Words of Support

People throughout our community continue to send letters of support to local papers.  Check out this letter from Gwen Darling:

I am writing to publicly endorse Walt Eilers for mayor of Fayetteville, and to encourage Fayetteville voters to really stop and think about the best way to keep a good thing going. I believe it’s important to point out that although I have been very active in the Fayetteville community, in the 29 years since I became a registered voter this is the first time I have ever publicly endorsed a candidate for any office. I am fully committed to supporting this candidate for mayor, because I am passionate about my hometown and know that now, more than ever, we need an experienced and successful leader at its helm.

I first met and worked with Walt when he chaired the Chamber of Commerce’s new Communications Committee, which was formed to guide the chamber’s effort to more effectively reach out to the business community and the customers they served. I quickly discovered that Walt possessed the rare gift of collaborative let’s-getit-done leadership. When given a problem to solve, Walt assembles a knowledgeable group of colleagues, ignites in them his passion for the task at hand, and then facilitates teamwork to quickly and strategically find and implement the best solution. A more current example of his brand of collaborative leadership is the Green Heart Initiative, a successful commercial recycling pilot program that was introduced by Walt and his team in early May. Although the project was his initiative, when congratulated on the success of the trial, Walt’s response was,” This is a collaboration; my role was just to get it started.”

Fayetteville itself is a collaboration between you and me and our local businesses and our public schools and the chamber and the University of Arkansas and every other Fayetteville citizen and entity in-between. And let’s not forget the hundreds of city employees who could be offended at the inference that keeping a good thing going is dependent on the reelection of one team member. The success or failure of Fayetteville’s future hinges not on one man, but on our ability to work together. Yes, our hometown has come a long way in the last several years, but how much further could we have come if we had an experienced collaborative leader who could more effectively unite and harness the power of our citizenry ?

Certainly what we need moving forward is a mayor with a proven track record in budgeting, negotiations, crisis management, corporate leadership and problem solving. But we also need someone who welcomes the voices of a diverse populace. An inspiring leader and proven problem solver who is confident and seasoned enough at the end of the day to step back and say, ’ This is a collaboration; my role was just to get it started. ’ What we need is Walt Eilers. So, yes, by all means, let’s keep a good thing going. But let’s do so by electing the candidate who will empower all of us to be the best we can be together.
Gwen Darling
Fayetteville

Sincere thanks, Gwen.