EDITORIAL: For ... the Big Three

Folks, this is going to be tough

We asked a friend the other day, a trusted friend, who he preferred in the mayoral election in Little Rock. Without missing a beat, he said, "Any of the Big Three."

We didn't need to ask what he meant.

We asked another friend, a trusted friend, who she preferred. Without missing a beat, she said she's torn, too. You can't throw any of the Big Three under a bus, she said. "They're all really good candidates."

Imagine that: Having an election in which there are too many good candidates. Gosh, why can't we get that in the Supreme Court and legislative races?

We have to admit being surprised that Frank Scott Jr. had so many specifics. Did we expect him to be more sizzle than steak? We have to admit being surprised that Warwick Sabin was so Arkansan. Did we expect him to have a thicker accent? We have to admit being surprised that Baker Kurrus had so much energy. Did we expect an old man?

Even a columnist on the other page to your right--we won't name him, but his initials are John Brummett--seems conflicted about this race. Can it be that Little Rock can't go wrong, no matter who wins? Our considered editorial opinion, which is more considered on this race than most, is a resounding "yes."

We'll go alphabetically, since we know no other way:

Baker Kurrus would make an excellent mayor. He's got the energy of a candidate half, maybe a third, of his age. Our reporters tried keeping up with him on a bike. Which is how he seems to get around the city. He's not just a budget wonk who talks in numbers. The man is passionate. He's the former superintendent for the state's largest school district, so he knows the problems here. He also knows how to be a CEO of a large bureaucracy. He trimmed jobs at the school district, and that in itself is remarkable. ("I got rid of 10 people making $100,000--and nobody knew they were gone.")

He knows the city's budget can't work until certain precincts are revitalized--and can be taxed as useful homes or businesses. He wants to fill open police positions. He promises to shout about the shortcomings of certain failing schools. And we don't doubt him.

Then there's Warwick Sabin, who brings another skill set: He's worked in the White House. He helped save the Oxford American. (Dedicated to the best of Southern writing! Be still, our inky hearts.) He's been in the Legislature, a speech writer, and some sort of bigwig for an innovation hub. Oh, and there really ought to be a plaque at the UofA for all the stuff he's done there. As Casey Stengel used to say, you can look it up. We did.

He'll also bend your ear about what other cities have been doing, as if he has studied it: "We need to make Little Rock a hub of economic activity, so we can have the good jobs of the future right here, and not lose talent to other cities."

As far as Frank Scott Jr., well, he's the young one at 34. And also, it should be noted, the candidate from southwest Little Rock who still lives off Chicot Road.

Frank Scott reminds us of one of those young officers in the Army who stands straight, talks with a commanding voice, and keeps getting more and more assignments because the colonel in the office knows that particular super-lifer will always complete the mission. Which is what he did on the state's Highway Commission, when a governor named Mike Beebe kept sending him to the field:

"Here's what I know," he told the paper. "I knew I did not deserve it, but I did earn it."

And in a city in which a big controversy happens to be the interstate corridor over the river, and will probably continue being a controversy, having a highway commissioner as mayor might prove an advantage.

Oh, and as a career, he's a banker. With everything else on Frank Scott's plate, one might forget that. Financial expertise would be a plus in the mayor's office.

We asked a trusted friend--again: Are we sidestepping the hard choice? Wimping out, as it were? If there's anything we can't stand, it's a wimpy editorial. Should we pick a name out of a hat? Should we make a choice anyway, knowing that the two others could lead the city just as well?

Normally decisive about such things, she shrugged. For once, she said, she's confounded at having a choice between candidates of this caliber. Which says a lot, because she's no political wimp, either.

When candidates are this good, one begins wishing two of them would've picked a different race.

Maybe there's hope for the republic.

And this city.

Editorial on 10/26/2018

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