PEA RIDGE — Four men seeking the seat of mayor sat before a packed audience Tuesday, Oct. 12, at a mayoral forum to present their platforms and answer questions.
Incumbent Mayor Jackie Crabtree, Col. Francis Joe Hart, Boyd McNiel and Rick Webb drew for positions and took turns answering questions asked by Kent Marts, publisher of the weekly newspapers of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC. More than 80 people attended, as did Jim Parsons, candidate for House of Representatives District 98. The incumbent, Donna Hutchinson, was unable to attend as she was in committee meetings in Little Rock.
Asked if they had regularly attended city meetings, Webb said he had attended City Council as a member of the School Board in connection with school business a coupleof times and formerly served on the Council.
McNiel said he no longer attended Council meetings because he couldn’t hear the councilmen speak and wasn’t allowed to speak if not on the agenda.
Hart said he had not, but formerly served on the Council: “I had two sessions on the City Council and it was quite an experience. If you can imagine a Yankee sitting among all those Southerners. There was nothing like that; I was amazed that anything ever got done because of all the squabbling. I just couldn’t believe it....”
Crabtree said he had not missed more than five meetings during his 16-year tenure.
All four men said they pay their fire dues and all support the Fire and Ambulance service and would work to improve the service as funds were available.
City records revealed that Hart has not paid his fire dues since February 2009.
Webb and Crabtree said they would support a community center and facilities for youth if funding were available.
“Anything we can do for our youth is a plus,” Webb said.
“They’re our future.”
“We’ve been working on a community center for the past five or six years,” Crabtree said, adding that the problem is it would cost about $10 million.
McNiel said the library could go in the community center.
Hart spoke about the school millage, but did not answer thequestion.
Webb and Crabtree said new industry needs to be attracted to town for a tax base to increase funding.
McNiel said there should be a finder’s fee for anyone who entices a newbusiness to town. Hart said he has a problem with more people coming to town and the speed traps in town discourage people from moving to town.
As for the relationship between the city and theschool, Crabtree said: “We need to make sure what the city does is good for the school and what the school does is good for the city. They’re two different entities.”
Hart and McNiel agreedwith Crabtree.
“Without the school,” Webb said, “there is no community and without the community, there is no school. That needs to be implanted in everyone’s minds when they
walk out of here.” The most pressing issue
facing the city today◊is growth, said Webb;
◊is the wastewater, said
Crabtree;
◊is difficult to say, said
Hart;
◊ is probably the water treatment plant, said Mc-Niel.
“I don’t trust the government at all. I don’t trust politicians at all.
They’re constantly changing,” Hart said.
News, Pages 1 on 10/20/2010