Head Runs Again For Bentonville Council

BENTONVILLE -- Burton Head is seeking a second term on the City Council in November.

Head will face Octavio Sanchez for the second time for the Ward 4, Position 1 seat. Head defeated Sanchez two years ago by 194 votes. Head received 51 percent, or 5,133 votes, compared with 49 percent, or 4,939 votes, Sanchez received in the 2012 general election, according to Benton County's Election Commission.

Head was elected to the seat left empty when Jim Dotson was elected to the state Legislature.

Bentonville has grown over the last several years. There's a lot of new businesses in the city, and empty spots are being developed, Head said.

Growth continues with the Bentonville Community Recreation Center and the Eighth Street Improvement Project, he added.

"I'd just like to be a part of all that," Head said.

Head was a Benton County justice of the peace in the 1970s. He said he decided to run for City Council in 2012 to get back into local politics. He's finishing his first term on the City Council.

Eddie Austin, former alderman, said he's known Head for years and graduated high school with his wife.

"He's good people," Austin said of Head. "He's willing to serve, that's for sure. He's a quiet, very thoughtful person. He thinks things through real well. Anytime you ask him something, he usually has a very informed opinion."

Aaron Mitchell has been friends with Head for 12 years, he said. Mitchell said Head is dependable, approachable and easy going.

"Being a longtime Bentonville resident, I feel he deeply cares about the city he lives in and its future, but also in the present-day struggles the city faces as well," Mitchell wrote.

There were 18 candidates who have filed for eight City Council seats as of Thursday, according to the Benton County Clerk's Office.

Filings for municipal elections end at noon today.