Polling locations for Tuesday's general election have been announced.
Several interesting local races are on the ballot, including a Forrest City mayor's race and several races for council seats.
The polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The polling locations are as follows:
Forrest City Ward 1 -- Precincts 35-1, 35-2, 36-1, 37-1, 38-1, 58-1 -- Christ Church.
Forrest City Ward 2 -- Precincts 39-1, 41-1, 43-1, 43-2, 45-1, 47-1 -- Forrest City Civic Center.
Forrest City Ward 3 -- Precincts 49-1, 50-2, 50-3, 50-4, 51-1, 52-1, 52-2, 53-1, 53-2, 54-1, 55-2, 55-3 -- Forrest City Civic Center.
Forrest City Ward 4 --Precincts 56-1, 56-2, 57-1, 57-2, 60-1, 65-1, 66-1, 66-2 -- Forrest City Civic Center.
Hughes City/Country -- Precincts 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4 -- Hughes Community Center.
Rawlison -- Precincts 5-1, 5-2 -- Hughes Community Center.
Heth-Blackfish -- Precincts 6-2, 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 -- Blackfish Community Center.
Widener -- Precincts 9-1, 9-2, 10-1 -- Widener City Hall.
Round Pond-Mosley -- Precincts 11-1, 11-2, 13-1, 13-2 -- Widener City Hall.
Madison -- Precincts 14-1, 14-2, 14-3, 14-4, 14-5, 15-1, 15-2, 15-3, 15-4 -- Madison City Hall.
Bonair-Tuni -- Precincts 16-1, 17-1, 17-2, 17-3 -- Kountry Kitchen.
Parrott-Newcastle -- Precincts 18-1, 19-1 -- Forrest Chapel Fellowship Hall.
Colt -- Precincts 20-1, 21-1 -- Colt Community Center.
Caldwell -- Precincts 22-1, 23-1 -- Caldwell Fire Station.
Courthouse-East & West -- Precincts 24-1, 25-1, 25-2, 25-3, 25-4, 26-1 -- Courthouse
Pine Tree -- Precincts 27-1, 27-2, 27-3, 27-4- U of A Experiment Station
Palestine City/Country -- Precincts 28-1, 29-1, 29-2, 29,3, 30-1, 30-2, 30-3, 30-4, 31-1, 31-2, 31-3 -- Twin Assembly Fellowship Hall.
Goodwin -- Precincts 32-1, 32-2, 32-3 -- Goodwin Baptist Church.
Wheatley City/Country -- Precincts 33-1, 33-2, 34-1, 34-2, 34-3 -- Wheatley Community Center.
Col. Ed Rolle will be the guest speaker for this year's Veteran's Day celebration, to be held Monday, Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. in Mustang Arena.
Rolle moved to Arkansas with is wife Sue in 1992, after his retirement from the Army, having served 26 years of active duty. During his career in the service, he held a variety of command and staff positions.
He joined Gov. Mike Huckabee's transition team as director of plans and operations in May of 1996, and became the governor's executive assistant for Plans and Programs.
Rolle received an undergraduate degree from the University of Alaska and his Master's Degree from Pacific Lutheran University.
Currently, he is serving as director of the Arkansas Employment Security Department, a post he has held since February of 1997. He assists veterans in finding employment through special grants from the U.S. Department of Labor. The state's veterans' programs include Local Veterans' Employment representatives and Disabled Veterans' Outreach Programs specialists.
Another program Rolle oversees is to ensure that qualified veterans receive priority for referral to all job openings.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Members of the St. Francis County Indigent Care Board were updated on expansion plans at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City, as well as plans to transfer $1 million in interest to St. Francis County during their quarterly meeting on Thursday.
It was announced in September that BMH-FC was attempting to undergo a $5 million expansion at the Forrest City facility. In the plans are expanded physicians offices, an upgraded maternity unit and the addition of an open area MRI unit. On Thursday, board members heard directly from Baptist administrators and county officials as to what the plans are for the facility.
Board members also had the opportunity to hear what the process would be for the transfer of funds to the county. According to board attorney Brad Beavers, board members did not make any decisions on the matter, which will have to go before a chancery judge before any decisions can be made.
"They came to us and discussed what was going on with the expansion and the money that was going to be transferred. Before anything can be done, it will have to go before a judge so that he can decide how, and if, the money can be moved," Beavers said.
According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, Thursday's meeting gave board members an opportunity to question Baptist officials and to guarantee that the indigent citizens of St. Francis County would still have medical funding when needed.
"There were some questions among the board members and this gave us an opportunity to let them know what was going on. Paul Cade with Baptist did a great job of explaining everything from Baptist's standpoint, and Chris Morledge did a great job for the county. I think that they feel better about this now that we've met with them," Cisco said.
Board member Ed Chauvin echoed Cisco's statements. "There were some concerns amongst the board members that this was going to hurt the poor people in St. Francis County, but the concessions we received today let us know that the people will continue to be taken care of. Now we just have to wait for everything to go through the proper channels and then we can make our decisions based on that," Chauvin said.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
There are four candidates seeking the office of mayor of Forrest City. They are the incumbent, Larry Bryant, Bill Baxter, Frederick Freeman and Chris Oswalt.
Larry Bryant, 50, lives at 426 "A" Ave. He is a photographer and entrepreneur. He is a 1971 graduate of Forrest City High School and attended Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyo. while in the Air Force. He also has a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Master of Science Degree in mass communications from Arkansas State University. He and his wife, Stephanie, have two children, LScott, 8, and Justin, 16.
Bill Baxter is 58, and lives at 908 Calvert. He is an insurance agent. He has a BA in math from Lyon College, and a MSE from Arkansas State University.
Frederick Freeman, 34, lives at 530 McClesky Drive. He is an entrepreneur and business consultant. A graduate of Forrest City High School, he also has a BS in business management from North Carolina A&T. He and his wife, Junette Mills Freeman, have two children, Frederick Charles, 14, and Charnette, 11.
Chris Oswalt is 32. He lives at 429 East Street. He is a teacher at the ABC preschool. He has a BS degree in education with middle school endorsement. He and his wife, Amy, have a son, Zachary, age 20 months.
All four candidates were asked the same five questions. They were not given a chance to view the questions beforehand.
1. What do you think is the single most important issue -- other than the economy -- facing Forrest City today and how will you address it if elected?
BRYANT: That would be continuation of services to our citizens. We can talk about jobs, but jobs are related to the economy, so the most important thing is to make sure we have quality services to our citizens, which would mean we would have to have good streets and sidewalks. We have to have a good police department that works toward crime prevention in a proactive rather than a reactive way. We have to have a good fire department. Hope to be able to build a fire substation in the near future. We have the funds to do so. We need to have a good recreational program so you have a good quality of life for your citizens. And you need to have good community relations with the public, so the public can have some input as to what you're doing. In the last three and a half years, we've overlayed I think over 70 streets and we've repaired miles of sidewalk. And we've looked out for the quality of life for our citizens. Quality of life for the citizens comes right after jobs and economic development. But if you have good quality of life, jobs should come and economic development should be a plus, and we're working toward that end with the ACE program.
BAXTER: I think the greatest single issue facing Forrest City is a lack of planning. We do not have a written plan as to where we want to be over the next three, five, 10 years. If we don't' know where were going, the chances of getting to where we want to be are awfully slim.
If I'm elected mayor, the first thing I will do is start a planning process where we involve the city council, the various departments in city government and hopefully other entities like the chamber of commerce to develop a plan for the future.
FREEMAN: To me there will be two. The issue of how do we bring the community together -- unity. And also how do we rebuild our neighborhoods?
On the issue of unity and teamwork, the way I will attack it is trying to make sure that everybody understands that they all count. They deserve to be heard. As mayor I would create an atmosphere where their input is solicited and they feel comfortable in offering their input to me and the city council. We have a wealth of knowledge here in Forrest City and people with tremendous skills. And I feel like as long as people think we're trying to do the best thing, they're going to be more than willing to step up to the plate. As long as they also understand that we won't always disagree. At the same time we have to prioritize what we have to deal with and move on.
On the second issue, which is neighborhood improvement -- and I tie this to home ownership -- I think it is significant, because in Forrest City we have a market of individuals who want to live in Forrest City -- Federal Bureau of Prisons and some others with Boar's Head. But our city leaders over the years did not come up with a plan to make sure the housing stock and the neighborhoods and the quality of life issues were dealt with or a plan put in place to deal with it. Consequently, we're not capturing the folks we need to capture that have jobs in Forrest City, nor do we have a plan to improve our neighborhoods that are deteriorating. When and if we improve our neighborhoods, we are building wealth within individual families, we're building self esteem, we're getting rid of drugs and other problems within the community.
OSWALT: If you put the economy to the side, I think the quality of life if you want to call it that. I think it's how your citizens are taken care off and how can we the city make it better for people to live here. One thing I'm planning on doing is increasing patrols in neighborhoods that see a higher crime rate than others. I'd like to see a constant police presence in neighborhoods that we know have drug crimes or murders. Safety is a key issue in everybody's life. We've got to make sure that people feel safe in their homes. We've said in several forums before, that a lot of these houses that are dilapidated are just breeding grounds for crime, for drugs. We need to tear those down, get those out of our neighborhoods. If we just start cleaning up certain neighborhoods, it's going to make it harder for some of these thugs, for lack of a better word, to come in and cause problems.
2. What action if any do you intend to take as mayor if the sales tax is removed from food and over the counter medicines?
BAXTER: Obviously we'd have to work within the constraints of the budget. We'll figure out how much money we have to operate on, and we'll have to work within that budget. If it means cutting city services then that's what we'll have to do. We would probably also have to look for additional sources of revenue. If we don't want to lose city services, and we lose funds, we have to look at alternatives of raising additional funds.
FREEMAN: That would be a significant hit to all the cities. First of all, we have to see what action the legislature will take, to determine whatever means of financing will be put in places. There are other states that don't have sales tax. The way I would attack that problem, is first, to determine what our revenue will be. Then we would convene the city council and the leaders in the community and talk about developing a plan that would address he needed services, and then make a decision on the other services that we may need to either charge a fee for or curtail if need be.
OSWALT: I think the biggest problem right now is, we don't know what a court is going to say what the definition of food is. Right now they're saying it won't take the tax off prepared foods, so it will leave our hamburger tax. But if somebody sues, we could see a decrease or elimination of our hamburger tax, which is going to completely phase out our A&P Commission. It's going to affect, number one, the Rumble on the Ridge. It's going to hurt a lot of small groups that come to A&P, it's going to hurt the museum.
Another thing, we've got estimates that it could take around $1 million out of our city budget. Well, you take about $1 million out, and you're going to look at non-essential things being cut. And non-essential to me might be essential to other people. I think the most essential thing is to make sure your fire and police departments are manned and funded first. We're going to have to prioritize each department to see what's needed and what's not needed. And if people sit down, and they view the Recreation Department as a necessity, or the library as a necessity, or police protection as a necessity, they need to think if they want to support taking off the tax.
We've got to also look at replacing that. If people say they want all these services to continue, and we can't do it with the money that's going to be coming in, we might have to look at property taxes, or start charging for garbage pickup.
BRYANT: If the sales tax is removed as it is projected, the city could lose up to 30 percent, and if that would be the case, I've run 15 percent better in the surplus, which means we would only have a 15 percent hit, which would equate into some decrease in services -- not a drastic decrease. And I wouldn't recommend cutting anyone from the police or fire departments.
We would probably have to cut back somewhat in solid waste, since solid waste is funded by a one cent sales tax which pays for garbage removal. People Wynne, I think, pay $11 to $12 for garbage removal, and no one in Forrest City pays. We would probably have to do something to keep our solid waste department going, which means we would probably have to cut back on picking up limbs and debris and those kinds of things -- the refrigerators and the stoves -- the things that people take for granted here in Forrest City, that no other city does.
We would look at parks and recreation. There would probably be some cuts there. We spend over $400,000 in parks and recreation. With the surplus we've had, it could be manageable. But it's possible the council would have the option of raising property taxes. Or to start a wheel tax on each car. There are a lot of things the council to do to recoup money. I as mayor try to be as conservative as I can and frugal when it comes to spending the city's money.
3. What things specifically would you like to see accomplished in Forrest city during your administration?
FREEMAN: I'd like to see a spirit of volunteerism that is recognized nationally, that we decide as a community that there are a lot of things we can do to help ourselves. And put that with the other help we'll get from the outside. I think when we start having those small victories, and we start seeing how strong we are by working together, then there are a lot of things that we will get accomplished. So the spirit of volunteerism and people working together and helping each other is one thing I would like my administration to be noted for.
The other thing is the fact that we will have made significant improvements on the whole issue of economic development and downtown revitalization, as well as the neighborhoods, making sure we have plans in place. Short term plans, long term plans in place, to improve on those areas.
OSWALT: We've got to increase jobs. The way to do that is to be more aggressive in pursuing industry and small businesses to come to town. I'd also like to set up something with the community college to help small businesses to make sure they continue to grow, or if you have money to start a business but you're afraid to do it, you can work with the business department and get some type of training. I'd also like to see a fall basketball program set up with our recreation department. I'm not proposing any new building or multi-purpose building or whatever you want to call it. I'd like to see us work with area churches that have the facilities and work with the schools that have the facilities, so we can better use what tax money we do have and better Forrest City.
One more thing is we have to have a fire substation. Osceola has got two stations, and they're nowhere near our size. We've talked about it and we've talked about it. We have to make sure we quit talking, get a plan going and we build that thing. The best place is going to be out near the bypass area, so the north and west end citizens closer to a fire department, and industry will be better protected and we can cut down on the call time.
BRYANT: Some things the mayor has complete control over and other things the council has control over. What I'd like to see accomplished is the mayor, the Chamber, the various educational entities and businesses come together and perhaps through this ACE -- Arkansas Communities for Excellence program -- that we can bring this community together as one rather than have split communities. You have black on one side, and a white on the other side, and rich folk and poor folk. I'd like to have us a melting pot in Forrest City. If we can accomplish that, then Forrest City can truly move forward, and then we could actually recruit businesses here. It's very difficult now to bring all those entities together. But I've signed off on the ACE program and I hope it's a salvation for Forrest City. We're right at the peak, and if we can get past this point, and if people start looking at each other as one instead as separate entities, we'll move. We'll attract industries. We have a good town. We are the hub of all around us.
BAXTER: First of all, if we want Forrest City to be able to attract businesses, then we've got to make Forrest City attractive to businesses. So over the next four years I would like to implement some type of a beatification program, so we cleanup what we do have. I would like to increase our crime prevention. I'd like to provide more recreational opportunities, because the new people that come to our town always talk about how we don't have the recreational opportunities that we need to have. The last thing I would mention would be more of a partnership effort with our education systems here in the community. Because education and job creation go hand in hand. We've got to improve our educational system if we're going to make ourselves attractive.
4. Do you support the concept of a regional airport serving Forrest City and Wynne?
OSWALT: If you look what we have in our airport now, we don't need to quit working out there. I do think we need to work toward some kind of regional airport. We need to work with Wynne specifically. It's going to take years to get it planned. But if we have a regional airport we can start working on not only industry coming in to Forrest City, but also Caldwell and Colt. And if we locate it somewhere between Forrest City and Wynne, I think it would help everybody.
We need to keep working on maintaining what we have out here, but I think the time has come to quit thinking just about one small airport. We need to look at something for the future. There was so much opposition to expanding the runway out there, we've got to start focusing on something else.
BRYANT: Yes. I've been beat over the head, people have said I wasn't for it. But as mayor, I had to do those things that were on paper when I became mayor. We have strived for the last 20 years or so to improve our airport and make it safer. Then out of the blue came a group that said they were against improving the Forrest City airport, which meant that we lost about $4 million in federal money. They say they want a regional airport. And my only problem with that group was, they never contacted the mayor's office on the front end, either the Ferguson administration or my administration, to lay out any plans in regard to it. Because the same moneys we used to study improving our airport, we could easily have used those same moneys to study a regional airport.
It's a good concept. I think it will take anywhere from 10 to 20 years, and unless we have some millionaires to step to the plate, we won't realize it for many years to come. It's a good concept, it would help Wynne, it would help Forrest City and it would help the region. But until we can get past the conceptual stages, we need to try to keep the airport we have and make it as safe as we can. And we can do both. We can have our current airport until we get to the realization of building a regional airport.
BAXTER; Yes, I do. Our community is not large enough to effectively market ourselves. And we need to try to market ourselves as a regional area. A regional airport would help us do that because it could involve Wynne, Forrest City, Brinkley, Marianna. And if we start getting businesses and industry interested in our region, then we'll all benefit.
FREEMAN: Yes. I support the concept. I have had the privilege to be in meetings in discussions about the concept. I've been in Wynne for a couple of meetings. And the reason I support the concept is, for several years now, it's been determined by federal and state government as well as foundations that give money, that they want to see you partnering. They want to see you leveraging. I think the days are gone when one city could go out and snag something on its own. It's going to have to be because of county involvement or even some other adjacent city involvement helping you snag a particular entity. When I look at the assets we have as a city, the one thing that may be missing of significance is a regional airport. We're on Interstate 40, the busiest interstate in the country. We're 37 miles from Marion, the rail service, we're 37 miles from the Mississippi River, we're 45 minutes from the (Memphis) airport. All of that bodes well for industry. We're also a rural town, but close to urban areas. Consequently, I think we could be served well by having a regional airport. It's going to take that to support industry now.
5. Some have said this is a racially-charged election. What is your response to that?
BRYANT: No, this isn't a racially charged election. I've run the same type of election all my life. The mayor has a record of being pro-Forrest City, for one Forrest City, not a divided Forrest City. All I ask is that the citizens look at the mayor. Look at his record. This mayor has taken care of all the citizens. There have been those who got mad at me because I wouldn't have a black advisory council. So be it. But that wouldn't have been fair to the other citizens for me to be getting a black advisory to do this or do that. I think that when I was elected, I was elected to be the mayor of all Forrest City, not one section. And I think I have performed to that standard, working to try to enhance our city to make it better, because all ships rise with the high tide. You can't hold back one section or the other section. You have to move forward in all aspects and in all services, and I think I've done that. Forrest City is a good town, and I think the people are getting better and better, and I think if we can get over this hurdle, we'll pass all the cities around us in the Delta, and we'll truly shine.
BAXTER: Unfortunately, I think that there will be people who vote for me solely because I'm white, and I think there will be people who vote against me solely because I'm white. I think it's unfortunate. Because this is the year 2002, and we ought to be beyond that. The voters should vote for the person that they feel like is the best qualified, because of education, training and experience to do the job.
FREEMAN: As a candidate who has not discussed race, I don't see how it's a racially charged election. I have worked with all segments of the Forrest City and St. Francis County community. We have good and bad people in all parts of our community. It's been my good fortune to be able to work with people across racial lines to do good things for people. So consequently, my campaign has not, nor have I given any attention to the issue of race. I try to present myself as the candidate who will be the best candidate, the best mayor for this city. And move the city forward. That is one reason why we went out specifically early with our "Let's Talk" sessions, to try to make it be clear that we thought we had some very good things to offer Forrest City as far as our platform and as far as our leadership style. So I don't know that I have dealt with race at all and don't intend to deal with race as it relates to this campaign.
OSWALT: I don't think it is. I know when I filed, people came to me and said, "If you're the only white candidate in there you'll do good, if Mayor Bryant is the only black candidate he'll do good, it depends on whose people get out more." I've gone door to door throughout town. And I've had people say they're going to support Mayor Bryant, or Frederick or Bill, and it's not just blacks and it's not just whites. I think this racially motivated thing should be pitched out the window. I think it's time we quit talking about everything being racially motivated. The only thing this boils down to is, which candidate is going to work for everybody in Forrest City.
Sales tax revenues to St. Francis County amounted to $139,188.30 during September, according to figures from the Arkansas Municipal League.
In addition, towns in St. Francis County received the following prorated amounts from the county tax: Hughes, $27,586.48; Forrest City, $218,298.10; Wheatley, $5,496.60; Palestine, $10,948.88; Madison, $14,583.74; Caldwell, $6,870.76; Colt, $5,437.50; Widener, $4, 949.92.
Also, towns in St. Francis County with their own sales taxes had September receipts as follows: Forrest City, $155,708.39; Hughes, $5,300.59; Madison, $1,920.22; Palestine, $6,647.56; Wheatley, $4,899.22.
A 62-year-old man was pushed out of his wheelchair and robbed in his home Thursday night.
William Tabron, of 2116 Williams, reported to police that he answered a knock on his door, and two men entered his house. One pushed over his wheelchair and stole his wallet, which contained about $350.
Tabron reported that the second man helped him back into his chair. The wallet was later found on Tabron's porch, empty.
A child was taken from school on Thursday for carrying a weapon.
According to the police report, a teacher at Central Elementary School discovered that a 6-year-old student was carrying a box cutter. The child was released to a family member and suspended until Nov. 11.
As of today, 1,491 people had early voted in Tuesday's general election.
Early voting continues through Monday at the county clerk's office in the St. Francis County Courthouse.