JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – As Election Day approaches, Jonesboro mayoral candidates continue to make their case to voters.
Thomas Elwood said running for office is a way to highlight issues in the community, whether you win or lose.
Why do you want to become mayor?
‘It wasn’t about me. It’s not about winning and losing, or how well you did, or maybe you’ll run again, or whatever. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about helping people make decisions and make Jonesboro better. That’s why I talk about trust. People came to me and I was a stranger to them, but they trusted me and talked to me about things they would like to see done. The only way you can really have an impact is to vote, but if you run for office you will get attention in many official places. That is why I encourage young people and old people to apply and run for office.”
Top three things you want to focus on and really achieve in those four years.
“We’ve talked a lot about growing the mayor’s office. He was criticized for that, but no. Jonesboro is growing, the mayor’s office needs to get bigger. There are your transparency problems. If you have one man, the mayor, who manages all the information to the department heads and the public, you get no other input. It’s closed. You lose confidence. But if you increase the size of the mayor’s office with competent, professional people like Tony Thomas, you’re doing a good job. I would have him speak for me in an official capacity. I don’t want to control the information and the flow.”
To be clear, Thomas Elwood said his first two issues are trust and transparency. His third would be urban beautification.
“If the city doesn’t need to pick up your leaves on time, you can take them to my new composting facility. Well, what is a composting facility? It is a piece of flat ground where you bring a front loader. It’s that simple. You pile them in the ground, push them together with a front loader and in about three or four years you will have an unlimited amount of compost. Not every citizen can participate. If you rake your leaves, bring them to the facility so the city doesn’t have to send a truck around. Cost them money. This way you save the city money. You’re going to personally beautify the city of Jonesboro, and all I’m going to do is sit back and point my fingers, you know, to get it going. And if you involve young people in planting trees… that will last for the rest of their lives.”
What makes you different from the other three candidates?
“Well, I think you noticed that even during the debate, they all mentioned my name at different times and asked different questions. Every debate has gone like this. Why is that? Because I’m not a politician. I tell the truth. I tell what I think is the truth. I may be wrong, I may be proven wrong, but in my heart and in my mind I will try to tell you what I think because I know I will be proven guilty or wrong if I try to lie or finesse.
Why should the residents of Jonesboro vote for you?
“Now I keep saying: I am not a politician. I don’t think he should really run for mayor or any office in the city. You can stand as a candidate for politics. There are council positions, JP (justice of the peace) positions. But if you want to be the leader, you have to be at least 50 years old. You have to have the experience and the background. Because I ran a company with my father. I was born in 1960, but my whole life. Now I wasn’t the decision maker until about twenty years ago or something. But the tree business has changed so much in that period that I know things are changing. I know they will change. I know there is no one way to do things, nor is there one way to run a city.”
For coverage of Vote 2024 and more on Jonesboro’s mayoral candidates, visit kait8.com/vote2024/
Jonesboro Mayoral Candidate Profiles
Harold Copenhaver
Mayoral candidate profile for incumbent Jonesboro Mayor Harold Copnehaver.
L.J. Bryant
Mayoral Candidate Profile for City Council Member LJ Bryant.
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