All registered voters in Siloam Springs can vote in a Dec. 12 special election for the city's next member of the board of directors.

Candidates Reid Carroll, Jerry Cavness and Karl Mounger are running for Position 5, an at-large position on the city board. The vacancy, which left only six directors to vote on agenda items during meetings, became available when Lucas Roebuck left the board in July.

All three candidates will take part in a "Candidate Forum" hosted by the chamber of commerce in the seminar room at Siloam Springs High from 6:30-8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 9

To help voters get to know the candidates, the Siloam Springs Herald-Leader sat down with each one to find out why they're running, why they believe they're qualified and to get their thoughts on the city. Here are those interviews with some answers edited for clarity and space concerns:

Reid Carroll

Age: 56

Notable: Moved from Tulsa to Siloam Springs in July of 1996, but was born and raised in western Kansas.

Qualifications: Serves on the executive board with the Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce and on the elder board at Siloam Springs Bible Church. Also is a member of the Kiwanis Club and Gideons International. Owned Barnett's Dairyette for 18 years before selling it earlier this year. Currently works as a Realtor with Ward Jones Realtors in Siloam Springs.

Q: Why are you running for the board of directors?

Carroll: I think one thing thing that really drives me is people. I personally believe that Siloam Springs is the greatest community in the world. I think I have the personality and the desire to help the city make some wise choices to see this city to the next level.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish while on the board?

Carroll: I have kind of a campaign slogan, and I guess you have to use it for it to be a slogan. It's just three words: "Connect the wow." There are several things about our community, whether downtown or the water park or school system or what our chamber does, just a lot of different things. When you put those together, it creates something tremendous. We're at a pivotal point in our community where we're growing, so we have to make sure we're growing the right way. We want to grow into that "wow."

Q: What makes you a strong candidate for the board?

Carroll: I feel like having the ability to utilize common sense. I say that laughingly, please don't publish just that. But when you couple common sense with a passion, I believe you can take the steps necessary that I think this community will be where it needs to be to maintain. I say this because I think we already have a good community. And I think we can make that even better. We just need to connect a few things where we already are. We have a wonderful foundation.

Q: What do you love about Siloam Springs?

Carroll: I want to say the people. This is a southern community and the way to put it is when I was working at the Dairyette, there were probably a dozen individuals that I met that would be driving through here on a trip or were going somewhere. There was a couple that stopped to have lunch and after lunch, they went over to a Realtor and bought a house. There was just something about Siloam Springs, you feel comfortable and you feel at home, that makes you want to be here. I think we as a community have something. I would like to build on it and maintain it. I think it takes an element of passion to do that and I believe I still have it.

Karl Mounger

Age: 80

Notable: Born in Siloam Springs, graduated from Siloam Springs High School and attended John Brown University after serving in the U.S. Air Force. Current chairman of the city planning commission. Also was on the school board for 14 years, was a member of the quorum court of Benton County and, among other posts, past president of the Kiwanis Club. Previously was a member of the city's board of directors, including a term as vice mayor.

Q: Why are you running for the board of directors?

Mounger: Siloam Springs is growing and there are many things I've been involved in as far as planning. I'm happy with where the staff is and what we have planned, and I'd like to be able to see that these plans are carried through.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish while on the board?

Mounger: I don't have anything too specific. I'm happy with what the city staff is planning. There are people unhappy saying the city is spending too much money, but Siloam Springs is growing. It's not any fun when a policeman has to drive a car with 108,000 miles on it. We need to keep those vehicles up and also at the fire department. Our infrastructure, we need to keep that up, too, because we've got about 75 new homes going in here north of town and we're getting ready to upgrade our waste water to keep up with the growth. This is what I would like to see maintained. The town is growing and we've got to keep up with it. We can't just sit back.

Q: What makes you a strong candidate for the board?

Mounger: I've got a lot of experience being on boards, dealing with budget and planning being with the school board for 14 years, we built a lot of schools. I represented Siloam Springs on the county's quorum court. There was a lot of things as far as sales taxes and other things that we worked through. ... I'm a firm believer in paying our employees as much as we possibly can and I think city staff is on the right track. I'm for taxes, but people have to realize that you have to spend money to keep things up to date. I don't see any reason to ask for more taxes. I'm in favor of keeping it where it is because we have a good base built.

Q: What do you love about Siloam Springs?

Mounger: I look as it as my hometown because I've been here since 1937, except for the four years I was away in the air force. I think it's a nice little town and we didn't have the problems when I was growing up, but I can see we're getting closer now. The people. I love going down the street and seeing everyone and saying, "Hey, Karl, how are you doing?" and you're like, 'Hey, Jordan, Hey, Joe, how are you." It's great. You go into another town and people are looking straight ahead when they drive down the road. We have a friendly town. It's a nice, little town and it's been that way. We're more cohesive, more together as far as doctors, nurses, lawyers, police department, fire department -- they're all here to help people and genuinely want to help people because it is such a great little town. This town does a great job of helping people in need with all of the community and civic clubs, our great school system, our facilities and all of the many great things this town has to offer.

Jerry Cavness

Age: 76

Notable: Retired from Allen Canning and has lived in Siloam Springs since 1978. Has served on several boards in Siloam Springs, including the board of directors, the chamber of commerce board, housing authority board, Genesis House board and the parks and recreation board. Also has been involved with chamber ambassadors, served as chamber emcee for First Friday Coffee events, is a volunteer for Bridges to Wellness and was named the chamber's volunteer of the year in 2009. In addition, also has attended the Arkansas Silver Haired Legislature, is public relations officer and member of the honor guard for the American Legion and, among other positions and volunteer work, he's the current president of the Civitan board and a deacon at the Flagstone Church of Christ.

Q: Why are you running for the board of directors?

Cavness: I'm heavily involved in community service and I love Siloam Springs. ... I had the pleasure of working in the corporate world, probably 35-40 years counting even before Allen Canning, and the five years with the non-profits gave me exposure to all the different non-profits, especially in Siloam Springs. ... It changed my life and the way that I look at things. I realized there is a lot of good work that is being done under the radar so to speak with our non-profits. After I left United Way, I decided to get in boards because I just felt like a lot of these organizations do a lot of wonderful work and there not getting the headlines type things. They're non-profit, so they're not in it for the profit. They're in it for service to the community, so I became an advocate for non-profits. ... I haven't set out to receive any accolades for myself, but I am involved and want to be heavily involved. A lot of that comes about because, even though I was born and lived in Bentonville, my mom was born in Siloam Springs. I had an uncle and aunt who both lived in Siloam Springs, so as a kid, I would come and visit them in Siloam Springs. ... Siloam Springs has always been near and dear to my heart because of my mom, who graduated from high school here back in 1927.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish while on the board?

Cavness: I want Siloam to continue to grow. If I'm elected, I want to be involved in things that will continue to provide a good, quality place to live and be serving for all of the citizens in the community. I know there is a need to improve roads. I know some people that that's a hot topic for them. And I know some people want more of the parks and things like that. I'm certainly enjoying those and want to do those things, too. The way I look at that, if I am elected, is I'm going to look at how it impacts all of our citizens and what the schedule of all of the things is because there is a plan in place to do a lot of this stuff, whether it's quality of life projects or working on the roads or improvements to our infrastructure as far as facilities and all of that, so that's really what I want to do. I want to be a part of that and hopefully be bale to lend my input as a concerned citizen and listen to other people. But, ultimately if you're elected, you have to come to those decisions based on everything that you have in front of you and do your job. I just want to serve.

Q: What makes you a strong candidate for the board?

Cavness: I really enjoyed that I got to serve on the board last year for about four months. It gave me a little bit of an insight, even though I was only there for a short period of time. But the thing I told them when I came in there is I told them that I'm all about logic and looking at things from that perspective to make decisions. I think that you have to have an understanding of what's being said. I said, I will look at things from a common sense and a logical approach. Then, if I have to get outside information that will help me, then ultimately, I would be the one making the vote. I realize this is an at-large position and would be representing all of Siloam. But, to answer your question, I think I have the heart for it. I think I do have the background with multiple things I've done in the non-profit and corporate world and outside things that I've been involved in that will help me weigh in on things by looking at the common sense and logical way of doing things. I haven't been in politics. I don't have an axe to grind. Really, it's all about my heart wanting to serve Siloam Springs. If I win, I will do my very best to serve.

Q: What do you love about Siloam Springs?

Cavness: I love the heart of Siloam Springs. Having the opportunity to work at Genesis House and dealing with people who have and are dealing with difficult times with homelessness, or serving with veterans who have come through that have fallen on hard times, I have been overwhelmed by the generosity that has come across for them. For the most part, when there is a need in our community, people step forward and they step forward with open arms to try to help somebody lift themselves up. That's what I love about it. I love the fact that this still has a small town feel. Siloam has my heart. I've never been around so many people that have that big of a heart and genuinely want to help people.