The third time around was the charm. After two unsuccessful runs at elected office, Fayetteville’s Paul Oddo took 58 percent of the vote in the Nov. 8 municipal election, unseating long-time council member Al Hovey-King. Receiving 337 of the 585 votes cast, Oddo said Friday he is ready to serve the people.

“I’m looking forward to serving on the council. And I’m looking forward to working on the issues I put forth during the election,” Oddo said.

“Specifically, we were talking about planning and property taxes and safety,” Oddo said. “In the area of planning we need to look at traffic. We need to move quickly on implementing the existing plans for road improvements that are already on the drawing boards to get those completed as soon as possible. In the area of future traffic growth, lets’ go ahead and see if we can’t improve our secondary road system.”

“I’d like to work with the council in looking at property taxes, making sure that, with the money coming in, that the explanations are there for the citizens,” Oddo said. “If we can have a substantial rollback, I would love to do that. No promises, but I would love to try to do it. And in the area of public safety, we have to make sure that law enforcement and the fire department have the necessary resources.”

Being new to elected office requires an education process for anyone. That process, said Oddo, involves becoming knowledgeable of the variety and volume of information that makes its way to City Hall.

“The first part of my first year will be getting up to speed. I’m looking forward to working with the city toward the end of this month,” he said. “I have meetings lined up with the city manager and other department heads to help get familiar with the nuts and the bolts and the day-to-day operation of the city.”

Prior to the election, an issue came up related to Oddo and his family, his financial status and property holdings and the question whether those assets would hinder his effectiveness on the council.

“The business and real estate holdings that I and my family have in the City of Fayetteville has been pointed out in the past couple of weeks. Those are not quite as large as they might seem. I’m not running and hiding from what we’ve done. I’m proud of the 35 years my family has been here,” Oddo explained.

“But all that being said, I want to make sure that everyone in this city benefits,” he said. “I didn’t run for Paul Oddo. I ran to represent the citizens of Fayetteville. I’ve accumulated knowledge over the years through dealings in business and I can bring that (knowledge) to the city and work for the benefit of the citizens, all the citizens, whether they voted for me or didn’t vote for me. I represent them all.”

Pertaining to his participation on the council, Oddo spoke about his preferred style of communication and the importance of that communication to citizens who may request or require more information or explanation on a given topic.

“I like to talk to citizens in the same way I talk to a client about a tax matter. I try to put it in simple terms, in layman’s terms, taking the buzzwords out of it and making it understandable. Kind of like an everyman’s approach,” Oddo said. “And on the council I’ll do the same in my dealings with the citizens, people who appear before me at city council, people who have questions or comments. That’s why I’m there. I’m there to serve the citizens of Fayetteville.”

Responding to the question of the extremely low voter turnout in this and previous local elections, Oddo suggested that those elections could be synchronized with state or federal election cycles. The reason to do so is two-fold, he said.

“If we held elections for city officials at the same time we vote for Congress, governors and presidents, it would be more cost-effective because we would have an election every two years rather than an election every year,” Oddo said. “And we would get better turnout because people are more inclined to go vote when there are more issues on the ballot. This is one of the goals I would like to accomplish in my term.”

The American populace tends to take the performance of elected officials on faith. Whether in Fayetteville, Ga., or Fayetteville, Ark., only small percentages of residents attend the meetings of elected or appointed bodies. And though the societal norm, it does not negate the responsibility inherent to the position.

“I understand that many people cannot attend all the meetings,” Oddo said. “I wish more could. But what usually happens is that people attend meetings when there is a topic on the agenda that has a certain, direct impact on them. That’s human nature.”

“The city council are the representatives of the people,” Oddo said. “So I think as a city councilman I’ve got to recognize the fact that the people who aren’t there are expecting me to handle those issues for them in a manner they would approve. People may not like every decision I make but I can assure them I will make those decisions honestly and forthrightly.”

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