GARFIELD -- With a plan to enforce ordinances already on the town's books, Mayor Gary Blackburn appointed Zannie Morrison as code enforcement officer for the town.
"We have a certain number of ordinances that require a code enforcement officer to perform inspections. I was told in no uncertain terms at the November City Council meeting that if we had an ordinance on file, we had better enforce it," Blackburn said.
The mayor said he interviewed several people for the position and believed Morrison had the familiarity with the community, a good standing in the community and a knowledge of construction, in addition to the ability to work with others that he would be the best candidate.
"With this job, comes the potential for people to respond," Blackburn said, adding that he told Morrison, "You'll be the most hated person in the community."
But, he said that Morrison would be the mayor's "eyes and legs in the community."
Morrison said he is a native of Garfield and was born in Rogers. "I've lived here, other than my military career, just about my whole life."
Morrison said he bought his farm in Garfield in 1973. An electrician's mate third class in the Navy, he said he was head cook at the senior center in Bentonville, an electrician most of his life and a school bus driver. He said he worked for Walmart for seven years as an assembler and did "a lot of electrical work in the store."
The love of his community is what drives him, he said. "When I got out of the military, I could have gone anywhere I wanted to go. I've been to 48 states. Garfield was home. That's where I raised my three kids."
"I think that we as a small town need to grow as any town does so that we can have more things like city parks and things for families," he said. "And, to do that, we have to have more money. Needless to say, as a code enforcement official, I can try to help the community get looking better so more people would like to say 'Garfield is a nice looking town, clean, with no crime rate.'"
"I look forward to serving in this position and working with the mayor," Morrison said. "I'm proud of where I live and I'd like to see it grow.
"Code enforcement builds a better community. We're on the brink of seeing substantial growth. We have the new highway, the nature conservancy. We're just going to be ripe for development and we want to see it done right."
"I do not want to be a hardship for anyone in the city as far as meeting the codes," Morrison said. "At the same time, I think people should be proud of where they live and take the initiative to keep it clean."
He said his job is a "very part-time position" and he plans to make about four visits a month to sites in town. Because of health conditions, he said he doesn't drive much and his wife drives him around. "We just start picking out the worst cases and work on one at a time. I want to make sure what I'm doing is correct according to the book. The book tells me what I am supposed to do."
Blackburn said he plans to provide training for the code enforcement officer and within one year, provide citation training. He said he would take counsel from the city's attorney on the training needed for Morrison.
Morrison's wife is Susan. He said he has three grown children and a stepchild, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. They are members of Boundless Grace Baptist Church.
General News on 02/10/2016