ROGERS -- Jerry Carmichael is the newest alderman for the city, after he garnered more than 90 percent of the vote and beat Keith Jackson in a runoff election Tuesday.
Carmichael was elected to the Ward 3 Position 2 seat that previously was held by Andrew Hatfield, who was elected as city attorney.
Rogers
Ward 3, Position 2
Carmichael • 539 votes • (92%)
Jackson • 49 votes • (8%)
"We were obviously pleased" with the numbers, Carmichael said. "I appreciate the people who came out to the general election and the people who ... made a special effort to come out to the runoff (despite) the holiday and travel."
"I look forward to serving the city of Rogers."
Ward 3 is the western-most portion of Rogers starting at the corner of West Olrich Street and South Dixieland Road.
Carmichael had the majority votes during the Nov. 8 election. He finished with 7,058 votes (42 percent), while Jackson and Danny Kolman had 5,513 (33 percent) and 4,253 (25 percent). Kolman endorsed Carmichael for the seat after the Nov. 8 election.
"I felt that with his community outreach and financial background, he would be a good asset for the city," Kolman said.
Carmichael, 54, is co-owner, partner and chief financial officer of TY North America and an investment banker for Waypoint Private Capital. His campaign website touts experience with large budgets and familiarity with financial and accounting standards among his greatest attributes useful for the position in a city with a budget of approximately $54 million.
Carmichael served on the Rogers School Board from 1999-2015. He was president of the board from 2012-2015 and earned the 2010 Pinnacle Award-Arkansas School Boards Association, which is the highest award for an individual school board member in the state of Arkansas.
"It makes a difference to me how our community operates and is perceived by those who visit and live here," Carmichael said. "My responsibility and focus will be to serve the people of Rogers as a citizen representative, to make good common sense decisions for the good of the people."
Economic development, community development and quality of life issues are of concern to Carmichael, who said he would use the seat to keep the city focused on growing a strong business base to create good paying employment opportunities.
Jackson, who works in financial integrity cases for Wal-Mart, ran for City Council in two previous elections. His career prior to Wal-Mart was as a police officer and police chief. Jackson said he wanted a way to continue to serve the community.
NW News on 11/30/2016