Billy Davis
Saying Crenshaw needs to “get back on track,” its town government is vowing to enforce a laundry list of ordinances that are expected to cause a commotion in the little town.

Junk cars, loud music, trashy property, loose dogs, open containers and even a “saggy pants” ordinance were rattled off near the end of the May 6 town meeting.  

“I might be a one-term mayor but I’m going to do what’s best for our town,” Mayor Oscar Barlow told the Board of Aldermen and attendees.

The mayor and board are set to reconvene May 13, in a special called meeting, to begin passing town ordinances.

Town attorney Tommy Shuler, of Sardis, is expected to help the mayor and board wade through the municipal laws.

After the meeting, Barlow told The Panolian that some ordinances needed to be updated, since their fines haven’t changed in two decades. Others simply need to be enforced, he said.

Asked to name his most important, Barlow said a crackdown on noise – the “bump, bump, bump” of car stereos – and unleashed dogs top his list.

Town government will also require homeowners to keep their property clean, he said. That crackdown will follow similar action from last year, when the town went after unsightly abandoned lots.

Barlow said police officer Sean Shelton, who was wounded in a February gunfight, will serve as Crenshaw’s code enforcement officer.

Shelton was set to return to patrol duty this week after being released by a doctor, said the mayor.

Billy Lambert, a Panola sheriff’s deputy, is employed part time as interim police chief.

Town residents, when they heard the mayor’s plans last week, welcomed beefed-up enforcement.  

“It’s gotten outrageous,” said Emmanuel Coleman, who described his embarrassment at residents walking down the street with an open container of beer.

“When you start enforcing this, a little bit of respect will come back for the police and for our town,” said another resident.