Calvin-reed tops list for Benton seat

She faces City Council vote July 22

BENTON — A lifetime city resident and Central Arkansas Development Council employee was chosen Tuesday as the Benton City Council personnel committee’s recommendation to fill the vacant council seat.

Evelyn Calvin-Reed, a program manager at Central Arkansas Development Council where she has worked since 1980, became the committee’s recommendation out of seven applicants who were interviewed by aldermen Tuesday.

The recommendation will be presented to the full council Monday at which point it will be approved or voted down. The council’s Ward 2, Seat 2 position became vacant when Joe Lee Richards died June 13.

During her interview, Calvin-Reed said her three major concerns for Benton were public safety, job development and education. The city’s short-term goals should be advocating for improved public safety and promoting the city and its quality of life in an effort to encourage people to move there.

She is also in favor of increasing the tax base, she said.

“That will sustain our city growth and increase revenue for future growth and longterm development here in the city,” she said. “We should be forward-thinking and planning for future growth for years to come. We must not get lax. We must think ahead for our future.”

Each of the seven applicants was given 15 minutes to answer five questions, which they were given Tuesday morning in order to prepare their responses for the interview that night. The other applicants were Shea Cochran, Martin Dominguez, Larry Gann, Jocelyn Hurst, Quinn Marshall and Roger Winfield.

After the interviews were complete, the council members present each gave their top three choices and, based on a point system, formed a list of the committee’s top three choices.

Calvin-Reed came in first place with 16 points. Gann, a former Saline County Quorum Court member, came in second with 15 points. Hurst and Winfield tied for third place with six points each.

From there, the aldermen decided to vote between Calvin-Reed and Gann because the two received the highest scores. Calvin-Reed had been the No. 1 pick of four aldermen and Gann had been the No. 1 pick of three aldermen. Another alderman had chosen Winfield as his top choice.

In a 5-3 vote, Reed was chosen as the committee’s recommendation.

“That was hard,” Alderman Lori Terrell said after her vote. “They were my No. 1 and 2.”

Several of the council members said it was hard to pick between the seven applicants, all of whom they said were qualified.

“Among the candidates, there are no losers here,” Alderman Frank Baptist said. “They all had their opportunity and they will have their opportunity here come election time.”

Calvin-Reed is a board member of the Safe Haven Domestic Violence Shelter and Habitat for Humanity, the treasurer of the Ralph Bunche Neighborhood Association, president of the Wilma Stewart Garden Club and secretary and treasurer of the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Benton.

She also runs a local catering business out of her home. She has lived in Benton her entire life, is married and has five children and 13 grandchildren.

With only one alderman absent at Tuesday’s committee meeting, it is likely that her recommendation will be approved with a majority vote at the council meeting Monday.