4 in NLR make case for top post
Mayoral candidates in North Little Rock are making their last push to win over voters for Tuesday’s election that will mean a change in the mayor’s office for the first time in 24 years.
Mark Clinton, John Parker, Joe Smith and state Rep. Tracy Steele are running to lead the city after sixterm Mayor Patrick Hays leaves office Dec. 31. Each candidate has roots in the city, having grown up and graduated from North Little Rock high schools.
Smith, the city’s Commerce and Governmental Affairs director, and Steele, executive director for the nonprofit STAND Foundation, are the front-runners in campaign contributions
and expenditures, according to campaign reports due last week to the Pulaski County clerk’s office.
Smith has reported record amounts for a North Little Rock mayoral campaign, with $261,805 in contributions and $171,557 in expenditures in trying to win the job that pays Hays $100,471 annually. Steele reported raising $91,121, with $87,061 in expenditures.
Neither Clinton, owner of a risk-management consulting company, nor Parker, district circulation manager for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, turned in contribution reports.
Each candidate made his case during interviews last week for being the best choice to lead the city through a new administration for the next four years.
Smith weighed in with his experience as Hays’ top administrator for 22 years, often overseeing major city projects, including the building of Dickey-Stephens Park baseball stadium. Hays has publicly endorsed Smith as his successor.
“We have to continue to progress and continue the right kind of leadership,” said Smith, 61. “I’ll give the people a government they can be proud of and, more importantly, one they can trust.
“I’m ready to put my experience to work in bringing more jobs to North Little Rock and attracting business and industry to North Little Rock and grow our economy.”
Steele, 49, said his 14 years in the state Legislature have provided him with the experience needed to lead the city. He received the endorsements of the city’s police, fire and retired police officers’ unions.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with four different governors,” Steele said. “And being elected at a young age to the House of Representatives, then serving in the state Senate, gives me experience at the highest level of government in the state of Arkansas.
“I want to work hard at this race and give the mayor’s office back to the people.”
Clinton, 51, said that as a small-business owner, he best understands the plight of businesses trying to succeed and having to make payrolls. Businesses and residents are hurt by city taxes, fines, electric rates and sewer rates being too high, he said.
“Things are not OK in North Little Rock,” Clinton said. “There’s a whole cascade of fiscal mismanagement that needs to stop. We need a new vision and a new direction for North Little Rock.
“There are some people who are satisfied with the way things are going just through their own personal situation,” he added. “I’ve been trying to educate people to other things going on in other parts of the city that have been neglected and really been kept from economic development.”
Parker, 65, who served one term as a Ward 3 alderman and is running for that position as well as mayor in Tuesday’s election, said his experience in city government and in sales and retail management qualifies him to run the city.
“My campaign is based on merit and not money, and money is a big factor in the outcome of any election,” Parker said. “People without money have nothing else to run on but merit.
“I offer voters a simple choice,” he said. “You can vote based on the advertisements and promises of the politicians or you can take the word of a seasoned, managerial professional. I’ve been a manager of something for most all of my life.”
On Friday, a direct-mail piece from Smith’s campaign took aim at Steele’s time as executive director of the state Martin Luther King Jr. Commission while Steele was a legislator and also with his job heading STAND. Steele was executive director of the King commission from 1993-2006, then resigned to start The STAND Foundation.
The piece cited newspaper articles from 2001 and 2003 about calls for Steele to resign from both jobs and complaints about him earning “two taxpayer salaries.” A Newport resident had filed a complaint with the Arkansas Ethics Commission about Steele “double dipping” with salaries from two branches of state government, but the commission dismissed the complaint.
Also, an opinion from thenAttorney General Mike Beebe stated that Steele’s dual roles did not conflict with the state constitution and were “expressly permitted and regulated” by state law. Steele survived three attempts to vote him out as director of the King commission, attempts termed as political differences between Steele, a Democrat, and then-Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee.