Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — April 18, 2025 — Two Jonesboro city councilmembers hosted a town hall on Thursday to discuss issues such as crime, infrastructure and more in Ward 6.
Hosted by David McClain and Dr. Anthony Coleman, who represent Ward 6, the town hall featured Jonesboro Police Department Chief Rick Elliott as a speaker.
There were also comments from other local government leadership, including Brian Richardson, chief administrative officer for the City of Jonesboro, and State Senate District 20 senator Dan Sullivan (R-Jonesboro). Other city officials and councilmembers were in attendance.
“I know we’ve got some concerns and growing pains in the city, so we want to hear from everybody. That’s why we’re having this,” McClain said. “We’re a part of city government, but we gotta hear from you guys in order to know what’s going on.”
Elliott said he was aware people had concerns about drug usage and speeding in their neighborhoods. He said that while the issues were nationwide, JPD was taking a “proactive approach” through installing traffic cameras at high-activity intersections and increasing officer patrols in Jonesboro.
He added that JPD has partnered with federal agents such as the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshal Service, allowing for federal prosecution and incarceration.
“These hardcore individuals, we encounter them now on the street, I will prosecute them on a federal level, if we can,” Elliott said. “I do believe in people making mistakes the first time, might make a mistake that second time. But you get past there, I’m kind of getting over forgiveness and all about putting away the problem and getting that problem off our streets.”
Elliott said K9 officers are deployed to parcel services about once a week to sniff for drugs, in which officers then obtain a search warrant for any packages the K9 alerts on.
For neighborhoods with speeding, Coleman said the quickest way to get speed bumps installed was for the entire community to come together and petition for them and “flood their calls,” for speeds bumps. He added that this needed to be done to city employees, which would allow for traffic studies to be worked on.
David McAvoy, chair of the Democratic Party of Craighead County, asked the councilmembers about their plans to combat homelessness and unaffordable housing.
Coleman replied that the city cannot directly purchase a home to act as a homeless shelter; instead, something like that must come from an outside organization. He added that the city also has a $500,000 humanitarian aid fund.
For that fund, any registered nonprofit can apply, provided they are registered in Arkansas and are in good standing with the Secretary of State. Funding can be used to combat homelessness/housing and food insecurity, provide mental health support, revitalize neighborhoods and more. The funding was approved in an October 2024 city council meeting.
“I was thinking about the homeless and I said, ‘Well, that would be an awesome opportunity for some of those organizations that we know of already doing or helping,'” Coleman said. “That’s one way that we’re definitely looking into and I will even speak more about it and see where we are.”
Coleman and McClain also spoke about infrastructure in the city, saying the city was working to increase the number of sidewalks. Attendees also spoke about water on streets such as Meador Road and Nathan Drive. The councilmembers urged anyone who experienced roads with significant water to report them to the city so the issue can be investigated.
They also told attendees they were taking note of all issues presented and would present them to their respective offices.
The town hall was livestreamed on KLEK 102.5 FM’s Facebook page. View the full town hall here.