By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com
Two separate events aimed at informing local voters were held Thursday evening ahead of the primary election.
The first, a town hall meeting regarding the Move Arkadelphia Forward tax initiative, was held at the Recreation Center and drew a crowd of about 20 citizens, most of them either tax proponents or city employees. Mayor Scott Byrd led the Q&A forum supporting the continuation of a 1-cent sales tax for general government use.
The mayor touted the successes of the tax since its passage in a 2019 special election. The estimated $11.5 million collected in that time has funded roughly 150 city projects; highlighting those projects were the purchase of a new police fleet, fire truck, drainage projects and paving an estimated 75% of the city’s streets in a slurry seal.
One key feature of the additional revenue is the city’s ability to leverage it against matching federal and state grants. Byrd provided a figure of $1.7 million in local funding that was matched against $4.9 million in grants, for a total of $6.6 million in projects made possible by grants.
The revenue collected from the tax isn’t earmarked for any particular fund. The additional money falls into the same general revenue line as the existing tax collections. The city is still able to keep an estimated tab on how much extra cash is on hand. And, City Manager Gary Brinkley admitted, the city isn’t holding back on spending. The majority of the funds has been spent on the city’s projects.
Asked by one citizen how city leaders prioritize projects, Brinkley pointed out that he meets often with departments heads who suggest their needs, then he takes those recommendations to the city board for its approval.
Prior to the tax, Byrd said, the city was in dire straits — so much so that it was “struggling to meet payroll. A lot of funds had to be moved around just to make ends meet.”
Should the tax fail when voters take to the polls, Byrd warned that citizens will experience a “significant decline” in the city’s services, personnel and maintenance. Byrd did not detail to what extent services would suffer.
Thursday’s forum was the first of two public meetings scheduled prior to the election. The second meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 5:30 p.m. at the Recreation Center.
One block away and half an hour after the city’s forum was slated to begin, the Clark County branch of the NAACP was hosting a candidate forum at the Community Family Enrichment Center. Candidates from seven contested races were invited to speak. Six candidates from those races were in attendance and gave remarks: Zach Bledsoe, Democratic incumbent for Justice of the Peace District 1; Michael Ankton, Democratic incumbent for JP District 2; Rev. Llewellyn Terry, Democratic contestant for JP District 4; Judy Harrison, Democratic contestant for JP District 6; and Greg Vardaman and incumbent Randy Hill, who are vying for the District Court Judge position.
Vardaman said he chose his campaign slogan, “I Hope I’ve Earned Your Vote”, because instead of asking for votes he hopes his experience on the bench speaks for itself. Vardaman, an Arkadelphia lawyer with 18 years of law practice experience, has been appointed in the past to serve on the Arkansas Supreme Court, as well as Circuit Judge for the 9th East Circuit that encompasses Clark County.
Hill, a local attorney since 1985, has been District Judge in Clark County since he was elected to the position in 1999. He has been president of the Arkansas Judicial Council and touts the successes of the drug and alcohol treatment programs overseen by his court. Hill also oversees the similar program on the circuit level for felony offenders.
Vardaman says that, as district judge, he would continue his involvement in the community. The U.S. Army veteran serves on numerous boards and is a member of several civic organizations.
Hill relies on his experience to carry a win. His years of sitting at the bench, he says, are how he is able to instinctively apply fairness to all district court cases.