FORT SMITH : 3 suitors chasing Ward 3 position
Posted on Monday, August 11, 2008
FORT SMITH — Ward 3 city voters will go to the polls Tuesday for a primary election to vote for one of three candidates vying for the seat that represents south Fort Smith.
Incumbent Director Rick Parrish, 56, is being challenged by Evangel Temple Pastor Don Hutchings, 51, and retired naval officer Gary Marcotte, 53.
All four ward positions are up for election this year but only the Ward 3 race has more than two candidates, requiring the primary election.
If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes cast Tuesday, he will be elected, Fort Smith City Clerk Cindy Remler said. If not, the two candidates who receive the most votes will be in a runoff in the Nov. 4 general election.
In Ward 2, incumbent Andre Good and opponent Carolyn Plank will face each other Nov. 4.
Incumbents in Ward 1 and 4, Steve Tyler and Bill Maddox, respectively, are facing no opposition and are automatically re-elected to their positions.
Parrish, an accountant run- ning for his fourth four-year term, said he wants to complete two projects: Construction of a river port on the Arkansas River at Chaffee Crossing and development of the Arkansas River near downtown.
“I at least want to see it started,” said Parrish, who also serves on the Fort Smith Port Authority.
He said the U. S. Marshals Service museum that will be built along the Arkansas River downtown should spur more use of the land along the river, which he called an undeveloped asset.
While Parrish said the city is not in bad financial shape as long as officials spend judiciously, Hutchings said the weakening economy is a problem for Fort Smith. Residents are nervous about things like high fuel prices and the shaky home mortgage industry, Hutchings said.
Residents want change, which Hutchings said he offers. As a pastor, he is accustomed to listening and would listen to what his constituents want, he added.
Hutchings currently is a member of the Fort Smith Planning Commission.
The city’s budget should be trimmed, he said. City officials reported earlier that revenue projections are down and that will affect the amount of money available for next year’s budget.
Hutchings suggested Fort Smith could get along with one deputy administrator instead of two and officials don’t have to take city vehicles home with them.
But he favors pay raises for members of the police and fire departments, he said. The local Fraternal Order of Police chapter recently endorsed Hutchings for Ward 3.
Marcotte also believes change on the city board of directors is needed, he said.
Marcotte wants to restore honor and integrity to city government following the controversy earlier this year over Police Chief Kevin Lindsey’s job and the resignation of Administrator Randy Reed and City Director Velvet Barrows, he said.
“I decided something had to be done and if no one else would do it, I’d step up,” he said in making his decision to run for office.
One of the city’s most pressing problems is the condition of the sewer system, he said. City officials have known for 20 years — including the 12 years that Parrish has sat on the board — that improvements must be made but have made an effort only in the last couple of years to address it.
He also was critical of Fort Smith’s clinging to manufacturing jobs as its answer to future economic prosperity. City officials have paid for economic surveys but have ignored the results, he said.
“For us to continue to look for nothing but manufacturing jobs is money poorly spent and time wasted,” he said.
One solution, he said, is to move more into the service and hospitality industries, especially casino gaming. EUREKA SPRINGS TAX Voters in this Carroll County resort town can decide Tuesday if part of the 1 percent sales tax that was approved in 1981 can be used for general fund spending for the city. The change would mean 65 percent of the tax revenue would go to the general fund and 35 percent will go to sidewalk and street construction and repair.
The amount of the tax will not change.
Currently the sales tax revenue is split among water and sewer construction, street construction and police and fire department equipment.
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