Jonesboro’s Property Maintenance Code has been repealed and an alderman’s race is heading toward a runoff. In yesterday’s special election, 4,891 people voted to repeal the Property Maintenance Code, while 2,521 people voted against repeal. Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin tells what happens next:
KASU news asked Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin about the repeal of a code he supported, as well as the November defeat of a sales tax proposal for highway projects. Perrin insists that those defeats were not votes against him…instead, they were votes against those issues:
Harold Perrin. In the alderman’s race for Ward 6, Position 1, Bobby Long and Richard Wang will face each other in a June 7th runoff. Early voting takes place May 31st. Here are the complete unofficial numbers:
Jonesboro Alderman Ward 6 Position 1
Bobby Long - 1798 - 26.94%
Joseph Woodbury - 460 - 6.89%
James Bowman - 1162 - 17.41%
Phillip Cook - 1141 - 17.10%
Richard Wang - 2112 - 31.65%
Those numbers will be certified Friday.
In an overwhelming majority, over 90% of voters in Cross County voted to keep a one-percent sales tax to keep open the St. Bernards CrossRidge Community Hospital in Wynne. Administrator Gary Sparks tells KASU news, the hospital started collecting the tax in 2000 and it has to be approved every four years to keep the tax going. Sparks reacted to yesterday’s vote in an interview conducted last night:
Gary Sparks. The sales tax brings in over $2.3 million dollars a year.
In other election news, Lawrence County residents overwhelmingly approved a merger between College City and Walnut Ridge. The new Walnut Ridge will start January first. Here are the unofficial numbers from both Walnut Ridge and College City:
Consolidation:
For-302
Against-44
To keep the name Walnut Ridge:
For-311
Against-31
Once again, these are unofficial numbers and are expected to be certified Friday.
