BENTONVILLE -- The two candidates for mayor in the Nov. 5 general election went head to head over how to address the impact of population growth in the city, particularly as housing is concerned.
Incumbent Mayor Stephanie Orman and challenger Steve Galen provided their respective visions for the city during a live debate at the Meteor Guitar Gallery on Monday. The Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the event in partnership with the Northwest Arkansas Community College and Downtown Bentonville Inc.
Roby Brock, editor-in-chief of Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, moderated the debate and provided questions for the contenders to answer, including some from the audience.
Brock asked Orman and Galen to give their assessment of the state of Bentonville's economy and what they believe are the city's biggest challenges.
Orman, who is running for a second term, described the economy as bustling with billions of dollars being invested in the city. She said the biggest challenge is growth and growing well.
The city has been planning capital improvement projects and updated its master street plan -- which it combined with its bicycle and pedestrian master plan -- over the past five years, according to Orman. She said when Walmart announced its new home office in Bentonville in May 2019, the city started to assess what that growth was going to look like, as well as what its infrastructure looked like. This led to the creation of a strategic plan the city is accomplishing on a day-by-day basis to ensure it can grow well.
Galen, a Bentonville resident and retired businessman, likewise said Bentonville has a great economy and has to make sure it's preparing for growth.
Galen said he's concerned the billions Walmart has invested in the Bentonville community will frustrate people due to traffic congestion preventing them from getting around the city quickly. He argued the city needs to make sure it's keeping its streets open and moving people around faster to support business, as well as enable people to get in and out quickly. It also needs to focus on producing housing.
"We have a lot of home builders that have pushed development outside the city because the city of Bentonville is just too difficult and has too much red tape," he said.
Another question asked was what Orman and Galen planned to do to create opportunities for affordable housing in the city.
Orman said the city created an affordable housing task force, which offered recommendations for the city to vet and consider. One of the recommendations it incorporated -- cottage zoning -- was designed to allow smaller homes to be built more easily in Bentonville.
Orman noted the city didn't bring through all the group's recommendations after the vetting process. She explained one example, the institution of an affordable housing manager, would allow decisions to be made that wouldn't go to the city's Planning Commission and City Council for approval.
Galen countered the city didn't take much out of what the affordable housing task force recommended outside of the cottage zoning. He said he planned to remove red tape and costs to allow homes to be built more cheaply, calling the city's permitting process out of control since Bob McCaslin left the mayoral office in 2018.
"Whether it's a downtown business trying to remodel or whether it's a home builder, it takes an extra 14-16 months," Galen said.
Galen said this puts additional costs on home builders that make their way down to the price of the home.
Bentonville's mayors serve four years with no term limits. The mayor position has a yearly salary of $149,255.
Municipal races are nonpartisan and are decided in the Nov. 5 general election, unless there is a runoff. Early voting starts Monday.
Incumbent Bentonville Mayor Stephanie Orman (left) answers a question Monday while Steve Galen, the challenger for her position in the Nov. 5 general election, listens during a debate at the Meteor Guitar Gallery in Bentonville. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Saccente)