because the trains are slower. I was in a meeting opposing

Councilman Kelly O’Neal A City Councilman running for mayor for the second time says Marion has outgrown the current mayor and need a new direction.

Kelly O’Neal, who ran against Mayor Frank Fogleman four years ago, said 24 years in office is too long and that Fogleman has been holding the city back from reaching its potential.

“The same problems have not been fixed,” O’Neal said.

“If anything, they’ve gotten worse. I am running because after 24 years of a single person serving as mayor, I am offering residents new and more progressive ideas to help guide the city into the future.”

O’Neal said Fogleman has had 24 years to build an overpass so residents don’t get stuck waiting for trains to pass, and in fact, made the problem worse by allowing a coal yard to be built.

“Why has it taken 24 years to get an overpass?” O’Neal said.

“The problem has been there 24 years.

They created the problem for the overpass. Frank is the one who let the coal yard come in.

That’s what created the problem

because the trains are slower. I was in a meeting opposing

it,

(former City

Councilman)

Richard Cockrill told me to sit down.”

O’Neal said Military Road would already have been widened by now but Fogleman waited too long so the state pulled the funding and moved it to 2019.

“He pushed that off because he did not want that to be controversial in an election year,” O’Neal said. “Just like Riverwest expansion. It’s been pulled until after the election.

He didn’t want the controversy of people in Riverwest not voting for him. We need to sit down with the developers and the people in Riverwest and see KELLY

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how the developers can be profitable but fit in with what the people of Riverwest want in their neighborhood. We need to find a compromise.”

O’Neal said he has often been the lone ‘no’ vote on the council because of the way Fogleman conducts business and keeps the council out of the loop on major projects.

O’Neal said he’s not afraid to ask tough questions and has often pointed out things to the mayor and gotten the council to change how they were going to do something which has resulted in saving the city money.

“Look at Brunetti Field,” O’Neal said.

“They were going to cut down the light poles and eliminate night games there. I got wind of it and found those used lights in Kansas City. And on the pipeline we built to the river, they were going to build one that was too small and was going to cost us money in the short term and the long term. A smaller size would have required more horsepower to run and it would have to run longer per day and there was no increased capacity. We would have had to do it again. I had a councilmember say that when they were running 100 percent that they would just do it again. Why do a project a second time when you can do it right the first time? We hired a company to design Fire Station No. 3 and it’s taken 15 months to get plans. They should be fired. But he won’t even consider it.”

O’Neal said the city also needs to be more inclusive when it bids out jobs. Marion has a reputation of bids being rigged for local companies.

“I’m tired of projects not being put out to bid in a more fair manner,” O’ Neal said. “They need to be advertised in Jonesboro and Little Rock long enough for a fair chance for all businesses to bid on the job, not just favored companies.”

O’ Neal said city government also needs to be more transparent.

“The county is now being run more like a business thanks to Judge Wheeless,” O’Neal said.

“The city needs to be run the same way. Everybody should be treated the same.

We had a guy who flipped a garbage truck because he was on his cell phone. And he wasn’t even supposed to be in that subdivision. It cost us a garbage truck.

But it was all hushed up.”

O’Neal said despite the rumors, he does not plan to fire any city workers.

“I’m not planning on firing anybody,” O’Neal said.

O’Neal said he plans to focus on improving public safety and enhancing the city’s parks so that residents have more things to do.

“Public safety has been a growing concern over the last few years,” O’Neal said.

“When my wife, who is a Realtor, is showing a house, the first thing they as is does it have a security system? In the past, you would never associate Marion with being unsafe.

We need to get more police officers on the street and we need to give them the flexibility of being able to make decisions on the spot.

I think getting back to the basics of good old fashioned neighborhood policing where our officers know our residents by name will help better keep us safe. Another step we can take is by adding more lighting. We have poles that are dark and all they need is lightbulbs

that Entergy will

pay for.”

As far as parks, O’Neal said adding a splash pad, more bike and walking trails, and a dog park would greatly enhance the quality of life for current and future residents.

“There is nothing for the youth to do,” O’Neal said. “Why is it is that our kids can’t use city ball parks? If you want a ball field it’s first come, first served. There is no way to book your team. If you don’t have a parent out there at 2 p.m. standing on the ball field, your team doesn’t get to play.

And with so many of our families owning dogs, why not have a dog park? We had a grant for more bike trails, but our mayor turned it back in because he doesn’t want it.

These are things Millennials want.”

O’Neal said he realizes it is hard to take on a mayor who has been in office for over two decades, but somebody has to step up and offer new ideas and a new vision for Marion.

“He’s done some good things, don’t get me wrong,” O’Neal said.

“But our city has outgrown him. I want my kids to be able to stay here and I want your kids to be able to stay here. I want us to grow and be business friendly and grow our tax base.

He does everything he from Angelo’s Grove and does everything he can to thwart progress.

It’s time for a new direction. He was fine when it was a small town. But we are a bigger city and it needs to be more welcoming

to new residents

it needs to be managed like a business. Can I do as good a job as him?

Yes. Can I do a better job than him? Yes, I think so. I would be honored by your vote.”