Chamber holds final candidate forum
The Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce held a third candidate forum on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at the Siloam Springs Public Library.
The forum focused on Senate District 35 candidates Tyler Dees and Doug Peterson and Ward 1 candidates Mindy Hunt and James McGuirk. Chamber President and CEO Arthur Hulbert served as moderator for the forum.
Senate District 35 candidates
Following a two-minute introduction for each candidate, Dees and Peterson went first and answered three questions provided by the public.
Question 1: What are the three most important issues to you and how would you vote on those issues?
Dees, the Republican candidate answered first. He said the three most important issues were abortion, inflation and a tie between agriculture and education.
He went on to say that Arkansans need to continue fight for conservative values and abortion is the number one issue for him, Dees said.
As Dees visited 5,200 homes he was told that inflation was a big concern for a majority of those families, he said.
“People are spending $588 more this year on groceries than they were last year,” Dees said. “So this is a very important issue. I want to put more dollars back into the citizens’ pockets.”
The third topic was a toss up between education and agriculture, Dees said. Dees went on to say that parents need to be empowered to be involved with their children’s education.
Peterson, the Libertarian candidate, said the most important issue he would face is the one right in front of him.
“I need you to understand that I
am going to do things differently,” Peterson said. “When I’m in Little Rock, I’m going to face every single issue as its own issue and not a partisan issue because for me to most Arkansans it’s not.”
Question 2: In November, citizens across the state will be voting on four issues. How would you vote on issues one, two, three and four and why?
The four issues are as follows: Issue One is an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution concerning extraordinary sessions of the general assembly and the general assembly calling itself back into special sessions, according to a copy of Senate Joint Resolution 10.
Issue Two is a constitutional amendment to require 60 percent of the vote cast on proposed amendments to the Arkansas Constitution and can be repealed if the measure is rejected by a majority of the electors voting upon the matter according to a copy of House Joint Resolution 1005.
The third issue states that the government may never burden a person’s freedom of religion except in rare circumstances, according to a copy of Senate Joint Resolution 14.
Issue Four involves legalizing recreational Marijuana and authorize the sale of Cannabis by licensed commercial facilities, according to sos.arkansas.gov. Peterson was the first to answer this question. He said he was against all four issues. Dees had a different take on the four issues. He started with Issue Four and said he was against the issue and encouraged voters to vote against this issue.
On the other issues, Dees said he was against the first issue but for issues 2 and 3. Dees said it would cost more taxpayer money for the general assembly to call itself back into session. Dees said he was for the second issue because the Arkansas Constitution has been amended more than 100 times, while the U.S. Constitution has only been amended 27 times. Dees did not say why he supported the third issue.
Question 3: How would you handle a situation or a vote on an issue where your personal conviction or wishes do not agree with the majority of the voters and what could some examples be?
Dees said he wants to be a leader that is humbly open to listen to all whether or not they agree, but also to be a leader who leads by conviction.
Peterson said his whole point in deciding to run for office is to fight for the rights of Arkansans. Dees and Peterson were then given two minutes to give closing arguments.
Ward 1 Candidates Following the two senate candidates Ward 1 Candidates Hunt and McGuirk gave their opening remarks.
Question 1: What are the three most important issues you feel need to. be addressed in our city and how would you vote?
McGuirk said he would focus on streets as his first issue. “They are in very bad shape and need to be worked on,” McGuirk said. “believe we take a street, we fix it and we move to another one and then fix it and not spend millions and millions of dollars on one street.”
His second issue would be drainage, saying that it is bad especially in the older par of Siloam Springs. McGuirk’s final issue is infrastructure saying that the city needs to have a system that will take care of some of it now and anything that’s going to happen down the road. Hunt said her three issues were streets, comparable utility rates and quality of life. Hunt said the city needs to continue focusing on streets, and infrastructure. Hunt also said she opposed conducting the rate study in 2020 and that quality of life relates to streets, police and fire, parks and housing.
“People move to Siloam and stay in Siloam because they enjoy the quality of life we have here,” Hunt said.
Question 2: Our citizens enjoy a small-town safe feel with access to large town amenities. What can the city board do and you specifically do, to preserve the small-town heritage while addressing issues that come with growth such as high housing costs, infrastructure needs such as streets and drainage, desire for public and private school options and adequately funding the increasing needs of the police and fire departments?
Hunt said it takes more than one board member to affect change. She spoke about preserving small town heritage and what Siloam Springs has to offer and spoke about being prepared. McGuirk said he believes the city needs to keep up on what is going on with streets and drainage as well as electrical and water issues. McGuirk also said he wants to make sure that the city grows at a steady pace.
Question 3: How would you handle a situation or a vote on an issue where your personal conviction or wishes do not agree with the majority of the voters and what would some examples be?
McGuirk said his convictions and wishes are second to what people in Siloam Springs want him to do. Hunt said it’s her job to listen to all people and researching issues. She also said she would draw on her convictions to vote.
After Hunt and McGuirk finished and gave their two-minute closing remarks, State Representative Delia Haak (R-91), and city directors David Allen and Lesa Rissler spoke before the forum ended.