Norman Smith says he is tired of hearing people complain about Greenwood's problems without doing anything to fix them.
Speaking to the Greenwood Voters League Wednesday, the City Council Ward 5 candidate says he favors action over talking. And he promised to be accountable.
"If I don't do what I say I'm going to do, do me a favor: Vote me out," he said. "The time has come. We either do something, or we get out of the way."
Smith said people have been encouraging him to seek office for a while. Some even suggested he run for mayor.
He said he decided to seek the Ward 5 seat so he can observe the political process from the inside.
Other Democrats in the Ward 5 race are Andrew Powell and Tennill Cannon.
Smith, 66, a Greenwood native, graduated from Broad Street High School. Later he earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Jackson State University.
He served as a Leflore County constable for 20 years. Now he teaches social studies at the Greenwood Alternative School. This is his 18th year of teaching.
Smith said he is focused on crime prevention, industrial development and more organized recreational opportunities in southwest Greenwood.
Another priority is improved housing, which he said would help reduce crime and attract industry. Grants are available from public and private sources to help with housing, and someone just needs to write proposals, he said.
Better housing makes the area more attractive to industrialists, and it also can help young people do better in school, Smith said. Students who have their own rooms can study better, rest and go to school fresh, he said.
Smith said he also would like to pursue a grant to hire 20 more police officers. Having more officers patrol high-crime areas in unmarked cars between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. would help people feel more secure, and it would reduce crime significantly within a year, he said.
"You go into north Greenwood and walk all night, and nobody'll bother you," he said. "We can't do that in our neighborhood."
Smith said he never wore a uniform or carried a weapon when he was a constable, but he acted with integrity and got the job done.
As another example, he mentioned a "60 Minutes" report on community policing efforts by black Muslims. They don't carry weapons, but they work together, act respectfully, and discourage crime, he said. "They mean what they say, and that's what we've got to be," he said.
He applied their example of teamwork to the community as well. Crime is encouraged if people who witness it don't tell the police, Smith said.
"If somebody breaks into this person's home, and I see him do that, and I don't tell the law-enforcement people who did it, I'm just as guilty as the man who broke in the house - because he's eventually going to break in mine," he said.
Smith said he learned discipline when he was growing up. He knew not to steal, litter or do other disrespectful things. People in any neighborhood can take pride in where there live, he said.
"We don't have to have a $100,000 house to keep it clean," he said.
Smith said industrial development is a key to keep bright young people from moving away.
In 1996, Gov. Kirk Fordice asked 13,000 high school seniors what they planned to do after graduation, and 95 percent said they were leaving, Smith said. They were headed out of state because there weren't enough jobs, he said.
Taxpayers pay for these young people's education but don't reap the benefits when the students become successful, Smith said.
He cited the example of his own son, who moved out of the state.
"It really hurts to see that happen, because that's what's going to happen if we don't do something to keep our young people at home," he said.
When he was in school, he said, people in Greenwood laughed at Grenada. But Grenada's young people went to work to improve their community, and now it has more industry and a broader tax base to improve streets, housing and other things.
Jobs beget jobs, and the whole community benefits, he said, adding that the same thing could be done here.
"We'll make our community rewarding, attractive, and people will want to come in and settle here - like it was when I grew up," he said.
Smith also said he would like to add a recreation center in the heart of the black community, offering a place for studying and computer use as well as athletics.
"Learn how to do something with your head instead of so much playing basketball," he said. "We have enough basketball players as it is."
Asked how he would fund the center's continued operation, he said grants used for such a project can be renewable if records are kept properly.
