, Sheriff James Haywood and the Sunflower County Sheriff’s Department, Dr. Gloria McIntosh and the Sunflower County Chancery Clerk’s Office, Mrs. Carolyn Hamilton and the Sunflower County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Circuit Court Judge Carol White-Richard, Mississippi Delta Community College, The Enterprise Tocsin, Sunflower County Ministerial Alliance Counseling Services, Inc., Sunflower Humphreys Counties Progress, Inc., Greater New Jerusalem, Life Help, Region 6, North Yalobusha Charities, Inc., North Yalobusha Hospice & Palliative Care, Inc. and Families First of Mississippi.
This was a monumental task to organize and manage and I want to personally thank all who played a part. This was not a one-man operation, but we had one vision in mind. We still have a few hurdles to jump, but I am confident that all will be well and those who need the help the most here in Sunflower County will receive it. Mother Teresa said it best, “None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful." Let us continue to work TOGETHER! As your State Representative, I stand ready to work on the next project! Never hesitate to call me!
State Representative Otis L. Anthony, II
D-31