Three file to run for Fort Smith mayor post

FORT SMITH — A state representative, a former high school principal and a University of Arkansas at Fort Smith student are competing to become the city’s next mayor.

The filing period for the city election ended Thursday, and the candidates for mayor are University of Arkansas at Fort Smith student Luis Andrade, former Southside High School principal Wayne Haver and District 78 State Rep. George McGill.

The position pays $10,000 a year with a car allowance of $450 a month.

Andrade, of 8222 Huntington Way, is a naturalized citizen from Brazil, an Army veteran, has an associate degree in political science and plans to complete work on his bachelor degree next year. He also is incorporator and director of Essential Liberty USA.

Haver, of 3 Glen Haven Drive, retired last month after working 48 years in the Fort Smith Public School system, including 36 of them as Southside’s principal. He also has served on the Fort Smith Airport Commission since 2004. His appointment expires in June 2019.

McGill, of 421 North 46th St., has served as a Democrat in the Arkansas House of Representatives since 2013 and owns rental property at 1827 North 14th St. He is an Army veteran and retired after 30 years from McGill Insurance Agency.

All three at-large positions on the Fort Smith Board of Directors are up for election this year. City directors earn up to $1,000 a year and have a car allowance of $ 400 a month.

Four candidates have filed to succeed At-Large Position 5 Director Tracy Pennartz, who did not file for re-election.

Those candidates are Robyn Dawson of 8415 Stoneshire Drive, principal at Spradling Elementary School and co-owner with her husband of Town and Country Contractors, River Valley Concrete and River Valley Pools; Jerry W. Neel Jr. of 10708 Kent Court, owner of Jerry Neel’s Bar-BQ ; Libby Piatt of 8205 Meadow Drive; and Samuel Price of 103 Stirling Court, a department manager for McDonald’s Fort Smith 3 Inc.

Candidates in the nonpartisan election for mayor and at-large Position 5 director will be on the Aug. 14 primary election ballot. If one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the votes cast in the primary, he or she will win the election. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the two candidates with the most votes will appear on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.

Two candidates filed to fill the at- large Position 7 seat being vacated by Don Hutchings, who announced earlier he would not seek re-election. They were Neal Martin of 7716 Dover Circle, director of information technology for Community Health Systems, and Jerry Avillion of 5809 Park Valley Circle.

City Clerk Sherri Gard said Thursday she was only able to verify 42 signatures on Avillion’s nominating petitions, which was short of the 50 required to become a candidate.

She said she notified Avillion about 5 p.m. Thursday that he did not have enough signatures to qualify as a candidate and called Martin to notify him that he was the winner of the at-large Position 7 election.

Position 6 Director Kevin Settle of 10904 Cork Court is running unopposed. He works for GNB Industrial Power, a division of Exide Technologies.