A candidate forum at the Jonesboro Kiwanis club featured four candidates for the Jonesboro City Council’s alderman race in Ward 6 Position 1. Phillip Cook, Dr. Richard Wang, Bobby Long, and Joseph Woodbury participated in the forum. James Bowman is a riverboat captain and was not able to attend.
The forum focused mainly on the controversial property maintenance code in Jonesboro. The code is up for repeal during a May tenth vote. Dr. Richard Wang says he supports the code:
The other three candidates say they will vote to repeal the code. Bobby Long:
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Joseph Woodbury says he people should have decided the fate of the code in the first place:
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Phillip Cook says he can’t support a code that he can’t understand.
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The candidates were also asked about quality of life issues, such as parks and recreation and the need for bike lanes and a water park in Jonesboro. All agreed that before the city looks into a water park, current parks should be properly maintained and more urgent needs, like road projects, should be placed in front of a water park. Election for this race will be on May 10th. Early voting takes place May 3-9. If a runoff is needed, that would take place June 7th.