Fares Trinidad
How long have you lived in Siloam Springs?
“Currently, I have lived in Siloam for about 10 or 11 months, but I was actually raised here so, kindergarten through high school.”
Where were you prior to returning to Siloam Springs?
“After high school I went to college, worked and I spent a lot of time in Fayetteville. After that, once I met my wife, we moved to Bentonville to be closer to work because I started working for Walmart.”
Are you married with children or grandchildren?
“I do. I have two boys, 4 and 2, and my wife, Abby.”
What are your hobbies/interests?
“I like to stay at home during the weekends. I talk to people for a living and so I like to be at home, but obviously I like to get out as well. We have a lot of friends here so we like to spend as much time as we can with them and then personally, I like to mountain bike and I like to play golf. So whenever I get a chance to do that I try to
do that.”
Are you involved in any civic organizations or engaged in any sort of civic programs?
“Not like officially, no, because my wife has worked for Main Street (Siloam). I have always helped her out because they always ask for volunteers for homecoming festival or any events that they have. I volunteer my time through that, but outside of that I have not really been too involved. But this is what I want to do.”
What is your employment background?
“Right after high school and through college I worked for Hibbett Sports, and so I was given the opportunity to open the Hibbett Sports in Fayetteville. So I opened that store up as the store manager there, then went on to do a couple of things after that, still in retail, and then I was fortunate enough to go work for a supplier for Walmart. I worked there for about five years and so I have been at Walmart for five years. So I went from retail into a retail-related kind of field, but my time at Walmart has been pretty awesome.”
Do you work with Walmart in Siloam Springs?
“I commute to Bentonville every day, which, some people may say that is a pretty hard commute. It is about an hour commute. I like it because I like the time alone, you know to be able to drive from here to there, it is nice and quiet.”
What is your educational background?
“I graduated high school here in Siloam in 2006. I went to the University of Arkansas, graduated in 2010 and that is pretty much it. I majored in public relations and marketing and minored in Spanish.”
Can you name three strengths that you possess that make you a qualified candidate to represent Ward 1?
“One would be (that I am) open to change. Things change everyday and I think some people find it a little bit hard to be adaptable to those changes. Change is sometimes really hard, but being able to adapt to those things to me, I feel like that is a quality that for me is easy. I am an introvert, but to a certain degree I am a people person. I can talk to anybody pretty easily, and so I feel like for me that is a good characteristic, and because I am bilingual I feel like I have the ability to speak to the Hispanic community here in town.”
You speak Spanish?
“I do speak Spanish. I am fluent in Spanish. So I want to be able to, if I were to become in that chair, I want to be able to better speak to that part of the community.”
What is your reasoning for wanting to represent Ward 1?
“When we first moved to Siloam, I really enjoyed seeing how much my wife was involved in the community. And so like I mentioned before, we came here for a reason, and I want to be involved because we feel like we are going to be settled here for years to come. I want to be able to have a voice to be a part of the community to where we progress a certain way. Then, when we heard that the current ward director was not going to be running, my wife just encouraged me and was just like, ‘If you want to be involved, just give it a shot, submit your application, and whatever goes goes, and if it turns out, we will make it work.’ But, regardless of whether I get the chair or not, I still want to be involved in whatever position I can. Like I mentioned before, we have so much momentum here in town and if I can have an influence or if I can have an opinion where we continue that momentum, that is all I want to be a part of.”
What do you mean when you say “momentum”? Could you give an example of that?
“I think we are adapting to what our community is asking for. The kayak park, which is amazing, the dog parks, the splash parks and all that stuff, that is the kind of momentum that I am talking about. The creation of (U.S. Highway) 412 and the improvements that have been made to that road, that is the kind of momentum that I am talking about. As subtle as that may seem, that is progress, so I think that if we can continue that, I think that is for the benefit of all.”
What do you feel are the most important changes that need to be made to the city and/or Ward 1?
“I would not say that there are major issues. I just feel like, for example, people that live in Bentonville through Fayetteville, they do not have to go very far to find opportunities for entertainment, for retail or for any kind of goods. It feels like a lot of us, me included, have to trek over to Bentonville or Fayetteville if we want to go on a shopping trip. We go that way versus staying here. At the end of the day, we want to be able to stay in town, have that revenue, have that opportunity and create that kind of profit for Siloam. I guess what we want to be able to create, or what I want to be able to create, given the opportunity, is just how do we keep the community to where they stay here in Siloam, whatever they need. At the same time, (how do we) make them happy and proud of living here in Siloam. Not to say that they are not proud of where they are living now, but it just goes to creating a story for all of us. So that is kind of where I am at in regards to that.”
Is there anything else that you would like to add that I have not asked or that we have not discussed?
“I think the biggest thing for me is just, let’s encourage people to vote. At the end of the day that is all we are trying to do, to encourage the community to be more involved and so I guess that is my whole thing, just go out and vote, that is it, it is simple as that.”