PINE BLUFF — For the past 23 years, voters in Pine Bluff’s Ward 1 have gone to the polls and found Irene Holcomb’s name on the ballot for alderman.
But on Tuesday, it will be absent.
Holcomb, 70, who became the first black woman to hold a seat on the City Council, said she decided earlier this year to retire from politics in order to concentrate on her family business and spend more time with loved ones.
“I hold a great appreciation to God, my family and my constituents in Pine Bluff, who elected me over and over,” Holcomb said on a recent afternoon from her seat inside council chambers.
The chambers were empty that day, but Holcomb said she could feel the presence of all those who have gathered there through the years.
Holcomb’s term expires at the end of the year, but the family legacy in Pine Bluff politics could continue, depending on the outcome of Tuesday’s election.
Holcomb’s son, Lloyd Holcomb Jr., is running for his mother’s seat.
He faces opponents Alfred Carroll, Milton Jenkins, Jean Painton and Melanie Perkins for the Ward 1 seat.
Irene Holcomb said she feels good about her son’s chances in the race and is proud that he “wants to carry on the family name on the council.”
“I have always considered myself the cheerleader for Pine Bluff,” she said. “He can be the drum major, but only if he realizes that there is a big band that will march behind him.”
As for her role as the first black female alderman in Pine Bluff, Holcomb said she got there “on the shoulders of so many African-American leaders in this community,” adding “it felt really good. I felt like I had earned this role.”
In addition to politics, Holcomb is heavily involved in her family’s mortuary business. She also served for 35 years as an educator at various school districts,most notably the Little Rock School District, from which she retired in 2004.
She has championed youth issues in Pine Bluff and led the charge on the renovation of the Chester Hynes Community Center.
But Holcomb is quick to note that “it takes five members of this [eight-member council] to make any decisions. I always like to say ‘we’ do things, not ‘I’ do things.
“I thank God for all the opportunities I have had,” she said. “It’s been great, but I just decided to stop while I was on top.”
Pine Bluff Mayor Carl Redus Jr. said of Holcomb: “She has always looked out for the city employees and staffers. She brought a unique perspective to the council, having been an educator as well as a business woman. We will miss her, but knowing Irene as I know her, she will still have her fingers somewhere in the mix.”
Alderman Wayne Easterly, who has served with Holcomb on the council since he took office 11 years ago, said Holcomb has “always been passionate about issues dealing with kids. She wants to make sure they have places to go after school and that they are taken care of.”
Easterly said it will be strange attending meetings next year and not seeing Holcomb.
“She has been a steady influence on the council for so long,” he said. “She has always been there working for the citizens. She will be missed.”
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 11/05/2012