LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Next year, the people of Little Rock will choose their next mayor.
Incumbent Mayor Frank Scott Jr. can run for another term, but two businessmen have already stepped up to run for the position.
Steve Landers is a household name, well-known for his car dealerships in Arkansas. He's now retired, but he thinks the City of Little Rock would benefit from a businessman in charge.
"A politician if that's what we are wanting. I'm not the guy. But, I am a guy that will get things done and I'll do that every day without fail, no exceptions," said Landers.
Landers announced his candidacy after Mayor Scott's one-cent sales tax proposal failed at the polls.
He is running with three ideas in mind: Unifying the city, curbing crime, and not raising taxes.
He said if he is elected he will run the city like a business.
"You know, make sure people are doing their jobs. Make sure we are transparent in who we got in particular jobs. You know, you don't get a lot of that right now," said Landers.
Little Rock has the second highest homicide rate on record this year and violent crime is up 12% from this time last year.
"We can't live like that on a daily basis. We must do something about the crime issue," said Landers.
And after voters made their voice heard to keep taxes at the same rate, Landers hopes to use what we have and spend it wisely.
If Landers is elected mayor, he said he will give part of his salary back to the city.
"There will be expenses that I incur, but I'll give money back to these programs and this program, and things along the way. I'll give more back than I will keep," said Landers.
Also running for mayor is Greg Henderson, who is the publisher of Rock City Eats. He also ran for Ward 1 Little Rock City Director in 2018. He lost to incumbent Erma Hendrix.
THV11 will speak to him next week about his goals if elected for mayor.
We also reached out to Mayor Scott's office to set up an interview with him. While he's not ready to talk about re-election just yet, we are working with him to talk about a review of his time as mayor.