With the deadline to file for municipal government positions less than a week away, three candidates have formally filed to run for Little Rock mayor and 12 have filed bids for seats on the city Board of Directors.
State Rep. Warwick Sabin, a 41-year-old Little Rock Democrat, filed Wednesday to run for mayor. Vincent Tolliver, a 51-year-old consultant for the Little Rock School District, and Baker Kurrus, the 64-year-old former state-appointed superintendent of the Little Rock School District, have also officially filed bids.
Mayor Mark Stodola is not seeking re-election.
The position is full time and pays $160,000 a year. The mayor has an office in City Hall, presides over Board of Directors meetings, and has veto and appointment powers.
The mayor and city directors serve four-year terms.
Three men have filed to run for the Ward 1 seat on the Board of Directors: Curtis Johnson, the 50-year-old interim executive director of operations at Arkansas Baptist College; Michael "Ted" Adkins, a 52-year-old former Little Rock police officer who retired from the department in June; and Ronnie Jackson, the 54-year-old president of the East Little Rock Neighborhood Association.
The Ward 1 position is currently held by Erma Hendrix, 88, who has indicated that she will run for re-election.
Three people have filed to run for the Ward 2 seat: Shalonda Riley, a 39-year-old who has worked as an actress, model and motivational speaker and is campaigning under the name Shalonda Michelle; Valerie Tatum, the 54-year-old executive director of Covenant Keepers Charter School; and Rohn Muse, a 65-year-old neighborhood activist and professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Ken Richardson, 52, holds the Ward 2 position and has indicated that he plans to run for re-election.
Two Board of Directors incumbents who have filed for re-election face no opposition: Ward 3 City Director Kathy Webb, 69, who also serves as vice mayor, and Ward 5 City Director Lance Hines, 49.
Ward 6 City Director Doris Wright has filed to run for re-election. No one who had picked up packets to run for that position had officially filed as of Thursday afternoon.
Two new candidates have filed to run for the Ward 7 seat: Edmond Davis, a 41-year-old small-business owner and former professor at Arkansas Baptist College, and Robert Williams, the 52-year-old president of the Westwood Neighborhood Association. Incumbent B.J. Wyrick, 68, has filed to run for re-election.
City board members are paid $18,000 annually.
Three other men have filed to run for city director positions, but the city clerk has not yet verified that they have at least 50 signatures from registered voters in Little Rock. They are Danny Lewis, a 52-year-old real estate agent and minister, for the Ward 1 seat; Herbert Broadway, a 59-year-old nightclub owner, for the Ward 1 seat; and Matthew McFadden, 30, for the Ward 7 seat.
The deadline to turn in a completed packet to run for office is noon Friday.
Metro on 08/12/2018