Civil-service split persists for board in Fort Smith

FORT SMITH — The Fort Smith Board of Directors has been divided for months over inaction by the Civil Service Commission regarding a request by the police chief to change rules so people outside the department could apply for supervisory positions.

The division persisted last week when city directors voted 4-3 to pass an ordinance increasing the membership of the commission from five to seven. Voting to increase the membership were Andre Good, Keith Lau, Mike Lorenz and Tracy Pennartz.

George Catsavis, Don Hutchings and Kevin Settle voted against adding to the commission.

City directors voted identically when the board passed a resolution June 6 to support Chief Nathaniel Clark’s proposal that the commission change its rules to allow people outside the department to apply for supervisory positions rather than continue to rely solely on promotions from within the department to fill the positions.

The vote also was the same when the board passed a motion in July asking commission Chairman Chip Sexton to recuse from participating in any commission activities because of a conflict of interest as long as his law partner, Joey McCutchen, continued to litigate a lawsuit against the city that alleged violations of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

At the time, Sexton said he would not recuse and said he did not believe there was a conflict of interest. Sexton recused in June from participating in commission business involving Clark’s requested rule change.

Sexton declined to comment Friday on the board’s vote to expand the commission membership.

At Tuesday’s meeting, city directors questioned the motive behind the membership increase. Hutchings recounted city directors’ unsuccessful efforts to persuade the commission to approve Clark’s request to change its rules.

The first was just after the May 22 meeting when the commission took no action on Clark’s request for the rule change after opposition to his request arose from the local Fraternal Order of Police chapter and others.

The commission hasn’t met since June, when one of its members announced he needed hip surgery and would need weeks to recover. Lindsey Kaelin with the city’s Human Resources Department said the department is expected to put out a notice next week that the commission will meet Sept. 27 to set dates on when it would take up pending business.

Email messages were circulated among some city directors after the May 22 meeting calling for the dissolution of the commission for not supporting Clark’s request. The email prompted resident Bruce Wade, through McCutchen, to sue the city directors in Sebastian County Circuit Court, claiming the email exchanges constituted a meeting and violated the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Hutchings also reminded the city directors of their votes in June and July that didn’t produce any change in the commission’s position on the chief’s request.

“So now we’re stacking the court by adding two new commissioners,” he said. “It’s blatantly obvious what’s going on here, and it’s pretty disturbing.”

Hutchings clarified his statement Friday, saying he believed the intent of increasing the size of the commission was to get a commission that would support Clark’s rule change request.

In urging city directors to vote against expanding the commission, he said divisive issues such as this resolution “pushes our citizens further away from trusting us.”

Lau, Lorenz and Good said during the meeting their intentions were not to stack the commission to push through the rule change.

Good said a proposal at the meeting by Settle and supported by Hutchings was an attempt by them to stack the commission. Settle had called to amend the proposed ordinance to require the two new commission members be a retired police officer and a retired fire official.

Good, Lau, Lorenz and Pennartz blocked Settle’s proposed amendment.

Lau said his intent was for the larger commission to have unbiased commissioners who had personnel and human resources experience and skills that would be valuable in hiring police officers and firefighters.

He also referred to statements by City Administrator Carl Geffken the five-member commission was having a hard time achieving quorums and the small group had trouble keeping up with fire and police applicant interviews.

Geffken said during the meeting that it probably would take until the end of October or November to solicit applicants, vet, interview and select the additional commission members. He said city directors appoint board and commission members at their regular meeting that occurs in the second half of the month.

Good said his intent in supporting the larger commission was to bring in people with backgrounds that would not make them liable to pressure from other agencies to support a certain view.

Lorenz said the fact the commission was composed of only five members made it a problem. One or two commissioners missing meetings made it difficult for the commission to function, he said. He pointed to other city boards and commissions and that have larger numbers of members.

Five members “wouldn’t work for the planning commission,” he said. “It wouldn’t work for this board. It wouldn’t work for a lot of important commissions.”

Of the 33 boards and commissions listed on the city’s website, 11 of them, including the Civil Service Commission, are composed of five members. Among them are the Port Authority, Housing Authority, Historic District Commission, Transit Advisory Committee and the Fire Code Board of Appeals and Adjustments.

At the outset of the discussion on Tuesday, Settle asked to table consideration of the ordinance. A vote on that motion failed by a vote of 4-3.

Settle said he wanted more time because the proposed ordinance had been added to the meeting agenda without city directors first examining supporting data and having an open discussion on the issue.

“For your information, this is a public meeting and we’re having this debate right now,” Lau said.

“So now we’re stacking the court by adding two new commissioners. It’s blatantly obvious what’s going on here, and it’s pretty disturbing.”

— Don Hutchings, a city director