3 hopefuls in LR’s Ward 7 focusing on infrastructure
Ward 7 City Director B.J. Wyrick wants to further the area’s progress if re-elected. Her two opponents in the Nov. 6 election want to push for greater neighborhood involvement and community investment.
Wyrick told a reporter she is running for re-election because she wants to address her concerns in the ward regarding upcoming infrastructure projects, as well as plans for old school buildings and the new Southwest High School.
She said she also wants to improve the area’s recreation options for children and people over 50 and address quality-of-life issues such as code enforcement and rental inspection.
“I have a lot of things that I want to continue the progress with and improvements of,” she said.
Wyrick, 69, has served on the board since 1994. She said she retired from her job with the state earlier this month and now spends more time addressing residents’ concerns.
“I am accessible. I take fast action on issues that affect individual neighborhoods and businesses,” she said at a recent forum.
Ward 7 is in southwest Little Rock. It covers neighborhoods south of Colonel Glenn Road to County Line Road, and west of Geyer Springs Road to Alexander Road. It includes the Otter Creek area.
City directors are elected to four-year terms and paid $18,000 annually.
Edmond Davis, 42, also said he wants to address infrastructure in the ward, as well as be an advocate for youth and young adults in the area.
“I’m an intergenerational connector,” the Oxford Valley Neighborhood Association president said.
Davis, who has been a professor for the past 15 years and is also a small-business owner, said he also wants to reallocate city resources to where they are needed the most, which includes some areas in Ward 7.
If elected, he said he hopes to educate residents on “the inner workings and hidden mechanisms” of city government and to address a lack of healthy food options.
Robert Williams, a minister, became president of the Westwood Neighborhood Association, which serves an area also known as Western
Hills, in 2006. Williams, 52, said he got involved after seeing a lot of need in the area.
He said he would run for the seat in November 2017, when he was one of six regular government critics and city activists to announce they were aiming to eradicate “bad government” and oust some of Little Rock’s top leaders. That group also includes Russ Racop, a blogger who is running for the Ward 6 city director position.
If elected, Williams said he wants to foster cooperation between the city and neighborhoods and establish more community centers, which he said will address public safety.
One of Wyrick’s concerns is the 30 Crossing project, which as planned will remake the 6.7-mile Interstate 30 corridor through downtown Little Rock in North Little Rock.
Wyrick said she does not support the project as is, calling the number of lanes across the Arkansas River excessive and saying it would “dump” too much traffic on city streets, which she said the city does not have enough money allocated to improve.
If the project is successful, some predict it will require expansion along Interstate 630 and at Baseline Road.
“I think it’s the wrong plan, and I would like to see some changes, some variations, so we don’t have that impact on our downtown streets,” she said.
Davis and Williams also oppose the project, both citing southwest Little Rock’s existing infrastructure needs.
“We’ve got more potholes that we can’t even drive down the streets, and we’re concerned with building extra freeway because we feel like the traffic is clogged up. But what about the streets that we’re driving down every day?” Williams said.
Wyrick said she has pushed for community-oriented policing since she was first elected to the board. She said Police Chief Kenton Buckner has expressed his support for it, and Wyrick said she hopes “he sticks with his comments.” Southwest Little Rock has two community-oriented police officers, she said, which she hopes will double.
Davis and Williams also support community policing. Williams said he was concerned about officers being stationed to new areas after short periods of time.
“If we continue to switch officers every month or every two months, the people will not trust the officers,” he said.
The three differ on how to approach the issue of whether the city should extend sewer service to areas outside the city limits, something land developers are said to have encouraged.
A study on the costs of providing such services as sewer and police and fire protection to Little Rock’s extraterritorial jurisdiction – the area outside city limits but within the city’s zoning control — is scheduled to be completed in November.
Davis said the city shouldn’t be pressured by developers.
“I think we need to maintain what we have right now and to help improve and enhance the infrastructure, what we have now, before we can talk about any types of extensions,” he said.
Williams said Pulaski County should take on some of the cost for extending sewer service.
“I think [extending sewer service] would grow the city, but I think it would be an extensive bill on the city,” Williams said.
He added that he recently met with a group of residents who were concerned about the city’s growth to the west.
Wyrick said board members should wait and make a decision after the study is finished. She said she authored the resolution that brought forth the study. She said the state Legislature has asked the city to provide sewer service at will, and that she expected the issue to come up again among lawmakers in January.