Two Candidates Vie For Mayor In West Fork Election

West Fork's temporary mayor and a self-described "agitator" will square off Tuesday to fill the mayor's seat for the rest of the year.

Charlie Rossetti has served as interim mayor since Frances Hime abruptly resigned from the post in November, citing family concerns. Steve Winkler, editor and publisher of the Washington County Observer, an online community newspaper, opposes him in Tuesday's special election.

The election decides who will finish Hime's original term, which goes to the end of December. The election for the next term will come before then in November. Polls will be open at the community center on Webber Street from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Both men touted openness, honesty and responsiveness in government as their highest goals. They vigorously disagreed on whether that openness exists in West Fork.

Rossetti, who was a city council member until filling the mayor's seat, said he and other officials have improved city government and quality of life even in the last six months.

"My main purpose was to open up communication in City Hall, and I think we're well on our way to make that happen," he said. "We've got several things we're working on."

The town's most prominent projects aim to increase West Fork's connections to surrounding communities, Rossetti said.

Plans are being drawn to join the Razorback Greenway network of trails, for example, that involve partnering with Greenland to the north. Ozark Regional Transit is also returning to the town this summer after their contract was canceled last year because of a lack of riders. After the first week of June, four buses will come each day, he said.

"You know, for a buck and a quarter, you can go anywhere in Northwest Arkansas, and for a buck and a quarter, you can get back home," he said. "I think that's a good bargain."

The city is also working on joining Fayetteville's sewer and water treatment system, Rossetti said, as well as testing rainwater infrastructure. Joining West Fork's larger neighbor is meant to help meet new water treatment standards that West Fork's treatment plant can't handle, he said.

"It'll just be a good long-term system that we'll never really have to worry about," he said. "It's just a smart economic move for everybody."

Winkler, for his part, said much more must be done.

For several years Winkler has committed himself to go to every town meeting and write about them in the Observer, gaining an outspoken reputation. He joked about putting "Agitator" on his business cards after someone called him that during a meeting.

The experience gives him a deep understanding of how the city works, he said, and a deep understanding of how it doesn't.

"I'm trying to bring democracy to West Fork, and I just don't think it's been that way," Winkler said. "They've run off the good people."

City officials have often shut out the people who disagree with them, Winkler said, describing it as "good ol' boy intimidation." If elected, he said he would fight to make government open to everyone and insist city employees be able to use a computer.

Winkler also pointed to leaky sewers and other infrastructure the city needs to improve to stop flooding, and to trash it needs to clean up to look more attractive to investment. Building code enforcement must also become more effective than relying on neighbors to turn in neighbors, he said.

"People want real answers, they want real solutions. They want to be able to look at these problems and have someone in leadership admit there's actually a problem," Winkler said. "They're tired of things not being taken care of. They don't want a clique running things. That's why I'm here."

NW News on 04/05/2014