Texarkana mayor: He had no plan to dump city manager

TEXARKANA — The recent exit of the Texarkana city manager was the culmination of the mayor’s long-held plan to bounce the employee, says a group of residents.

However, Mayor Wayne Smith says the sudden departure of Harold Boldt — which is being called neither a termination nor a resignation — stems from Boldt’s way of managing city business not from a vendetta.

Smith announced Boldt’s departure March 19, the day after a Board of Directors meeting at which he said Boldt and the board mutually decided to part ways.

Boldt has declined to comment, per legal advice.

Boldt was finance director for Little Rock from 1996-2000. His replacement, Charles Nickerson, was Little Rock’s city manager from 1993-97.

Texarkana resident Beth Elrod was among those who spoke to the Texarkana Gazette about Boldt’s departure. She said the mayor has been out to get Boldt since his election.

“Wayne came to our front door politicking. He just wanted our vote for city mayor.”

Elrod said she asked Smith what he had to offer the city as mayor.

“He said, ‘The first thing on my agenda is I’m going to get rid of that city manager.’ That upset me,” Elrod said. “Harold was a man of integrity. He worked hard, and he tried to do everything he could for the betterment of Texarkana.”

Elrod said she worked with Boldt, who was hired as Texarkana city manager in 2007, during his time as Texarkana’s finance director when she was appointed to a committee to discuss funding formulas to equalize salaries between the fire and police departments in each Texarkana. Elrod said she found it easy to work under Boldt’s style of management.

“He [Smith] never gave him a chance to do the job. When a man comes in as mayor with his agenda to fire the city manager, then they cause him [Boldt] this much grief — I have a problem with that,” Elrod said.

Smith, who was elected in November 2010, said Elrod’s statement is inaccurate. The mayor said if he talked about a city manager, he was referring to former Texas-side City Manager Larry Sullivan and the strained relationship between the two cities.

“If I said it, I don’t remember it. … It doesn’t sound like I would say that. I ran on deal- ing with Larry Sullivan. … I ran on standing up to him,” Smith said.

Resident Debbie Haak, a commissioner on the city’s Advertising and Promotion board, said Boldt would do nothing to hurt the city, citing the multimillion-dollar development of Crossroads Business Park. She said Boldt poured his “heart and soul” into working the deals to attract the future convention center, hotel and water park, but expressed concern about Smith’s dealings with developers.

“Nobody can work with him. … It’s his way or no way,” Haak said of Smith.

Haak said Smith has been difficult at past Advertising and Promotion meetings and thinks he and others in the city have been out to get Boldt.

“The board has been behind everything he’s done,” Haak said of Boldt, citing the board’s unanimous votes in favor of items concerning development and funding of the convention center and business complex.

“The board should have stood up [during the March 18 meeting]. … They hung him out to dry. Things are so good in retail development, but they are bad in the city. This is a personal vendetta by the mayor and his string of buddies against Harold.

“Wayne is on a mission, but it’s not one for Texarkana, Ark.”

Smith denies he was on a campaign against Boldt.

“Was I out to get him? Absolutely not. … I did have [issues], and we’ve talked about them. He would fix it for a while then go back to the same problem,” Smith said without elaborating.

Smith said he has generally supported Boldt’s recommendations.

“Most of the time, I supported everything he did, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have concerns with his style.”

Smith cited Boldt’s management philosophy as a reason for wanting to end the city manager’s employment.

“The majority of the board felt things were stagnated, and his manager style probably didn’t fit. … We felt we needed a change.”

Resident Randy Thomas, who is also an Advertising and Promotion commissioner, said Boldt’s departure should be a rallying call for citizens.

“I think it’s important people know who their directors are and hold them accountable. If we don’t do something, this will continue to happen to whoever we get next time,” Thomas said. “The thing is, this will continue to happen if people don’t step up and say, ‘It’s time we have a voice.’”

Elrod, Haak and Thomas pointed to the business park development and the revenue it will bring to the city as proof of Boldt’s skill as a city manager.

“It’s just going to get better. … They ran off the person responsible for making it happen,” Thomas said. Elrod agreed. “He can get things done, so apparently his management style has worked. It’s Wayne people had trouble with,” she said.

Smith said he knows he may not win a popularity contest.

“I know that everyone doesn’t love me, and that’s OK.”

Haak said Boldt has worked hard for years securing the development for the city.

“We are sitting on a gold mine for no other reason than Harold Boldt. Nobody on the board did it. They approved it, but they didn’t do it,” she said.

Smith said he is not difficult to work with, though he is not always on the front line when it comes to municipal development.

“I don’t have day-to-day contact with the developers. I talk to them when it’s appropriate. … I have contact with them, but as far as day to day, it’s [economic development director] Kenny Haskin. That’s his job,” he said.