The five candidates for Little Rock mayor detailed their economic visions for the city in a Monday night forum, tackling topics including Amazon, pay discrimination and broadband access.
At the first in a series of candidate forums hosted by the Central Arkansas Library System, Lance Turner, online editor at Arkansas Business, took the stage at Dee Brown Library to deliver questions from the event's sponsors as well as attendees.
Each candidate highlighted his own resume. Baker Kurrus, 64, said he helped many small businesses open in his nearly two decades as a lawyer. State Rep. Warwick Sabin, 41, said he provided entrepreneurs with resources as the founder of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub.
Glen Schwarz, 64, said he has worked as a teacher and a recycling center manager. Frank Scott Jr., 34, is a bank executive, associate pastor and former state highway commissioner. Vincent Tolliver, a 51-year-old Little Rock School District consultant, emphasized a hard-knock childhood in Lake Village that taught him to value equity.
One question posed by Turner referenced a city policy of basing a new employee's starting pay on the person's previous salary, which critics say emphasizes racial and gender pay gaps. All candidates but Schwarz said they would support removing the salary-history inquiries on city job applications, though Scott noted the need for government transparency.
A submitted question asked the candidates how they would expand broadband access in the city. Sabin and Tolliver said they would work with local providers, while Schwarz said private enterprise would solve the problem. Scott said the city should make free public Wi-Fi a priority. Kurrus said the city doesn't have the money to put broadband access first, especially in areas with low population density, but that he would support funding it via a tax.
"Amazon's HQ2 was a pipe dream for Little Rock," another question began, before asking the candidates what selling points Little Rock has to attract companies. Sabin emphasized the city's relatively low cost of living. Schwarz said Little Rock is a great place to do business, while Scott, Tolliver and Kurrus highlighted the city's quality of life.
The next forum, which will focus on crime, will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Fletcher Library, 823 N. Buchanan St.
The other sponsors are KUAR public radio, the League of Women Voters of Pulaski County and the American Association of University Women, Little Rock.
Metro on 09/11/2018