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Stracener to run for Benton council again |
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Friday, 25 July 2008 |
Re-election effort expects opposition
Alderman Doug Stracener, who represents Position 2 of Ward 5 in Benton, has announced that he is seeking a sixth consecutive term.
Municipal races are non-partisan and will be determined in the November general election.
To date, Stracener is the only announced candidate for the Ward 5, Position 2 seat, but local resident Scott Hunter has said he plans to enter the race.
Stracener expressed appreciation for the “privilege of serving” Benton residents for the past 10 years.
“Looking back, it is amazing how much has been accomplished during those years and the changes that have occurred,” he said.
“I cannot nor shall I take credit for those accomplishments because I am merely one of the crew working to move Benton forward,” he said. “However, with every crew, leadership is paramount and I have demonstrated that I can lead the group of dedicated aldermen we have. Each alderman deserves equal credit and praise for taking Benton to where it is today.”
Stracener noted that “part of what makes local government work is a government that is responsive and proactive to the needs of its people.” He contends this is “best accomplished through rational legislation enacted to benefit all.”
Since taking office in January 1999, Stracener has proposed many ordinances and amendments designed to “improve our enacted legislation,” he said.
Among these he mentioned were the 1999 amendments to the Animal Control Ordinance (Ordinance 18 of 1999) that defined vicious animals, not by breed or size, but by the animals’ actions.
In 2004 he introduced the city’s first solicitors’ and peddlers’ license that required background checks on all door-to-door salespersons.
This ordinance, Ordinance 14 of 2004, also limited the hours salespersons may operate — from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. He noted that this was done in response to many complaints from elderly residents and from single mothers who felt threatened by the high-pressure tactics of peddlers.
Stracener has chaired the council’s Finance Committee since 2005. He proposed the city’s first ordinance requiring 50 percent of the unrestricted funds carried over at the end of the year to be placed in a secure account, which allows for future purchases of fire trucks, fire stations and other large-ticket items.
Recently, Stracener rewrote the previously failed city truck stop ordinance, which the council approved July 14.
“Rational legislation is necessary to good local government, but so is raising the standard of living,” Stracener said. “We have done that through a very active campaign of economic development within the city. In 2005, I proposed the city’s first Economic Development Committee, and I served as its chairperson since its inception.”
As the committee chairman, he works hand-in-hand with the city’s economic development director and the mayor to attract non-retail and retail development to Benton.
Stracener noted that citizens of Ward 5 will have two choices in November: “experience or no experience.”
He said his experience includes serving as chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee and chairman of the Economic Development Committee since 2005, serving as a member of the Benton Advertising and Promotion Commission, and serving as a board member of the Saline County Economic Development Corp.
“I have a proven record of leadership, and I would very much appreciate the opportunity to continue leading Benton forward with my experience, dedication, vision and commitment to this city and to this ward,” he said.
Stracener is an employee of the Arkansas Electric Cooperatives in Little Rock.
He and his wife, Benton City Clerk Cindy Stracener, have two children, Katie, 17, and Bret, 11.
The Straceners are members of Benton’s First Baptist Church.
Stracener is the son of Richard and Ronnie Stracener of Benton. He is a graduate of Benton High School and a Navy veteran.
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