2 seats on North Little Rock council in play

Who will replace a seven-term member of the North Little Rock City Council representing Ward 4 and whether to make a change at a Ward 2 council seat are decisions voters in those respective wards will make in the Nov. 6 general election.

With City Council Member Murry Witcher stepping down after 28 years of representing Ward 4, two candidates are running to fill his position: Jane Ginn, 69, a retired purchasing agent, and J.T. Zakrzewski, 42, an electrical engineer.

In Ward 2, incumbent Linda Robinson, 64, is running for a fifth term on the City Council against Harlan Hunter, 53, president of the Baring Cross Neighborhood Association.

Early voting begins today.

Both Ginn and Zakrzewski have run previous campaigns. Ginn has twice run for a City Council seat, the last time coming only 65 votes short of stopping Witcher's last re-election bid in 2014. Zakrzewski was elected to the North Little Rock School Board without opposition in 2010 and served as board president during the 2013-14 school year. He lost his seat to current board chairman Sandy Campbell in 2014.

Ginn has used her previous council campaign experience to bolster her chances this time, she said.

"I've been doing a lot more walking, meeting people and talking with people, and I've done a lot of raising money up front," Ginn said. "So I've learned a lot."

Filling a council seat held for so long by one person isn't as daunting to her, Ginn said, because Witcher has already helped to show her the ropes on some duties.

"I went to a Senior Citizens Commissions meeting at the Hays Center," Ginn said of a commission Witcher has long served on as a council representative. "He was so polite and kind. He introduced me and talked to them about me. On another occasion we discussed how to get a speed bump put in a street. He taught me about those type of things. I think he is eager to help and I appreciate it so much because I would be coming behind somebody with over 20 years experience."

Though he has experience in school board elections, Zakrzewski said he's aware of the difference in seeking a ward position on the City Council.

"It's a different population of folks with a whole other set of concerns," he said. "It's been an educational process meeting people and learning their concerns. I've learned as much from them as they have from me."

There are similarities between the council and School Board positions, though, he said.

"As one member of a board, you have to learn to compromise and work with others," he said. "You have to work with others to get anything accepted. It's a skill you hone as you go along."

Of following Witcher's 28 years of experience, Zakrzewski said that "neither of us can replace" that much experience. He also wouldn't hesitate to ask Witcher for assistance on council issues if elected, he said.

"When I was on the School Board, I never hesitated to reach out to the superintendent or classroom teachers or the support staff to get information," he said. "[Being new] is also a good position to be in. To be able to bring a fresh mind and a new set of eyes to the council are good things."

Worries about property crimes and wanting to see new businesses come to North Little Rock are high on residents' minds, both candidates said. The temporary Amazon distribution site to open this fall off Interstate 30 and new businesses going in around McCain Mall are big boons to the city, they said.

"Here lately there's been a little too much crime with kids breaking into cars on the street," Ginn said. "I'd like to sit down with the Police Department and maybe some council members to see what we can do to improve that. I know [the street] I live on, we've had some problems. I want our streets to be safe and safe enough for kids to play in a park or their front yard and not have to worry.

"I'd like to see new businesses come in," she said. "You can see all the new construction around McCain Mall. I love the fact that we're getting the Amazon center. I would really like to see that grow. It will be a testing time for the city. So I really want us to shine so we can bring more businesses in."

From talking with potential voters about their concerns, Zakrzewski said that "public safety is a big one."

"Break-ins we've had in North Little Rock and elsewhere comes up quite a bit," he said. "That's probably the most common concern people I've talked with have told me about.

"I think folks say they are generally pretty happy," he said. "In the McCain Mall area there are a lot of restaurants going in. For years we watched new things being built in Sherwood and Little Rock. Now it seems like we're positioning our city for those things. The [multi-screen] movie theater in the mall saved that whole area. There seems to be more optimism than not."

Robinson, retired from the state Division of Children and Family Services, said she is running for re-election in order to finish several ward projects that the city hasn't had funds to meet before. Voters citywide passed a 1 percent city sales tax increase last year that will fund a number of capital improvement projects and increased funding for each of the city's four wards.

Drainage problems, the need for neighborhood groceries and a lack of sidewalks are issues in her ward that she continues to work to solve, she said.

"These are issues all over in many of my communities," Robinson said. "In Sherman Park, they are wanting sidewalks so people can walk on sidewalks instead of in the street, especially when there is water standing in the streets when it rains. I've been working with the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and [city] Economic Development to get a grocery store downtown in the Argenta area and also out on [U.S.] Highway 165. We have a lot of [city-funded] community gardens where people can have fresh produce, but people want an actual grocery store.

"A lot of [grocery chain] stores are moving way from having community grocery stores," she said. "What we've been doing is seeking out businesses that might be interested in moving into the area. That is a problem because we have a lot of elderly folks who can't get to a grocery store. Some businesses think if they're two, three miles away then it's not a problem, but they're not looking at the community. A lot of our elderly people do not have the transportation and cannot go that far to get there."

Hunter, who has his own home repair business, served on the former Argenta Community Development Corp. board of directors for nine years, working with Habitat for Humanity on getting homes built or repaired in Ward 2. That experience, plus his work heading the Baring Cross Neighborhood Association and with reading and leadership programs in local schools, are the basis of his campaign, he said.

"My work pretty much speaks for itself," Hunter said. "Getting a park over here at what was a run-down football field. Redoing 150 homes along with Habitat and building 40 new homes. I've been trying to eliminate food deserts, which is the distance between one grocery store and another store. If you're outside a 2 1/2-mile radius, you're really considered to be a food desert.

"I don't have anything against Ms. Robinson," Hunter said. "I'm about the future of Ward 2. Education and after-school programs are huge things for me. We need to train young people to be competing in job placement, construction and manufacturing jobs. Everybody's not going to college. If not, we need to get you into a trade.

"Like, with Amazon coming into North Little Rock, we've got to attract more businesses to come to North Little Rock," he said. "Everything ties in together. You've got to have people educated and trained so we can have those jobs coming in. We have to be qualified and trained to get those higher paying jobs. If Amazon needs 500 people, we don't want them to go outside the city to look for them. We want to supply them with people from inside the city."

North Little Rock City Council members are paid $11,059 annually, plus a $250 monthly allowance. Terms are for four years.

City Council Members Debi Ross in Ward 1 and Steve Baxter in Ward 3 are running unopposed, as is City Attorney Amy Fields.

Metro on 10/22/2018

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