The chairman of the board of Little Rock's public housing authority has announced his candidacy for the Ward 1 seat on the Little Rock Board of Directors during the upcoming general election.
But should a housing authority board member like Kenyon Lowe win election to the city board, the individual soon would have to give up the seat on the housing authority board, the city attorney indicated.
In an email, Little Rock City Attorney Tom Carpenter wrote that the Metropolitan Housing Alliance "is a state statutory creature that is also influenced by federal law."
He cited language in Arkansas law that says no commissioner of an authority may serve as an officer or employee of the city or county for which the authority is created.
"So, if a member of the Metropolitan Housing Alliance is elected Mayor, or to a position on the Board of Directors, then upon taking office that person would have to resign from the Alliance," Carpenter wrote.
Lowe, 62, acknowledged as much in a phone interview Friday.
"Can't do it," he said of staying on the housing authority's board if elected to the city board of directors. "If I win the election, I'd have to step down because the city is the confirming governing body for appointments to the housing authority."
Commissioners on the five-member board of the Metropolitan Housing Alliance serve five-year terms.
As a self-appointing body, the housing authority's board makes recommendations on appointments to fill vacancies, but those individuals must get the approval of the Little Rock Board of Directors.
Lowe has served on the housing authority's board since 2012. His current term expires Sept. 30.
The official filing period for Little Rock elected offices has yet to open. All but one of the seven Little Rock ward seats are on the ballot this November. (The city board also includes three at-large positions that are not on the ballot this fall.)
It will be the first election for seats on the city board since board members in December adopted new ward boundaries following the 2020 census.
In January, Lowe announced his intention to run for the Ward 1 seat.
At the moment, the seat is held by City Director Virgil Miller Jr., 69, whom city board members appointed last year to fill the vacancy created by the death of longtime ward representative Erma Hendrix.
Miller, an employee of Arvest Bank Operations, has said he intends to run for a full term of his own.
In comments Friday, Lowe suggested he would like to continue to serve on the housing authority's board.
In theory, Lowe could get reappointed to the housing authority's board following the expiration of his term in late September, lose the Ward 1 race in November and therefore continue serving on the board of the housing authority.
Another possible outcome could see Lowe win the Ward 1 contest, resign his seat on the housing authority's board and then ask fellow city directors to appoint him as the city board's liaison to the housing authority -- an option Lowe mentioned in the interview.
The liaison role currently is held by City Director Ken Richardson of Ward 2.
Lowe previously ran for the Ward 1 seat in 2002 but lost to the incumbent, Johnnie Pugh. A decade earlier, he made a bid for the city board but ultimately withdrew in 1992. He has also repeatedly run for the board of the Little Rock School District in the past.