Kenyon Lowe, chairman of the board of Little Rock’s federally funded public housing authority, plans to run for the Ward 1 seat on the Little Rock Board of Directors.
Lowe announced his intention to run in a news release Sunday. Reached by phone Monday, he said the ward faces problems and added that he did not see solutions emerging.
Lowe, 62, said his “main impetus” for running was to serve as a conduit for residents of the ward and solve problems. He called out the number of murders in the ward.
In addition to any other prospective Ward 1 contenders, during the November election Lowe will presumably face incumbent City Director Virgil L. Miller Jr., whom city board members appointed to the seat last fall to replace Erma Hendrix.
Ward 1 is one of the seven districts that elect a representative to the city board. The ward representatives serve alongside three at-large board members who are elected by the city’s entire pool of voters.
The boundaries of Ward 1 encompass Little Rock’s downtown business and entertainment corridor, areas surrounding the airport and various residential neighborhoods.
Lowe has served on the housing authority’s five-member board since 2012. Commissioners serve five-year terms.
He has run for local office on a series of occasions over the past several decades. They include repeated attempts to win a position on the board of the Little Rock School District.
Additionally, Lowe mounted a bid for the Little Rock city board before withdrawing in 1992, according to newspaper coverage at the time. In 2002, Lowe ran unsuccessfully for the Ward 1 seat on the city board, losing to incumbent Johnnie Pugh.