Treat is sworn in as mayor of Bryant

“This is my home, I grew up here. So many of these people that were here today, they either helped raise me or we’ve been best friends since kindergarten. So that just makes it extra special and meaningful.”

— Chris Treat, mayor of Bryant

BRYANT — Chris Treat was sworn in as mayor of Bryant on Friday, ending his eight-year term as the city’s parks director.

There was not an empty seat inside the Boswell Municipal Complex courtroom as Treat took his oath of office.

“This is my home, I grew up here,” Treat said after his swearing-in ceremony. “So many of these people that were here today, they either helped raise me or we’ve been best friends since kindergarten. So that just makes it extra special and meaningful.”

In a speech given shortly after he took his oath, Treat said he planned to apply a team-first approach during his time as mayor.

“It’s just an attitude, ‘we over me,’ that I’m asking us to take into every decision, every meeting, every conversation,” he said.

“‘We over me’ means a unified council and administration. [It means] that we don’t always have to agree but for the benefit of the residents, the people we serve, we’ve got to continue to communicate, and we’ve got to work out whatever differences we have,” Treat told the crowd.

Treat is the third person to serve as mayor of Bryant in the past six months. Then-Mayor Allen Scott resigned in September 2023 after a former employee accused him of sexual harassment in a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The Bryant City Council appointed Rhonda Sanders, who attended Friday’s ceremony, to serve as interim mayor until the city could hold a special election for Scott’s replacement on March 5.

“It was a fascinating five months, it was a learning five months, but it’s been an honor to get to know the people, the city and to serve them in any way I could,” Sanders said.

“The biggest challenge facing Bryant, as it always has, is infrastructure,” Ward 3 Bryant city council member Rob Roedel said.

“The infrastructure costs, which is water and sewer and the things that people don’t think about that have to go into a city that’s growing,” added Roedel, who has served as a council member since 2010. “The schools grow, which results in additional homes, which creates infrastructure needs. Growth is tremendous here. It’s a problem, but it’s also an opportunity.”

Treat said he plans to tackle these problems through a “community-driven vision that we can all get behind.”

“We can’t just keep saying, ‘Well, we’re growing. It’s growing pains, right?’ We’ve got to start being proactive instead of reactive because the growth isn’t going to slow down,” he said.

During his time as Bryant’s city parks director, Treat said, he honed his “customer service” skills, which he plans on applying in his new position.

“What we tried to do is listen to the residents and provide them with the amenities they wanted. So now as mayor, I’ll take that same attitude and apply it to the rest of the city in all departments,” he said. “Listening to the residents, the people we serve. ‘What do you want? What are your priorities?’ And then working those things out.”

Sanders said she was hopeful about the city’s future and supportive of Treat’s election.

“I’m very excited for him and looking forward to what the city is going to do next,” she said. “He’s ready to learn and to serve and to pull things together. So, I think we’ve got a bright future.”

In his speech, Treat mentioned former Little Rock city manager Scott Staples, who has agreed to act as the mayor’s coach.

“The first thing we’re going to do is … meet with council members. We’re going to meet with the department heads. We’re going to meet with whoever wants to meet with us,” Treat said.

Building trust with city residents is another priority for Treat, who was brimming with enthusiasm during his speech.

“This is exciting, right? I think there’s a lot of momentum, but we have to follow it up with action,” he said. “We have to show [residents] that we’re making progress, we’re working together. They want us to be in the news for positive progress, not drama. So I think the more we show them that we’re really working together [that] trust is earned.”

Treat is unsure if he will run for reelection in 2026. “If we make progress, and the leader of this town and the leaders of this community get behind me and we’re able to get things done, of course. But if not, then I would get out of the way for the person that can.”