Mayoral hopefuls in Bentonville race reach out to voters

BENTONVILLE -- Jim Webb and Stephanie Orman have slightly more than a week to win over voters in the race to succeed Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin.

Webb and Orman received the most votes among five candidates in the Nov. 6 general election. Webb received 5,595 votes, or 43 percent, and Orman got 5,193, or 40 percent. Because neither got 50 percent of the vote, or got 20 percent more than the other, the two will face off in a runoff election Dec. 4. Early voting begins Tuesday.

Webb, 37, is a senior national account manager for Walmart and Sam's Club businesses at Backyard Discovery and Step2 in Bentonville. He served on the City Council from 2015 until this year. He resigned in February because he moved out of the ward he was representing.

Orman, 43, has served on the City Council since 2015. She represents Ward 1 and is also on the animal shelter task force. She is the director of social media and community involvement with McLarty Daniel Automotive Group in Bentonville.

Outside money from a Washington-based political action committee and the allegation Webb offered a job in return for an endorsement have heightened the public's awareness of the race.

Yet both candidates said they are working hard to keep pushing the platforms they've had since the election season began.

Karen Sebold, a clinical assistant professor of political science at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, said she's not surprised by situations like these in the Bentonville mayoral election.

Historically, local politics have been contentious and polarizing, Sebold said. Local races in Fayetteville are typically more controversial than in Bentonville, she added, saying the city has more liberals to compete with conservative viewpoints.

"Definitely Rogers and Bentonville are going to see more of that as they see their population change," she said.

Both candidates said their mission until Dec. 4 is to disseminate their message and connect with people.

Webb said he's been focusing on going door-to-door meeting with residents, while Orman has held community roundtables.

A couple of organizations, including the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, have offered to hold forums where both candidates address questions.

Webb said he refused to attend a forum proposed by Citizens for Responsible Development in Bentonville because he "didn't believe there would be open and fair dialogue."

He declined the forum the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette was planning because he had campaign events conflicting with the schedule, he said.

Forums and debates where candidates are most accessible to the public should be events in an election season, Orman said, adding that she would make herself available to Webb's schedule.

Both candidates' platforms include infrastructure as a priority and say road congestion is one of the largest issues they hear from residents. They differ, however, on how they would pay for projects.

Orman has mentioned she would seek a capital improvement bond, while Webb said he would tighten the city's budget and possibly look at keeping city vehicles in the fleet longer.

"There's a lot of areas that we can find money," he said. "Aggressive budget review, going line-by-line and eliminating any wasteful spending."

Orman said she'd work with department heads to develop a comprehensive road plan, which would also build the case to pass a tax increase in order to support a bond sale.

"We would be very transparent in that process," she said. "It would be presented to the public to vote on those."

[2018 ELECTION: Full Democrat-Gazette coverage of Arkansas races]

Both candidates also included safety and first responder support as a platform focus. Quality of life initiatives are also a focus for Orman, while Webb's platform includes reduction of wasteful spending in the city budget.

The candidates have also dealt with a couple of unexpected issues.

Mailers were distributed by the Republican State Leadership Committee, a Washington-based political action committee, in support of Webb during the general election.

Orman held a news conference Oct. 31 asking that her opponents denounce the use of outside money to influence a local, nonpartisan mayoral election.

"People should understand what a super PAC is, how it's allowed to spend unlimited funds and how when they put smear pieces out against you, as a candidate, you can't debate a piece of paper," she said last week. "I think it's bad for the process. It's bad for any local election."

Webb said he was initially excited that an outside group would support his campaign, but subsequent waves of mailers began targeting Orman and John Skaggs, another mayoral candidate in the general election.

Webb said he denounced the PAC on Facebook once the mailers' focus switched from supporting him to negatively targeting his opponents.

"They were kind of slinging a little mud," he said. "I didn't like that."

The PAC spent more than $40,000 to support Webb through mailers. The money wasn't donated to him, which Webb said he has had to explain to many while door-knocking.

It's legal for a political action committee to drop money into local elections, but $40,000 was a generous amount for a mayoral race, Sebold said.

"This is how money in politics works. It's completely legal," she said. "But people in smaller states though, like this, seem to be very suspect of outside money."

It's difficult to measure the effect outside money has on elections, Sebold said.

Skaggs sent an email to Orman shortly after the general election claiming Webb offered him a city job in return for his endorsement, Skaggs and Orman said. Skaggs and Orman exchanged a few emails about the potential illegality of such an offer, according to Skaggs.

Webb said he never offered Skaggs a job but has said he looks forward to working with Skaggs to remove the failed dam at Lake Bella Vista.

Orman said she sent the information to the local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation because offering a job in exchange for an endorsement is a misdemeanor offense in Arkansas.

Orman said her experience serving residents as a City Council member and having the endorsement of the outgoing mayor makes her the choice candidate.

Metro on 11/26/2018