Bentonville mayorial hopefuls face off

BENTONVILLE -- Four mayoral candidates shared different views Tuesday on giving developers incentives to provide more affordable housing in the city.

The Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the 90-minute forum midday at the Bentonville Community Center.

Stephanie Orman, 43, said she's a conservative who believes in small government and the principles of supply and demand.

"That's how I look at issues with anything regarding incentives," she told the crowd of about 80 people. "I believe we have developers here that understand the environment, and if there's a need there, it will come."

Orman is the director of social media and community involvement with McLarty Daniel Automotive Group in Bentonville.

Jim Webb, 37, said he believes there are opportunities to partner with private entities. He mentioned downtown parking as an example where partnerships could work.

"I definitely support public and private enterprise working together," he said.

Webb is a senior national account manager for Walmart and Sam's Club businesses at Backyard Discovery and Step2 in Bentonville.

Incentives can come in many forms, John Skaggs said. Affordable housing is needed because too many people commute from neighboring communities to work in Bentonville, said the 73-year-old retired Benton County district judge.

"I'm not particularly in favor of the city paying contractors to build here, but we can at least remove a lot of the impediments," Skaggs said.

Terry Shannon, 67, criticized the City Council's 2017 decision not to retroactively collect impact fees. City officials discovered they lost nearly $878,000 over six years because they miscalculated fees collected for new development.

"The people who are supporting me, they're the ones who fed me this information," he said. "I didn't know about this, but they are irate."

Shannon is retired from real estate and Yellow Page publishing.

Charlie Turner, a fifth mayoral candidate, didn't attend the forum. Turner is a local barber.

Each candidate had two minutes for opening remarks and one minute for closing comments. Each candidate had one minute to answer each question. Candidates rotated who responded first.

Many questions centered on how to deal with the city's growth -- how to address infrastructure needs, keep the city's small town charm and diversify its economic fortunes.

Communication with residents was a theme three candidates touched on throughout.

There's a tremendous amount of apathy among residents fostered by a lack of communication, Skaggs said, referencing the last election's 5 percent of registered voters' participation.

Skaggs said he'd increase transparency between the city and its residents and encourage council members to take a more engaged role within the community.

Orman said she'd like to create Bentonville 311, an initiative where residents can text in issues, which is sent to the appropriate department head and mayor. It would help prioritize issues and increase accountability, she said.

Social media could be better used in getting information out to residents, Webb said. The Parks and Recreation Department has a Facebook page helpful in notifying the public when facilities are closed. Other pages or email blasts with information about street closings and other city dealings could be used, he said.

Shannon said his main issue was public safety around the downtown square and the lack of public knowledge about it.

Webb, Skaggs and Orman commended the Police and Fire departments when asked to evaluate their performances. Providing those departments with the resources they need as the city continues to grow will be the main priority for public safety, they said.

Another forum for Bentonville mayoral candidates will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 17 at the public library, and another will be at noon Oct. 24 at the Community Center.

The general election is Nov. 6.

NW News on 10/03/2018