Little Rock voters on Tuesday will choose among a teacher, a pastor and a retiree to fill the only contested at-large seat on the city Board of Directors.
Incumbent Gene Fortson, 79, a retired banker, drew two opponents in this year's election for the seat he's held for the past 10 years. They are Clayton Johnson, 65, a science teacher at Premier High School of Little Rock, a charter school; and Jason Ferguson, 49, pastor at First Christian Church of Sherwood and a chaplain at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
The other two at-large seats -- held by Dean Kumpuris and Joan Adcock -- are uncontested.
Adcock did have an opponent, Molly Miller, but Miller dropped out of the race. Miller's name will still appear on the ballot. If she receives more votes than Adcock, the seat will be declared vacant and the city board will choose who will fill it.
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Fortson, Johnson and Ferguson all say they have different approaches to public service.
Fortson said he's running on his record and wants to continue the progress that has been made during his time in office. As chairman of the city Advertising and Promotion Commission's finance committee, Fortson had a role in overseeing the $70.5 million renovation of the Robinson Center, scheduled to reopen this week.
If re-elected, Fortson wants to keep an eye on the city's implementation of its Youth Master Plan. He also said there's been a lot of progress with infrastructure improvements started with funds from a 1 percent sales tax approved by voters in 2011 that he'd like to see through.
"We also need more police. We are understaffed," Fortson said, adding that police can't prevent all crime so the city should work with the school district on youth programs to "head off what's happening" with juvenile crime.
Johnson has a different approach to public safety. He said citizens should play a larger role and the city should start a community policing advisory council. There should also be more community-oriented police officers and code officers stationed in the areas of town where they work to allow more interaction with residents, Johnson said.
"We need [a council] that acts as an overseer of all issues in the city, not just policing but public works, housing, neighborhoods and code, and animal control. Something that can review enacted policy of a department -- where citizens can come in and talk about what they need done without having to go through uniformed police and code officers," Johnson said.
Quality of life is Johnson's second main issue. He thinks the city's infrastructure resources should be directed to areas that need them the most, instead of having funds evenly split among the seven wards.
Ferguson has several policies he would like to change or state laws he'd like to lobby the legislature to change, he said. He also wants more civility and less ego from city directors, he said.
"I'm running because I feel that a large majority of the citizens of Little Rock are underrepresented on the city board. ... There are a couple things I would want to address immediately that may or may not be approved by the board. They are transparency issues and spending issues," Ferguson said.
He wants to make it so that anyone appointed to a vacant board seat to fill out a term cannot then run for election to that seat. Fortson was appointed to his position in 2006 and elected by the public twice since then.
Ferguson also wants to enact a policy in which board members must recuse from a vote if an individual or company who contributed to that board member's campaign is involved in the issue being voted on.
City directors are paid $18,000 a year, and each position is for a four-year term.
According to campaign finance disclosures filed Tuesday, Fortson has raised the most funding -- $58,330. Johnson self funded his campaign's $26,100, according to his report.
The deadline to file finance reports is Nov. 1, but Ferguson hadn't submitted one as of Friday afternoon. He said he's been working seven days a week since September and forgot to file on time. He received $2,900 in contributions, he said.
According to Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-202, a candidate who knowingly fails to submit a disclosure report could be found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. State law requires financial reports to be filed by candidates that have spent or received more than $500.
Metro on 11/07/2016