Jonesboro mayor candidates face off in first debate of election season

Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Oct. 15, 2024 – The four candidates for Jonesboro mayor met for their first debate in the K8 News studio Monday night.

During the two-hour debate, the candidates answered questions about improving city infrastructure, blighted city areas, new businesses, the library millage and more.

Candidates were asked how they would improve blighted areas of the city.

City Councilman L.J. Bryant, who answered first, said cleaning up the city was a “multi-faceted approach,” involving improving city management.

Incumbent Mayor Harold Copenhaver said he has worked to keep the city clean by partnering with Breaking Bonds ministries and increasing property condemnations from 57 in 2016-2020 to 376 from 2020-2024. He added that he is working on increasing lighting from Arkansas State University to downtown Jonesboro.

“We’re going to clean up the community from that aspect and put in a nice lighting array,” Copenhaver said. “Lighting up our community means a safer community and that’s what people want to see.”

Jeremey Terrell said the city should have sweeper trucks regularly cleaning streets and every part of the city should be maintained, as he felt the city focuses too much on improving downtown.

Thomas Elwood said he would work to plant more trees around Jonesboro, as they would improve drainage, air quality and more.

The candidates were then asked how they would improve city infrastructure.

In response, Copenhaver said during his term, he expanded the infrastructure budget from $500,000 a year to $3.5 million and that along with the Mayor’s Youth Council, will be implementing a cell phone app for residents to report potholes.

Terrell said he would make improving roads, such as repaving and filling potholes, his top priority.

Elwood said he would remodel how the city does sidewalks. Instead of having solid concrete, the sidewalks could use paver blocks separated by grass, allowing for better drainage. Paver blocks are a type of tile used for exterior flooring.

“If it cracks or anything like that, you won’t notice it and the water will be allowed to be absorbed,” Elwood said.

Bryant said infrastructure had been mismanaged and that there were opportunities to combine recreational facilities with drainage.

Candidates were asked how they would work to combat homelessness.

Elwood said the city should provide lockers for homeless people to store seasonal clothing, such as coats. He added that the police department needed a built-in detention center so people struggling with drug addiction or mental illness would have a place to stay.

Copenhaver said he was working on expanding humanitarian efforts, including a $500,000 humanitarian fund that could be used to fund a homeless shelter. He added that the community needs to be educated on the root causes of homelessness.

Both Bryant and Terrell said the city needs to address the criminal and mental health components of homelessness. Bryant added that he would increase police funding so that officers could patrol on foot in their communities.

The candidates were then asked how they would work to bring in new business to Jonesboro, as well as keep recent A-State graduates from leaving the city to find work elsewhere.

Bryant spoke about poor sales tax growth and job increases. He said the key to retaining recent A-State graduates was improving quality of life and working with industry leaders to hire recent grads.

Copenhaver said he was working with A-State chancellor Todd Shields to implement projects where A-State students can work on engineering projects with the city, but that such improvements take time.

Terrell said the city needed to reach out to big businesses in the area, such as Frito-Lay, Nestle and Hytrol, to train the next generation of employees at the college and high school levels. He added that bus routes needed to be expanded to these large facilities, so people without cars could easily access these jobs.

Elwood said he wasn’t as concerned with new businesses, rather he was concerned with retaining existing businesses. He added that he didn’t see the point in trying to keep recent A-State graduates in Jonesboro.

“They’ve been educated here,” Elwood said. “They need to take Jonesboro with them when they go get a job somewhere else.”

Candidates were asked how they would support the local library.

In 2022, the library’s tax millage was reduced from two mills to one. This year, Jonesboro city voters can vote to increase the millage back to two mills.

Bryant said he would not support a millage increase without a plan.

“Anytime we ask somebody for money, or we spend the people’s money, there has to be a clear and compelling reason,” Bryant said. “The folks in this community also just want the kids to be protected. I think most common sense folks say ‘Hey, don’t remove the books, put them up higher, put them up in a special section.’”

Copenhaver agreed, saying while he supported the library, he wanted to see a plan of what the library would do with the additional money if funding were increased.

Terrell said the library had a surplus of money and that the city needed to ensure the library served all of the community.

“Right now they’re only supporting about 50% of Jonesboro,” Terrell said. “We’ve got to become adults about this and make sure that we’re protecting our kids and that we’re giving a library that is supporting the community, not just ideologies.”

Elwood said the library could be downsized and smaller “reading centers” should be created across the city, with books regularly rotated across the centers.

Watch the first hour of the debate here, and the second hour here.

All four candidates will meet again in the ASU-TV studio Oct. 17 at 6 p.m.