A&P still seeking to fill two seats on commission
Two vacancies on the Texarkana, Ark., Advertising and Promotion Commission have proved difficult to fill, and the group continues to solicit applications for the seats.
One seat has been open since Deborah Wright’s resignation from the commission in March 2016 and another since Randy Thomas resigned in July 2016.
“We desperately need to fill some slots,” commission chairman Buddy Allen said. “We need to fill those spots so that we can get a cross-section of thought process. … I would like to have the full seven members. I think it makes us stronger as a group.”
The open seats must be filled by Arkansasside residents who own or manage hotels/ motels or businesses selling prepared food
and beverages in the city. By state law, four of the commission’s seven seats are reserved for members who meet those qualifications, two are for members of the city Board of Directors, and one is for an at-large member.
A July 14, 2016, letter from City Manager Kenny Haskin asked anyone qualified and interested in serving to apply, but no formal recruitment has taken place since then.
“Nothing other than word of mouth, trying to go around to the different places and tell them that we’d like for them to file an application,” Allen said.
Once a qualified candidate applies, the sitting members of the commission can nominate him or her for appointment. The Board of Directors then approves or denies the nomination.
Allen described the ideal applicant: “People that are really engaged in the process and want to see it work, that will come in and be a part of the transactions and business of the A&P Commission, what its purpose is. That’s really what we’re looking for.”
Interested candidates should contact City Clerk Heather Soyars at 870-779-4995. An application form is available on the city’s website at arkansas.txkusa.org/?page_id=657.
Thomas moved to Texarkana, Texas, last year and therefore no longer met the Arkansasside residency qualification to serve on the commission. The commission’s attorney, Joshua Potter, has advised the commission that a member whose qualification status changes can legally complete his or her term. However, Thomas chose to resign to avoid any perception of impropriety, he said at the commission’s July 7, 2016, meeting.
In a July 8, 2016, email to the commission made public as part of meeting agenda materials, Potter also advised that “members of the commission may be appointed to successive terms on the commission.”
“The commission, with the exception of the member who is up for reappointment, must vote on the reappointment of the member. Then, the city board must approve the appointment,” he said.
The commission authorizes use of revenues from Texarkana, Ark.’s 3 percent hotel and 2 percent restaurant taxes to support the city’s tourism and hospitality industries. In October 2016, it awarded 18 local organizations a total of more than $260,000 for 2017 projects.
On Twitter: @RealKarlRichter