FAYETTEVILLE -- Voters in the city's west side can either re-elect an incumbent for the first time in 10 years or give a minister his first shot at politics.
Nathan Allen
Age: 30
Residency: Fayetteville, 12 years.
Employment: Minister at New Heights Church.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in history, minor in political science, University of Arkansas.
Political experience: None.
Alan Long
Age: 35
Residency: Fayetteville, 14 years.
Employment: Buyer at Newly Weds Foods, Inc.
Education: Master of business administration, University of Arkansas.
Political experience: Fayetteville City Council, 2013 — present.
Alderman Alan Long and minister Nathan Allen seek the Ward 4, Position 2 seat, which Long has held since 2013. The most recent Ward 4 alderman re-elected to either position was Shirley Lucas in 2006.
Interstate 49 divides most of Ward 4, which spans west Fayetteville. Neighborhoods west of the University of Arkansas, the former Razorback Golf Course, the city's West Side Waste Water Treatment Facility and the Boys & Girls Club are in Ward 4.
Both candidates agreed west Fayetteville's growth has surged in recent years and stressed the importance of east-west connectivity. Long pointed to his time on the city's Transportation Committee, which deals directly with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
Long said he considers himself a representative of the community and takes residents' concerns and ideas to the Highway Department. The City Council last month approved an agreement with the Highway Department to put a separated, shared-use path on the Wedington Drive bridge over Interstate 49. Pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to go east-west across a double loop ramp for traffic entering Interstate 49 from Wedington.
"Once that is done, in conjunction with trail access to the new Regional Park, then the people in west Fayetteville will have a more realistic expectation of being able to be connected to the trail network," Long said. "It's that east to west corridor that our city really has to focus on."
Traffic congestion and many traffic signals separating the west side of town from the rest of the city often prompt residents to simply stay at home, Allen said. He supported the Interstate 49-Wedington Drive bridge improvement project and suggested putting a flyover connecting Persimmon Street to Interstate 49.
Building within the confines of Ward 4, such as creating a community park and quickly approving projects from developers, would give people in west Fayetteville more things to do, Allen said.
"I think we've had kind of an anti-growth city government," Allen said. "They've stifled a lot of growth in a lot of different areas. The citizens of Fayetteville are excited and have had a lot of good ideas and plans, and as far as I know they're shutting it down for a lot of different things."
Ward 4's unique access to Interstate 49 presents a great potential for business growth along the corridor, Long said. More houses could be built farther west, he said.
Building complete streets to coincide with development must be a priority in planning, Long said.
"Complete streets facilitate vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle traffic," Long said. "We have a large residential population in west Fayetteville. The residents deserve access to services, including a variety of businesses and other community services."
Allen pointed to the nearly yearlong process it took to approve rezoning the Razorback Golf Course. Residents opposed an initial plan that would have put up to 730 residential units on 99 acres of land. The City Council approved its rezoning Oct. 4 with the condition no more than 400 single-family homes be allowed.
Allen said he understands why neighbors were concerned but landowners should be able to develop their property.
"As long as we're within means and not doing illegal things or hurting the environment, then we should allow them to build," he said. "I think our city's really keen on not allowing growth to happen."
Long has fostered proactive relationships with residents, other City Council members and outside entities, and will continue to do so, he said.
Knowing the right approach becomes especially useful when speaking to the Highway Department because many of Fayetteville's busiest roads double as state-owned highways, Long said.
"I don't think that they're necessarily trying to be a roadblock in any sense," he said. "I think that they just have a strict set of criteria that they have to follow for funding purposes, and I think that just communicating with them what we want is the No. 1 goal that an alderman should have when working with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department."
Early voting starts Monday for the Nov. 8 general election. Runoffs will be held Nov. 29.
NW News on 10/18/2016