FORT SMITH -- Robyn Dawson was leading Samuel Price in the municipal runoff election for the city Board of Directors Position 5 at-large seat Tuesday night.
Incomplete and unofficial vote totals at 9:15 p.m. were:
Dawson 10,950
Price 8,791
Dawson, 55, is the principal of Spradling Elementary School and runs two small businesses with her husband. She said the skills needed for those jobs and her background of service made her the best person for the director position.
Dawson attended Fort Smith schools and earned a bachelor's degree in education from Arkansas Tech University and a master's degree in administration from the University of Arkansas.
Price, 25, said he wanted to give a voice to those who felt forgotten and ignored.
He is in his seventh year with McDonald's and serves as a department manager. He also is a full-time student in the Grand Canyon University online program working toward a bachelor's degree in elementary education with plans to teach in Fort Smith after graduation. He graduated from Northside High School.
The election filled the last of the three at-large positions on the seven-member board that were up for election this year. Incumbent Position 6 Director Kevin Settle ran unopposed and Position 7 was filled by Neal Martin, who was the only candidate to file for the position.
City directors serve a four-year term that pays $1,000 a year, based on attendance, and a monthly vehicle allowance of $400.
Dawson praised Fort Smith during the campaign for its progress in economic development, pointing to the opening this year of the Glatfelter plant at Chaffee Crossing, the construction of the Silgan Plastic Food Container plant in south Fort Smith, the groundbreaking for the second medical school at the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education and the start of construction of the U.S. Marshals Museum on the banks of the Arkansas River, among other things.
Price said Fort Smith needed improvement in its infrastructure to attract new business and industries. He also said the city needed to be more business-friendly with fewer regulations that hamper development.
Both candidates said they thought the city should renegotiate the consent decree with the federal and state governments that forces Fort Smith residents to bear a 167 percent sewer rate increase to pay an estimated $480 million on sewer system improvements over 12 years.
NW News on 11/07/2018