Dilapidated houses surround her own home. Overgrown lots with heavy vegetation are scattered throughout her neighborhood. Trash and litter are dumped daily down her street. And some neighbors even dispose of human waste and animal carcasses near her property.
Her name is Sophronia Eubanks Taylor. And she is sick and tired.
“It’s an awful mess, and it’s a crying shame,” Taylor said. “Yazoo City is just going down.”
Taylor appeared before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen during its regular board meeting Monday, pleading with city leaders to address the growing number of problems in her neighborhood. Taylor and her family live and were raised in the Charles Street area, and she said the street is “horrible” and “a complete mess.”
Taylor said some of her own neighbors have resorted to treating her badly since she began speaking up about some of the conditions near her home. She said she has even reported the “bullying” to the police department in the past.
“One (neighbor) is a bully who tries to intimidate people,” she said. “He has a welding shop in his yard, and the trucks and cars are just piled up. It’s just junk over there.”
Taylor said she has reported the junk vehicles to the city, but they have never been towed or removed from her neighborhood. She also said the ditches in her area are also never cut and hold a variety of trash and litter among its growing vegetation.
Taylor said near the intersection of First Street and Charles Street, there is a neighbor who has no running water in his home. She said he has resorted to dumping human feces in the canal near her own home.
Taylor said she has attempted to notify city workers about the conditions in her area, but she said nothing has been done. Appearing before the city council this week was her last hope in resolving the situation, she said.
“Every time I try to talk to someone about this stuff, I can never track anyone down,” she said. “It’s just horrible, and something needs to be done.”
