A Landslide and a New Chapter: Marco McClendon’s West Memphis Moment

Marco McClendon's landslide win opens a new chapter for West Memphis, with major investments, growing civic pride and big hopes for what lies ahead.

By JR Robinson | JustMy

West Memphis voters have given Mayor Marco McClendon another four years—and a decisive opportunity to turn the city’s growing momentum into lasting progress. With WREG reporting 81% of the vote in the November 3 election, McClendon defeated challengers Serenia Curtis and Cynthia McCauly to secure a third term. The election-night result represents an emphatic endorsement, although it should be distinguished from final certification.

For West Memphis, the story reaches beyond one election. McClendon’s first two terms have coincided with public-facility investments, major private development and increasingly ambitious conversations about the city’s future. His next chapter will help determine whether those investments deliver something residents can measure in their own lives: better opportunities, stronger neighborhoods and more reasons to build a future at home.westmemphisar+1

McClendon’s connection to West Memphis began long before he occupied the mayor’s office. Born and raised in the city, he attended its public schools and is an alumnus of West Memphis High School and Arkansas State University–Mid-South. His official biography identifies him as a father of four whose parents emphasized giving back to the community.

He entered elected office in 2003, becoming what the city describes as Arkansas’s youngest city council member. He took office as West Memphis’s 13th elected mayor on January 1, 2019, bringing years of municipal experience to the position.

His council record also provides context for his approach. The city credits him with championing its first gun-buyback program, the Sky Cop surveillance program and school resource officers in every public school. Those initiatives show that public safety was part of his agenda before his mayoral campaigns. They do not, by themselves, establish how crime has changed.

When McClendon became mayor, his priorities included addressing blight, attracting jobs and improving public safety. Early reporting described his interest in a land bank and a more coordinated response to abandoned properties—issues that directly affect how residents experience their neighborhoods.

The city’s account of his first year credits his administration, working with council members and property owners, with removing unsafe structures and advancing investments in parks, police and fire facilities, a municipal justice complex and the Public Library Innovation Center. The same account reports more than 1,200 announced jobs and over half a billion dollars in combined public and private investment. Those figures are the city’s assessment, not an independent audit of completed projects or filled positions.

The distinction matters, but so does the underlying direction. Libraries, public-safety buildings and neighborhood improvements are investments in the everyday systems that make a city function. Their value is less about a ribbon-cutting than whether they provide reliable service year after year.

As McClendon approaches a third term, Google’s data-center project has become a defining part of West Memphis’s economic outlook. Reporting has placed the investment at $4 billion. In October, McClendon estimated that the project could eventually generate upward of $20 million in new annual city revenue. That is a projection—not money already available in the municipal budget.wreg+1

The opportunity carries an important question: How much of this investment will translate into lasting benefits for people who already live here?

Construction activity can bring immediate business, while long-term gains depend on hiring, training, purchasing and public-revenue arrangements. For West Memphis, the meaningful measure will be whether residents and local businesses can participate in the growth rather than simply watch it arrive.

Buc-ee’s represents another closely watched development. In March, McClendon said the travel-center project remained on schedule and described road and roundabout work as necessary preparation. He also reported progress on Google’s site. Those statements document the projects’ direction earlier this year; they should not be mistaken for confirmation that either facility is now open.

Not every investment needs a national brand attached to matter.

In March, West Memphis began construction on a new aquatic and recreation center, according to WREG’s reporting. The project gives the city’s development story a family-centered dimension: places to gather, exercise and spend time together are part of what makes a community worth staying in.

Another example arrived just before the election. On October 29, city officials and community partners celebrated the new $2.3 million Carolyn and Ness Sechrest Animal Shelter & Adoption Center. Southland Casino Hotel and parent company Delaware North contributed $1.7 million, with additional support from the city and other contributors. The facility provides capacity for 48 dogs and 40 cats.

That project also illustrates why progress should not be credited to one person alone. City employees, council members, businesses, donors and residents help turn plans into functioning community assets. McClendon’s leadership is part of that story; partnerships are another essential part.

McClendon has spoken about opportunities extending well beyond the projects already announced. In June, he said businesses had expressed interest in potential investments totaling $45 billion, while acknowledging that electricity supply presented a major obstacle. He discussed a city resolution supporting small nuclear-power installations as a possible response. Expressions of interest, however, are not signed investments or completed energy projects.

That gap between possibility and delivery will shape his next term.

A landslide supplies political strength, but it does not answer every practical question. Residents will still need clear information about project schedules, public costs, job access and neighborhood benefits.

McClendon’s long-term impact will depend on connecting the city’s larger ambitions to those everyday expectations. The emerging story of West Memphis is one of investment and possibility. Its lasting success will be measured by whether that possibility becomes a stronger city for the people who call it home.