Posted on

Our View Election 2016 a vote of con_dence for local leaders

Share

Our View

Election 2016 a vote of con_dence for local leaders

We would certainly be amiss if we failed to publicly congratulate the local winners in this recent election and also congratulate those voters who supported some very important initiatives with the exception of the proposal legalizing marijuana, a victory that makes Arkansas the first in the Bible Belt to do so.

Let us begin by congratulating the two incumbents who won re-election to their West Memphis city council positions and to a newcomer to the council.

Councilman Tracy Catt, an elected official who has clearly demonstrated his leadership while on the council was a clear favorite among his constituents. Councilman Willis Mondy, also popular among his constituents, defended his seat against Al Felton for the second time and has defeated two different candidates in his last three challenges for the second seat in Ward 5.

Newcomer to the council is Wayne Croom who will take over the position previously held by local businessman Taz Tyrone who decided not to seek re-election.

Moving on to the second largest municipality in Crittenden County is Marion where two current councilmen will retain their seats for another four years.

Incumbents Bryan Jackson and Kelly O’Neal both held off strong challenges and certainly deserves recognition for the efforts they made, not only serving on the council, but also their efforts to meet the needs of their constituents.

And, let’s not ignore the number of other local municipal elections such as in Anthonyville where Roy Eason defeated his opponent and in Earle where Charlie Young won.

In Horseshoe Lake, Shawn Siders defeated Garry Hahne, Gregory Fisher won his race in Jericho, while Emanual Harris narrowly defeated Eddie Hale in Turrell.

Now then, let us commend state voters for approving initiatives that extended the terms of county officials such as our sheriff and county judge from two to four years, allowing the governor to retain his powers when out-of-state and the issue to encourage job creation, job expansion and economic development.

For those of us who were opposed to the medical marijuana amendment it appears state voters thought otherwise, an initiative we continue to feel will have a negative impact on Arkansas.

As many attempts as there has been to legalize this substance its passage didn’t come as a major surprise. The sales pitch to this initiative was to provide alternative pain relief to those individuals suffering from a chronic illness.

Our belief has been, and will continue to be, that this was the first phase of many to come that will lead to full legalization. We feel there is no real benefit to this initiative other than to those individuals with big plans to earn a considerable amount of money through its cultivation and sales.

The job now is for our elected politicians to put together a safety net, strict guidelines and an enforcement staff to assure of its proper distribution and use.

We would also expect our lawmakers to impose a state use tax and any possible fee to cover the cost that the taxpayers will have to absorb. This is one initiative that we suspect will come back to haunt those ill-informed voters unaware of the consequences down the road.

LAST NEWS
Scroll Up