School Board chief in North Little Rock announces second mayoral bid

Tracy Steele: Former state legislator Tracy Steele delivers the keynote address to small business owners and entrepreneurs during the Coalition of Black Professionals second annual Small Business Summit on Saturday at the St. James Village Outreach Facility.
Tracy Steele: Former state legislator Tracy Steele delivers the keynote address to small business owners and entrepreneurs during the Coalition of Black Professionals second annual Small Business Summit on Saturday at the St. James Village Outreach Facility.

North Little Rock School Board President Tracy Steele announced Monday that he is running for mayor.

It is Steele's second run for mayor of North Little Rock. He also ran in 2012 and led a field of four on election night before losing to Joe Smith in the runoff.

Steele, 56, is the second high-profile candidate to announce he is running for the position.

North Little Rock Parks and Recreation Director Terry Hartwick, 70, announced his mayoral campaign in October. Hartwick served as North Little Rock's mayor from 1984 to 1988.

Steele is the former executive director of the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission and served in the Arkansas House of Representatives and the state Senate. He was elected Senate majority leader of the 86th General Assembly, becoming the first black man to be elected to the position.

In addition to serving as the president of the North Little Rock School Board, Steele is also director of the Arkansas Health Services Permit Agency.

Smith will not seek a third term as mayor when his term concludes at the end of 2020. The mayor's salary is $128,220.27 annually, after a 2.5 percent increase went into effect in June.

No candidacy will be official until the July-August filing period for North Little Rock municipal offices, but Smith's announcement in September that he wouldn't run again kicked off campaigning for the office.

Steele said Monday in a news release that his campaign will focus on education, public safety, economic development and infrastructure.

"I want to be the first Education Mayor in NLR," Steele said in the release. "It's time for the City and the education community to work closer together. As Mayor, your safety will be my first priority. We must give police officers and firefighters the equipment and pay they need and deserve. We must also realize that a good education system and jobs helps with public safety."

Steele, who is in his second three-year term as a School Board member, has touted his experience with the North Little Rock School District. He said the school district doesn't just serve as a place for young people to get an education, but also as an economic engine for the city.

"It's one of the city's largest employers, with over 1,400 who work for the school district," Steele said previously. "We have people move to our city to send their kids to the North Little Rock School District. That's education, but it's also economic development."

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Tracy Steele

State Desk on 11/05/2019

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