http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/2004/06/12/news/news2.txt
9 CANDIDATES VIE FOR 4TH WARD POSITION IN TUESDAY'S ELECTION By Larry Ault/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Nine candidates are running in a special election Tuesday in the 4th Ward to elect a new alderman for the unexpired term of former 4th Ward Alderman Billy Freeman.
A runoff is scheduled July 6.
Freeman resigned from the Pine Bluff City Council after pleading guilty to stealing money from the city and pleading guilty to federal extortion charges.
The candidates are (in the order they appear on the ballot):
-- Jirel "Olen" Akines is a union official who has served as president of the Pine Bluff Labor Temple, vice president of the Jefferson County Trades and Labor Council and served on the Arkansas AFL-CIO Executive Board.
For more than 30 years, Akines was financial secretary and treasurer of IBEW Local Union 1658.
Akines has lived in Pine Bluff more than 47 years.
He's been a 4th Ward resident 34 years.
-- Kevin R. Clark Sr., a youth motivator, studied gerontology at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Clark was an employment retention specialist for The Employment Connection at St. Louis.
Clark describes himself as being "extremely people oriented and a strong advocate for youth empowerment and community pride and organization."
Clark, a licensed cosmetologist and barber, was born in St. Louis. He is the youngest of four sons.
Clark was educated at St. Louis, Pine Bluff and Little Rock. He is a 1986 graduate of Parkview High School at Little Rock.
-- Thelma Rance Cook, director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Advising at UAPB, has been an educator 36 years.
Cook says she is a lifetime resident of the 4th Ward who is familiar with its needs.
Cook is a graduate of Townsend Park High School and Arkansas AM&N College (now UAPB).
Cook has been program coordinator for the Civil Rights Unit for the Arkansas Department of Education, a counselor, classroom teacher and guidance supervisor for the Arkansas Department of Education.
-- Sammy Dockery, a retired Pine Bluff police officer, works at the Metropolitan Emergency Communications Association (MECA) handling technical operations.
Dockery attended Dollarway Elementary School, Dial Junior High School and graduated from Pine Bluff High School in 1965.
Dockery has lived in the 4th Ward 15 years. In 1974, Dockery joined the Pine Bluff Police Department where he was assigned to the Police Department's Service Division for 10 years. He retired in 1998.
Dockery said the main reason he decided to run for 4th Ward alderman is because "I know how government should work and I believe it has failed lately in some of its responsibilities to the citizens."
-- John Gates, is a minister who has served on the Jefferson County Quorum Court.
Gates says he wants to balance the city budget and rehire firefighters and policemen who have lost their jobs because of budget cuts.
Gates said he wants to "solve the economic conditions of Ward 4" and the city.
Gates says he also wants to find ways to rid the city of drugs, homicides and other crimes.
"I pledge to the citizens of the 4th Ward to be a fair and honest representative of the people," he said.
-- Steven Mays is a substitute teacher in the Dollarway and Pine Bluff school districts.
He is a graduate of UAPB with a degree in business administration. Mays works at the Pine Bluff Chemical Activity and is a union steward.
"I am running for the 4th Ward alderman seat because I want to serve the people. My platform is simple: building a positive community together."
Mays says if he is elected that senior citizens will be first on his agenda "to help improve their living conditions and help motivate them together."
-- Janice L. Roberts is a legislative analyst and head lobbyist for the Arkansas State Electoral Coalition.
Roberts has a degree in business economics from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a master's degree in public administration from Bernard Baruch College at New York.
Roberts studied public administration at the University of Southern California Graduate School and studied Arkansas Governmental Management and Public Administration at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Roberts wants to develop a citizen advisory committee to represent the 4th Ward, be accessible with an "open door" policy, and actively work with neighborhood watch groups.
-- George Stepps, district tax manager for the state, has served 17 years on the Dollarway School Board, and worked five years with the Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation Department.
Stepps is a Vietnam veteran who served in the Army.
He is a graduate of AM&N College with a degree in business and accounting. Stepps also received a master's degree in counseling from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
As a member of the Dollarway School Board, Stepps has served as president, vice president and secretary.
-- Ira Lee Williams, a retired employee of Arkansas Power and Light Co. (now Entergy,) is an employee at the Jefferson County Courthouse, and a volunteer at the Jefferson Regional Medical Center.
Williams said if he is elected, he will "work with city officials to try and make a vast difference in our city."
Williams said he has lived in the 4th Ward for 30 years.
He was born and raised at Sherrill. In 1956, he moved to Milwaukee, where he lived for 18 years.
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