In a world where faith and science often differ, Chris Jones believes both can exist harmoniously.
A minister and physicist, Jones grew up in Pine Bluff and graduated from Watson Chapel High School. He was educated in physics and mathematics at Atlanta's Morehouse College and earned a master's degree in nuclear engineering and a doctoral degree in urban planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jones has led the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, a nonprofit organization that helped Arkansans build businesses and create jobs, according to his campaign bio.
Jones, a Democrat, is now running for governor of Arkansas against Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Libertarian Ricky Dale Harrington Jr.
All candidates, seeking to hold public office for the first time, were invited to meet face-to-face with a Commercial reporter to answer questions ahead of Election Day or, in lieu of an interview, fill out a questionnaire. Jones chose to meet face-to-face.
The questions, which highlight issues in Pine Bluff and southeast Arkansas, and Jones' answers -- which have been condensed for brevity -- are below:
Commercial: Jefferson County is a much different educational landscape than in the last 20 years. For example, kids in Altheimer and Wabbaseka now attend school 14 to 18 miles away in the Pine Bluff School District, which last year took in the former Dollarway School District. The PBSD and Dollarway districts were taken over by the state Department of Education. What is your solution for strengthening school districts, making schools more accessible to kids in rural areas and keeping those from the threat of either closure or state takeover?
Jones: I am a product of Watson Chapel and I am proud to have graduated from there. In fact, my father was on the board for a number of years. It's important -- I've said this a bunch of times -- that education is the doorway to opportunity, whether it's entrepreneurship, trades or higher ed. It is our constitutional responsibility and requirement to provide a quality education for all students in Arkansas. When I think about what's happening in Pine Bluff and the surrounding areas, I think about the school consolidation that happened before under the first Huckabee term. (Sanders' father, Mike Huckabee, was governor from 1996-2007.) It's not just school closures -- like, the impact of school closures has a deep impact on communities. When you close schools without a plan, you deeply impact communities, which then goes into crime and anti-development and so forth. What you have to do is provide resources to schools necessary in a new and innovative way.
If we provided broadband to every district across the state -- my platform is PB&J, preschool, broadband and jobs -- well, now, I can get a teacher from anywhere across Arkansas, from Boston, from anywhere. They can provide experience in very critical areas. The idea of consolidation is to join administrative services and the like but reach maximum efficiency with respect to that. Keep the control in the hands of local districts and families without closing them and without putting an undue stress and burden. When I think about state takeover, the state has been coming in without clear exit plans, metrics, markers and milestones. In the absence of growth, you don't see the growth that you need.
We have a $1.6 billion surplus. We certainly have the resources necessary to bolster education.
To be honest, I think we have created such a complex web, particularly in Jefferson County between Watson Chapel, Pine Bluff, Dollarway, Altheimer -- my mom, by the way, used to teach in those schools -- there's no silver bullet. What I haven't heard is the cultural clashes that exist. When you start to merge cultures -- ask me, class of '95 at Watson Chapel, to merge with class of '95 at Pine Bluff High. We're going to have some issues.
Commercial: How important is providing K-12 teachers with a more competitive salary than they're receiving now?
Jones: Essential. I think Gov. Hutchinson's plan was a step in the right direction. I think we have the resources to increase teacher pay, but to your point, to your earlier question, in teacher pay, there's also having incentives for rural areas. And, it's funds to address deferred maintenance on buildings. Those are two essential areas that matter.
I think it's super-unfortunate with a $1.6 billion surplus they [state Legislature] didn't want to bring it up. As you know, teachers make less than they do in Mississippi, and that's a shame. It's a fixable problem if we have the will to do it.
Commercial: You have a connection to Pine Bluff in some manner. It is the largest city in southeast Arkansas, and the region tends to thrive economically as Pine Bluff does -- but it's been a while since that happened. How do you address making Pine Bluff a destination city, as we've seen cities in northwest Arkansas lift up that region and Osceola and Blytheville start to lift up northeast Arkansas?
Jones: Pine Bluff is an amazing place. I was here when it was the center, when you had to get to a homecoming parade two hours earlier just to be able to see. That's the Pine Bluff I remember, when Main Street was popping.
I think we have to push our move toward lifting it up. What do I mean? I think about the work Jimmy Cunningham is doing to say, hey, we have a cultural and musical corridor, a historical corridor. Why don't we tell those stories and lift them up? All these folks who are a part of Arkansas culture but are centered in the South, and Pine Bluff becomes a gateway, especially UAPB. UAPB could be a national, dominant force in agricultural education and agricultural technology. I would love to see it be a research hub for cultural technology. When we do that, we begin to attract more people and retain more folks.
The other part of it is, my mom owned a small business, Bells, Bags and Accessories. Through that business, it was a thriving part of the community. When you invest in the community -- some of that is happening through The Generator, through Go Forward Pine Bluff -- they're putting in anchors. When you start to put these anchors in place, the state should be providing and supporting pre-K for everyone that frees up everyone to work, that provides a foundation for everyone, broadband access for everyone, and encourages businesses to be here.
We could be a powerhouse in the health sector. Imagine if we said, health research for people in rural areas and people of color are grounded here in Pine Bluff.
Commercial: UAPB and Southeast Arkansas College offer programs to help students attain high-skilled, high-paying jobs, but what will you do to help lower the unemployment rate in southeast Arkansas and help those who may have been restricted from low-paying jobs (example: those who have failed drug tests or been jailed for minor offenses) in the recent past attain them and improve their situations at the same time?
Jones: I think there's a lot to do. Across the country, there have been efforts across the country to ban the box, where if you served your time, paid your fine, why should you be checking a box that eliminates you? That's something I will certainly push. When you talk with CEOs of businesses here, we can foster organizations that help folks be ready for careers.
Commercial: Where do you stand on Arkansas Ballot Issue 4, the question of whether to legalize recreational marijuana in the state?
Jones: I believe we need a just and equitable adult-use cannabis industry in the state. The genie's kind of out of the bottle regarding adult use. The question is, are we going to create an industry where we can gather tax revenue and use it for things like mental health services, drug addiction services, law enforcement; and are we going to pardon non-violent marijuana convictions? This proposed amendment doesn't go far enough for me, but I think it takes a step in some areas.
It does not address former convictions. You have folks in communities who have prior convictions, and they don't have opportunities to be entrepreneurs in that space. But I'm glad it's on the ballot because it'll give Arkansans a voice to be heard.
Commercial: The Southeast Arkansas District Fair has struggled financially since the covid-19 pandemic. Fairs do a lot to introduce children to agriculture, home economics and other ways of life. How will you help improve fairs and make them more profitable?
Jones: That's grounded in a real local issue. The governor can partner with municipalities to help to provide a range of supports in terms of communications, encouraging them to push them down to K-12. Imagine if we incentivize curriculum where your curriculum should be connected to a local fair. Those are things we can do.
On the private sector, fairs are about promoting small businesses. The entrepreneurship angle is what we should encourage K-12 and higher ed to be part of.
Commercial: What else would you like to tell voters in Pine Bluff and southeast Arkansas?
Jones: I'm one of you. I was born in Jefferson County, at Jefferson Regional Medical Center. I'm homegrown. I'm a Watson Chapel grad -- L.L. Owen, Coleman, Edgewood [elementaries] and Watson Chapel [junior and senior high school]. I remember being on West 17th where my grandfather had his truck, so when I talk about Paw Paw Jesse, I'm being told to get an education because when you get something in your head, no one can take it out. He told me to use every gift God gave you to help someone else at home. He told me that right on 17th [Avenue].
I say that to say, we need a governor who understands, listens and cares. As someone who is from here and is birthed from this soil, I am someone who cares. The other piece of it is, I see the potential, having both lived and experienced the height of Pine Bluff and southeast Arkansas and seen the downturn of it. I've been out in the world enough to know what are the key elements to lift us up to see where it used to be.