FORT SMITH — Ray Baker, Fort Smith's exuberant mayor for 18 years, announced Thursday he will run for a sixth term.
Baker, 69, made the announcement more than a week after civic leader Sandy Sanders said he planned to run against Baker.
Baker said he hadn't planned to make the announcement 14 months before the election. Filing for the position doesn't begin until May 12, and the primary is scheduled for August. But Baker decided to announce his candidacy now because of numerous inquiries he received about his political plans and from those encouraging him to run.
He said the show of support surprised and pleased him.
Baker said he plans to continue performing the limited duties of mayor and will not try to take on powers not granted to the office. The mayor presides over city director meetings and is the ceremonial head of the city.
The position is not one, he said, that has the power to take a lead role in economic development as Sanders has said he will do if elected mayor. That is the role of the city Chamber of Commerce and other municipal officials, he said, and he doesn't want to get in the way of their efforts.
Still, he is willing to work at promoting Fort Smith.
"I am willing to go and do whatever is asked of me," he said.
Baker is pleased with the city's progress in making "Life worth living in Fort Smith," his motto that has become the city's slogan, he said. He pointed to the good neighbor program, honoring the arts, historic preservation efforts and recent ordinances aimed at improving the appearance of the city.
He is concerned that more could be done to recruit business and industry to the Fort Smith area, he said, such as high-tech businesses that could keep educated young people from leaving the area.
Tourism is the city's largest industry and more should be done to develop it, he added.
Baker taught in Fort Smith's schools for 46 years, most of it at Southside High School. He retired in June 2007.
That also was the same year he was diagnosed with colon cancer, for which he was successfully treated.
An enthusiastic and energetic speaker at public events, Baker said he is in good health.
Baker served on the city board of directors for 10 years before running for mayor in 1990 when he defeated Ernest R. Coleman, according to the city clerk's office. He ran unopposed in the 1994, 1998 and 2002 elections and defeated Steve Jackson in 2006.
His current four-year term in the nonpartisan position expires Dec. 31, 2010.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 15 on 09/25/2009