Civil-rights attorney and state Rep. John Walker said Saturday that someone should file a lawsuit to eliminate the at-large positions on the Little Rock Board of Directors, but he did not commit to filing such a lawsuit.
Walker was one of the featured speakers Saturday at the Arkansas Times Festival of Ideas. He spoke at the Old State House Museum in downtown Little Rock about the history of race relations in Arkansas and the complications of legally mandating change without wide community support to continue those changes.
“Lawyers can only change what’s in front of them if they win,” Walker said. “You need the support and determination of the community to continue those changes and give them meaning. ... I believe either myself or somebody should file a lawsuit to address the condition of the City Council, and I do believe that challenge would win.”
Walker, who has been involved in dozens of civilrights battles, including lawsuits to increase minority-group representation on school boards around the state, filed a lawsuit in federal court in 2007 asking that the three at-large positions on the Little Rock Board of Directors be changed to wardspecific positions.
The lawsuit, which Walker asked be dismissed in February 2009 for reasons he would not discuss, claimed that the at-large format was not accessible for minoritygroup candidates because it diluted the voting strength of minority groups.
The Board of Directors currently has seven members representing individual wards, with four of those directors white and three black. The board also has three atlarge directors and a mayor elected by a citywide vote, all four of whom are white.
In 1956, Little Rock voters approved a system of government with seven board positions, all elected at-large.
In the 1990s, members of several city task forces and independent citizen groupsbegan pushing for a reorganization of city government.
A measure to change the form of government from seven at-large directors to seven ward-specific directors failed in an August 1992 election. Soon after, in 1993, voters approved the city’s recommendation to switch to seven ward-specific directors and three at-large directors.
Throughout the changes in government, neighborhood and black activists argued that the at-large positions have a history of being controlled by the more affluent parts of the community.
A letter sent from objectors in 1993 said:
“Our experience conclusively reminds us that atlarge seats have been and will continue to be controlled by more affluent city neighborhoods. The low- and moderate-income neighborhoods where most of Little Rock’s African American residents now live have greater needs. ... These needs will be genuinely addressed only when elected city representatives can be held accountable by African American voters and their neighborhoods through ward elections.”
Walker expressed similar sentiments Saturday, saying the importance of the representation on the city board is mirrored by the city’s changing demographics. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, for the first time in Little Rock’s history, the city’s minoritygroup populations outnumbered white residents.
The census showed that 48.9 percent of city residents are white, while 70 percent of the city directors are white, Walker said.
Some activists and at least one city director have beenworking behind the scenes to advocate for the election of the black candidates running for the three at-large positions up for election in November.
A Freedom of Information Act request by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette turned up a series of e-mails that focused on the at-large elections and race, but did not address the possibility of a lawsuit. Ward 1 Director Erma Hendrix sent an e-mail to activists, several board members, the mayor and city manager, advocating that residents focus on the election of minority-group candidates.
“What is of the utmost importance now is the November 6, 2012 General Election. Director Richardson and I need for us to be focused on the election of each at-large minority candidate,” shewrote. “To focus on the fairground now would be a tactic [that] has been used by the current majority to distract the minority.”
Ward 2 Director Ken Richardson received the e-mail but said he did not agree to advocate the message.
“One of my colleagues sent an e-mail drawing me into the election, and I have not publicly or privately spoken about this election in regards to race,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate that my position on the development of the tech park and the expansion of the fairgrounds has integrated its way into the upcoming election with racial undertones. When it comes to election-year politics, nothing surprises me, but this isn’t the conversation I’ve been having. Race is a secondary issue to thesocial ills such as unemployment, underemployment, lack of education and inadequate housing that are destroying the fiber of our community.”
Hendrix said Saturday that she did not want to comment about the e-mail or on the forthcoming election.
According to city e-mail records, Hendrix’s e-mail was forwarded to the remaining board members by At-Large Director Joan Adcock, who is running for re-election.
“I think that females are still considered a minority, and I have been elected five times,” she said Saturday. “I do not think that race should be the only factor in any election. We still need to look at the qualifications of a candidate and their ability to serve and, if they have been elected before, their record.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 15 on 09/23/2012