Hello there! I’m Kier Heyl and I’m running for Jonesboro City Council – Ward 1. I was born and raised in Jonesboro Arkansas, and have lived or worked in Jonesboro most of my adult life. I’m a technical lead for Rural Sourcing, and have lead multiple software projects from beginning to end with diverse teams from all over the world! I also run the NEA Gamers Guild with my two sisters, a tabletop gaming club that focuses on shutting off the electronics, and spending quality time with your friends and family!
I attended Arkansas State University for a Bachelors in Computer Science and while attending, I found the one woman on earth who was nerdier than I was, so I married her! Together we have two wonderful children and two dogs.
Two years ago we purchased a lovely house in Ward 1, and I was ready to experience everything Jonesboro had to offer just as COVID hit in full force and shut everything down. I have a standing tradition with my kids that every year on Father’s Day we go on an adventure together collecting tokens from each stop we make. It was hard with everything shut down, but we decided to make the most of it.
One of the few places that was still open was the Jonesboro Public Library and when I walked in to the Children’s section I was greeted with an amazing pride display. Having a wife and child who are LGBTQ+ I was convinced I had made the right decision to move back to Jonesboro, excited for a city that would except them for who they are.
Alas, that was not to be. The display was met by seething anger from a small minority in the community. What began next was a year long fight between the library alongside a group of citizens trying to defend it against a group of folks dead set on removing LGBTQ+ material from the children’s and young adults’ sections of the library. I and my entire family was caught in the middle of it.
The battle rages on still today, but it activated a group of progressive citizens (myself included) who believe that Jonesboro should be for everyone! This inspired me to reach out to other groups in the area and learn a lot about the issues facing our community. A call was sounded, and I answered. I’m Kier Heyl and I’m running for Jonesboro City Council.
