Little Rock’s City Board of Directors includes three at-large members who represent every ward in the city. Two incumbents face challengers this election cycle. The race for Position 9 on the board is between incumbent Antwan Phillips and agribusiness consultant Jordan Thomas.
Phillips won his first election in 2020. During the day he works as an attorney and a sports agent. He feels his greatest strength is the diversity of viewpoints he brings to the table through his life experience and his career.
"Whether that's in the Heights, or southwest, whether that's Chenal, or College Station, I think I can understand life and interests and desires for individuals in their neighborhood, because I've traversed all those parts of the city and lifestyles. I think that makes me unique as a representative of the city."
Jordan Thomas hails from Georgia, and describes himself first as a family man, with his wife and two young boys. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 2011, and moved to the Mississippi Delta to start his career in agriculture.
"From there, I worked at a large grain company, working a couple of grain terminals on the Mississippi River, and then I got a chance to come to Little Rock to run a futures and options brokerage firm. So I did that for about six years, and now I'm a soybean meal broker. Been doing that for about two years now."
Speaking on public safety, Thomas said he would like to see the city grow its police force and community outreach.
"I think the administration is making a decent effort in order to kind of fill that gap, as far as getting more police officers on the force, but I think we really need to do more," said Thomas. "There's also the community outreach aspect. I go to a lot of these neighborhood association meetings, and what I see in southwest a lot is they've got this Community Resource Officer that will attend the meetings. There's a lot of communication there on basically preventing becoming a victim. Obviously that helps crime stats go down when we can, as citizens, do our part."
Phillips said he agrees with efforts the city has implemented to reduce violent crime during his tenure, but would also like to see more community outreach.
"One thing I learned growing up in southwest Little Rock, being around all the activity that I could've went a different direction, the reason I didn't make those decisions is because I learned I had something to lose. I was on a path, right? There was a future for me. And I think once this sales tax passes and we're able to invest in our community centers, and our parks and even more into our programs that support these kids — If you ask me what we're doing going forward? We're going to continue investing in those things."
Turning to issues of homelessness and affordable housing, Thomas says abandoned properties are a huge issue. He’d like to see a re-evaluation of zoning and codes to bring more investment in affordable housing
"Whether it's the code as it's written or the enforcement of it, there's a lot of challenges there, a lot of hoops to jump through, and it turns a lot of the investors off. I do think if the city can somehow become more friendly to that type of investment — I think at least an evaluation of the code as it's written, the zoning as it's written and applied, is certainly worth taking a look at."
Phillips says, in his experience, some of Little Rock’s unhoused population have refused to take advantage of available resources. He says the city is looking at bridging that gap while expanding those resources.
"That's why we are increasing our mental health services and social services within our police department. We've hired social workers who are now on staff. When the sales tax passes, we will have more resources to hire more of those folks. Once we're able to get this unsheltered tiny homes built, I think we'll be even more effective in helping resolve the issue that we are seeing all across the city."
Mayor Frank Scott Jr has vigorously campaigned for a 1% sales tax increase, and it’s one point on which the candidates differ. Thomas says he hesitates to ask people to support more taxes when costs are already high. He would like to instead find areas to reduce current spending.
"We're not in a deficit right now, at the very least. So I think at least a sit-down and just really looking at what our priorities are would be a first step. Why should we pay more in taxes right now when the basic city services are just scraping by? I know one argument is, 'Well we need more to fulfill those services,' but then the other side of the coin is, 'If we can't meet those obligations, the basic stuff, then why do we need to give more?' I would probably be more on the latter."
Phillips says the city board, including himself, is fully supportive of the sales tax proposal.
"It helps all parts of the city, it puts us on a track to grow. But I will say publicly, this is not the mayor's sales tax. This is a City of Little Rock sales tax. We're asking you to join us in supporting Little Rock going forward. The things you want to see in our city can happen with this sales tax."
Phillips is seeking his second term, and says what drew him to run was a desire to change the perspective of the city board.
"I'm the youngest person on the city board, so I think that brings a perspective. And I hear a lot of people talk about all the things Little Rock isn't, and I hear people use this phrase a lot, 'Well it just is what it is,' in reference to what's happening in our city. I want to change that narrative."
For Thomas, he says he just wants to make a positive impact for the community.
"I've been coming to Little Rock essentially since 2011, but I've lived here since 2016, and driving around you see the weeds, you see the trash, you see the homelessness, you see the graffiti. At the end of the day I just felt like I could, you know, maybe just get in the ring and make a positive impact; see what I could do, not only for my family that I'm raising in Little Rock, but for all the families here."
All Little Rock residents will have the choice to vote for either incumbent Antwan Phillips or challenger Jordan Thomas to represent them as an at-large City Director in the voting booth.
