Fort Smith Board candidates note city opportunities, challenges

Three candidates are facing off for the Ward 3 position on the Fort Smith Board of Directors in the Nov. 5 general election. City Director Lavon Morton chose not to run for reelection. It’s the only contested race among the city’s four wards.

Russell Bragg, 65, retired as senior vice president of supply chain for OK Foods Inc. after 36 years. Lee Kemp, 40, is lead pastor at Forefront Church in Fort Smith. Carl Nevin, 69, is a factory worker and small business owner.

Talk Business & Politics sent questions – with responses to each question limited to 150 words – to all three candidates in the race. Following are their responses.

Why do you want to be a Fort Smith city director?
Bragg: First, because it is a great time to be a part of the future of Fort Smith. We have so many wonderful things going on here from the Marshalls museum, to the Fort Smith Marshall’s baseball team, an outstanding live music scene, a City involved in supporting a wide array of charitable causes, to the Foreign Military Sales program. We have challenges ahead of us, but strong leadership and a focus on what is important will help us get there. I feel this will be an extension of my 36 years of executive leadership at OK Foods. I want to look back at the end of the term and say “I made a difference in the future of Fort Smith.”

Kemp: I was born and raised in Fort Smith, and I would not be where I am today were it not for the many leaders and educators who have invested time in my life. I am humbled by all that they have given to me, and I feel it is my time to give back, following their example. I am at an age where I can be a good bridge builder for uniting the older and younger generations. Fort Smith is experiencing economic growth, and we have a great chance to handle our infrastructure issues and increase amenities for our community to enjoy. Our local leaders need to be pragmatic thinkers and keep a keen eye on each issue’s facts. My leadership style is to work alongside our community and take the issue at hand through the lens of what is practical and fair for all involved.

Nevin: I would like to see the city flourish.I would like to help allocate city tax money in a more favorable way.

Other than the consent decree, what do you think are the top challenges facing the city?
Bragg: All cities have to manage through a variety of issues, fortunately for us, we are managing through positive change. Other cities have declining populations, loss of retail and industry, declining medical care availability. While we have to respect those so we don’t go backwards, our challenges are finding ways to grow the quality of life, how to expand the city for future industrial growth, how to develop plans that make our children want to stay here and work as well as providing an alluring environment for others to come and live here. There has to be a balance between maintaining the past and charting the future.

Kemp: Alongside the need for a viable financial plan for consent decree work, we have the pressing need to replace our 100-year-old water transmission line coming from Lake Fort Smith. Additionally, we have sections of water lines that need to be added or increased in capacity that service the southside of Fort Smith. This water line work is crucial to ensure we have the water pressure we need to develop the future growth of our community. We have plenty of water for decades to come but don’t have the right distribution pipeline to maximize the capacity. We are also experiencing the tensions that accompany any community that grows from being a “town” to a “city.” At times, the divide can be obvious, filled with emotions and a level of national political energy. We need informative transparency, where facts are reviewed, considered, and decided upon where the economics make sense.

Nevin: High water bills. How to fix water leaks in a timely manner. And how to reduce our water loss of 30 percent.

What do you think are the top opportunities facing the city?
Bragg: In saying top opportunities, we are identifying the areas we need to focus the directors and the City government to plan for and resolve. Getting additional water to Chaffee, making sure we have adequate pressure in the system, fixing leaks, continuing to manage budgets to take care of our parks and roads, improving the working relationship between the City and its citizens, controlling costs by making sure we are attracting a wide array of vendors to bid on projects, and making sure projects that purport to save money really do have an ROI that can be proven and verified.

Kemp: Undoubtedly, the Foreign Military Sales mission for F35s has a huge economic impact for our community. The Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce continues to seek out companies to consider moving into our city. Fort Smith has experienced recovery from every job we lost when Whirlpool pulled out, and we are positioned to move into great advancements with workforce development and quality of place. Programs like our PEAK Innovation Center are working towards training the next generations of workers who will help us attract businesses looking for a community with a ready workforce to tap into. Then, at the same time, we also have the Arkansas College of Health Education, which is bringing another billion-dollar economic impact and positive development within our health community. It is important we keep a positive, purposeful priority to seeking continued growth, so we ensure our strong future.

Nevin: The Interstate 49 Super Highway Project to the southwest part of Fort Smith. This project will cause huge growth in every sector of our economy. The F35 and F16 Project will bring 800 million dollars to the economy of Fort Smith.

Where would you like to see the city in 5 years?
Bragg: The consent decree has to be the focus for the Board, so in that light I would like us to have developed a plan, the funding, and the execution strategy, for accomplishing that. We need to bring any and all resources to bear that result. After that I would hope we could be staring down the construction of new manufacturing facilities, new commercial and retail businesses, an increasing wage rate and improving the skills of our workforce. We do this by creating an environment that is conducive to growth through incentives, improving quality of life and quality of place. At the end of the day, the citizens want to enjoy their lives in peace, be secure in their future, and have some fun along the way.

Kemp: I would like to see us in a position where the consent decree workload is at a strong pace for completion, and we have initiated a plan for the water transmission line. I would like to see the private and public sectors working strongly together as a community to better our city. I desire to see us have good dialogue, civility, and passion for the opportunities/challenges that are brought before us. We need to be able to have difficult conversations without being difficult people. We need to come together on issues such as homelessness and the massive number of animals left to be abandoned. The development of amenities like trails can be and needs to be pursued through grants the city can receive. We can come to the balance of remembering who we are, and lay hold of a future where young families seek to live.

Nevin: More fiscally responsible. I would like the city departments to tighten their belts.

What could you do as a board member to get it there?
Bragg: We used to have written on a few white boards at OK Foods, “I always reserve the right to get smarter.” Being responsible for a budget at OK Foods that exceeded $250M annually, while managing our trucking operation, global logistics, food distribution facilities, support warehousing, all purchasing activities, including commodities, sitting on the benefits committee and being a fiduciary for our retirement plans, all provide an excellent background for me to apply those learned skills in problem solving and crisis management to the needs of the City. Granted, I did none of this by myself, I had a great team of talented individuals. The city has a great team, we have many talented and dedicated team members and I look forward to being a part of it.

Kemp: I have more than 22 years of experience in servant-based leadership as a pastor. Currently, I lead people from both ends of the national political spectrum and have demonstrated how a conservative leader can collaborate with those holding different viewpoints. My aim is to be a servant leader who seeks the peace and prosperity of our community. I intend to utilize my skills in listening and communication to promote informative transparency. Leading as a servant in the non-profit sector has presented the challenge of motivating people with a vision to take action without monetary compensation. I believe that these same skills can significantly improve the current focus we need within our city. The future ahead of us requires us to collaborate well, and my plan is to shift my skills, and experience towards our future. I hope to have your trust and vote on Nov. 5.

Nevin: Rein in spending. All major spending is decided by the Board of Directors. I would put a stop on all needless spending.