Ward 7 is Little Rock’s most southwestern ward, radiating out from the corner of Asher and University to the city limits. And, for more than three decades, it’s had the same representative on the city board – BJ Wyrick, who’s giving up her seat to challenge incumbent Mayor Frank Scott Jr.
The once-in-a-generation opportunity has drawn three candidates, all of whom say they’re the best fit for the job.
None of the three is completely unknown to voters. Joe Gray has 30 years of service with the Little Rock Fire Department under his belt.
“I already know the inner workings of the city, and, you know, that’s what I do.”
Natalie James unsuccessfully challenged Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman in the 2022 election.
“I know the policies, I know the budget, I know what we can do and I know how we can go forward.”
And the Rev. Benny “Big Ben” Johnson is a longtime community activist and founder of Arkansas Stop The Violence.
“I’ve been doing the work. I’ve been doing the work for 40 years. The community knows me.”
Like his mentor, the late Robert “Say” McIntosh, Johnson is an outspoken advocate for underserved communities. His main focus is public safety, which he sees as foundational to addressing other issues. While city officials point to improving crime statistics, Johnson says that’s not the case in his ward.
“We live in a tale of two cities, no ifs or buts about it. North of 630, top priority for the city. South of 630 is heavily neglected,” Johnson told Little Rock Public Radio.
Johnson calls for more mentorship programs to help teach conflict avoidance to young people. Natalie James also decries a lack of mentorship, and agrees that resources aren’t allocated equally across wards. She’d like to see police forge closer bonds with the community.
“You need to be here in this city, you need to live here in this city if you’re going to be here for 12 hours. And you need to get out of your car, and you need to talk to the people," James said. "You can’t put Band-Aids on the issues and change a lightbulb and clean the street and think that’s just going to make everything all pretty.”
Both Johnson and James are against police surveillance technology, like Flock cameras. Joe Gray, not so much.
“The residents want crime to come down. And so, I think Flock cameras are worthwhile and useful. If you’re not doing anything illegal, then I don’t see a problem with Flock cameras," Gray said.
He cites improving communication and accountability between police and community members as his vision for tackling crime. Gray also breaks with Johnson and James on the issue of large-scale data centers. He’s not sure which specific limits or regulations he’d like to see on them, but would follow the mayor’s lead.
“I understand that the mayor… and possibly the city board… wanted more regulations, and whatever those regulations may be for data centers, that’s what I would be for.”
If it were up to her, Natalie James wouldn’t let data center companies build anywhere near the city. But municipal governments can’t ban them outright, thanks to a 2023 state law. She says, if they’re coming, they need to give back to the community.
“If we’re what’s feeding into it, you need to be pouring back into us. I’m talking about rebates, tax credits, you need to pay people’s light bills for the next 10 years. Whatever it is that you can think of, make it 10 times bigger.”
Johnson says he’s “totally against” data centers, and supports Democratic Pulaski County Judge candidate Wendell Griffen’s efforts to regulate them on the county level. His vision for economic development centers on making the city attractive to businesses, addressing crime and urban blight.
“If the owner doesn’t fix them up, I feel the city needs to buy those houses and provide them [to] low-income families where they can afford it and they have a nice place to stay. Things can be done with dilapidated houses," Johnson said.
Johnson says he’d seek to realign the city’s priorities, finding grant funding for public safety programs that benefit underserved wards, as opposed to focusing solely on downtown or the River Market.
James, a realtor by trade, has a comprehensive plan to offer rebates to homeowners to incentivize them to provide more affordable housing.
“Right now you can go rent a 2,000-square-foot home for $3,000 a month and it’s four bedrooms. That’s a lot. That means you have to have three times that amount to be able to afford that," James said. "I don’t know too many Arkansans that are making $9,000 a month when the average wage is $40,000. So the math isn’t math-ing.”
Gray says he would aggressively pursue outside funding for infrastructure improvements and neighborhood revitalization, with the goal of supporting business and economic development.
“That means addressing the streets, the drainage, sidewalks, lighting, parks and appearance of our neighborhoods.”
As election day draws near, the Rev. Benny Johnson invokes his signature nickname in his campaign slogan.
“Come on! Get on the Big Ben bus, and together we can drive change. Remember, together we stand, divided we fall.”
But Johnson’s personable delivery is the sugar casing of a bitter pill. His focus doesn’t waver from the victims of violent crime, their families, and the damage left in its wake. While he’s done it for decades on a grassroots level, he says it’s time to affect change from within the halls of power.
“I’ve gone to court with victims. I’ve buried a lot of these victims. I’ve been out in the street with those victims, I’ve talked to those victims. And what I’ve been doing outside of city hall, I want to take it inside of city hall where I can be more effective and fight for you.”
Joe Gray says Ward 7 needs someone who’ll listen, and who knows how the sausage is made.
“Because I worked with the fire department and I’ve been accountable to the people, for the whole city basically. So now I’m trying to bring that same type of accountability to that ward.”
Natalie James says it’s time for new, progressive leadership on the City Board of Directors.
“Our average age of our city is 40. Our average age of our city board is 67. And that’s not reflective of the wonderful communities that we have. And if we want to keep them here, continue to allow them to grow… we have to have progressive ideas and younger candidates come in and make sure we’re [moving] the city in a way that we want to raise our children to stay here and come back to.”
