3 in race to be next mayor of Conway

CONWAY -- Three men are vying to be the first new mayor in Conway since 1999, when Tab Townsell took office.

Candidates for the nonpartisan position are former Conway Fire Department Chief Bart Castleberry, former Conway Police Department Maj. Mark Elsinger and Scott Grummer, Conway city planner.

All three said that, if elected, street maintenance would be one of their top priorities. The winner will serve a four-year term and lead the city of more than 64,000 residents that is home to three colleges.

Castleberry, 58, worked for the city's Fire Department 33 years until he retired in 2013. For 20 of those years, he was chief. He is now the city's director of permits and inspections.

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Elsinger, 62, spent more than 30 years in law enforcement and was interim chief for about four months in 2007. As a police major and later as an employee of the mayor's office, Elsinger oversaw construction of the city's new Police Department in downtown Conway.

Grummer, 46, has worked for the city of Conway for four years. He started in community and economic development and now has the title of city planner. He also has worked in Little Rock in a nonprofit development project and has served as board president for the Lake Conway Point Remove Watershed Alliance.

Castleberry said improving streets and expanding infrastructure would be his top priority and are "necessary if we hope to continue attracting new jobs and new opportunities."

"Building better and safer streets will allow Conway to catch up to past growth" and help traffic move faster, he said.

Castleberry said the city has spent $1.1 million annually from state turnback funds for the past three years to help with access to the planned Central Landing shopping center, but money will be available for other uses starting in 2017. "Instead of having $400,000 for street repairs," the city will have almost $1.5 million, he said.

Castleberry cited his "executive-level experience ... managing multimillion dollar budgets in both good times and bad."

The mayor's job pays $102,336 annually, though Elsinger said that he would review the city's salary structure and that he thought the mayor received too big of a raise -- about $23,000 -- in 2013.

"I want to look at all of the salaries and see ... if some people are overpaid and some underpaid, up to and including the mayor's salary," Elsinger said. "I think he's [the mayor is] making too much money."

Elsinger said city finances are a major concern. "I think there's overspending" and an "unwise use of money" in some departments, he said.

The city hasn't maintained its streets and other infrastructure such as drainage, Elsinger said. He also wants the city to pursue more manufacturing jobs.

Grummer said he would bring "a broader base of experience" to the mayor's office and that he was concerned about "fiscal health for the city."

"I've worked in both the private, public and nonprofit realms," Grummer said. "I've served in executive positions. ... I haven't worked in just one place in my life" but have held jobs in a wide range of things, from real-estate development to manufacturing.

The city needs to make "sure that adequate resources are going to take care of the infrastructure," including streets, Grummer said. He also cited the need for "multiple modes of transit," from more sidewalks to bus transit to help those residents "who can't afford to get around" in cars.

"It all comes back to good planning, planning for the future," Grummer said.

Townsell did not seek re-election this year and will soon move into the executive director's position at Metroplan, the long-range transportation planning agency for central Arkansas with an emphasis on Pulaski, Faulkner, Saline and Lonoke counties.

State Desk on 10/25/2016

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