Portillo: Council could benefit from new ideas

BELLA VISTA — JB Portillo said she’s owned a home in Bella vista with her husband, Bruce Portillo, since 2005.

“We’re both very active in the community and this is our home. And it will be for the remainder of our lifetime,” she said.

Portillo currently serves on the Bella Vista Planning commission, where she said she has learned a great deal about how the city functions.

She’s also graduated from the citizen police academy and involved with CHIPS, or Citizens Helping Improve Public Safety, a volunteer group that worked to provide information with the goal of helping to pass the bond issue on Bella Vistan ballots in March.

Portillo has a master’s in governmental compliance and degrees in business and economics, she said.

Her work history involves managing large budgets and difficult situations, she added.

She’s also a board member and producer for Bella Vista Community Television, she added.

“I’m all about making sure the residents of Bella Vista are informed in any way I can,” Portillo said.

She’s an Arkansas Master Naturalist and involved with the organization at the local and state levels, and she’s a master gardener as well, she said.

Portillo said she’s running because there’s a lot going on in the city and she wants to help. “It’s a critical time in the history of Bella Vista,” she said.

Further, she said, she believes the city council could benefit from a new face and fresh ideas.

Portillo said she’s seen every POA and city council meeting over the past four years and she’s very familiar with the city council and how it operates and the issues the city is facing.

Its important for council members to listen carefully to residents and different sides of an issue, she said.

“We’re no longer a retirement community, so we must consider the needs of all our residents,” she said.

It’s also important, she said, that council members make choices impartially for the benefit of the city and that their personal views are not the deciding factor.

Portillo said she loves Bella Vista because of its natural environment and quality people, as well as its location in the larger Northwest Arkansas area.

It’s a perfect place to get away, she said. “I wanted mountains, my husband wanted golf courses. So I got tiny mountains and he got great golf courses,” she said.

A huge concern, however, is the city’s lack of a commercial tax base. While Bella Vista has the population to support more business, she explained, the vast majority of retail sales made to Bella Vistans happen outside the city — meaning the sales tax goes elsewhere.

“There’s tremendous economic opportunity for the city,” she said. “We need new and creative ways to expand our tax base without compromising the Bella Vista character.”

Over the next several years, Portillo said she expects the city will continue to grow and the city needs to work to optimize that growth.

Portillo said that, if elected, she intends to see the police and fire projects through.

“I was very active, with CHIPS, to make sure that bond was in place,” she said.

Traffic control and funding are other high priorities, she explained.

The city also needs to continue reviewing its ordinances, she said.

Communication is another priority, Portillo has said. The city should make an effort to expand its communications and find creative methods to reach residents, she said.

Bella Vista also needs to work closely with neighboring cities to help build synergy and benefit the whole area, she said.

“What you can count on from me is accountability, communication, transparency,” Portillo said.

Portillo