FORT SMITH (KFSM) -- On Thursday (Aug. 2) the three candidates running for Fort Smith mayor attended a town hall debate at UAFS.
Candidates George McGill, Luis Andrade and Wayne Haver attended the event that drew around a hundred voters.
The moderators of the event asked the candidates to give their point of view on a wide range of topics including infrastructure, FOIA violations and current lawsuits. The candidates spent a majority of the debate discussing economy and bringing new business to Fort Smith.
Voters were able to write questions on a piece of paper that would potentially make its way before the candidates. One question posed to the candidates asked if they would support a casino on Fort Smith's River Front.
Mayoral Candidate Wayne Haver was the first to respond.
"I think it has just as many detrimental things as it does positive things. I know we have a lot of citizens going over to Pocola and over to Roland, putting their money over there. A lot of times that is what they are doing, taking their money from Fort Smith and taking it over there and hurting our economy," Haver said. "All the billboards and T.V. ads I see from the casinos has everybody smiling. Not everybody smiles when they go to the casino. In fact, I would dare to say that 95% of them don't come back with any money but it's a place where people can make a lot of money and put it in their own pockets. Not just the loss of revenue for Fort Smith but I think it contributes to poverty for some families. It gets to be an addiction for some families. I don't think it's the answer for us raising our revenue."
George McGill weighed in next.
"Gambling is already here folks. Casinos are already here. You can be at a casino in 15 minutes and 10 minutes to be at the next one. They are already here," McGill said. "Our neighbors across the river, take a look at any entity that is raising funds and you're going to see their names. Those people that use those entities come and shop and eat right here in Fort Smith. You may not see them on the Arkansas River but they are already here. They just happen to be on the Oklahoma side. To get those you have to have a relationship."
Luis Andrade wrapped up the question concerning casinos.
"I'm personally not a big fan of casinos because every time I go there I lose money but I think in our specific situation we have two casino within 15 minutes away from us and it would be beneficial to the city of Fort Smith to have one within our city limits," Luis Andrade said. " I would love to have a big casino on our river. Why not on our side? It would bring jobs to us and our city. This is the approach I'm talking about. We need to forget taxation and increasing fees. This is jobs, good jobs. They are taking money from people but only if you go there."
The candidates were also asked what they think about changing the city of Fort Smith's structure of government. Since 1967 Fort Smith has been ran with a City Administrator- Board of Directors approach. The questions asked the candidates if they would support giving some power back to the Mayor.
Andrade said the current system in place is a good one but it does need more voter input.
"This form of government can surely be successful as long as we have a good working system in place," Andrade said.
Haver agreed.
It can work very well if we work together. We have the board of directors, that should be able to serve their citizens and we need to work together," Haver said.
McGill said the current system has worked well in many cases but he also said he would take a look at its effectiveness.
"I would do a bottom up assessment of what we have and explore what it would mean to Fort Smith if we did have a different form of government," McGill said.