Board takes steps to censure director

Harris also removed from A&P commission amid numerous concerns

The Texarkana, Ark., Board of Directors voted Monday to draft a letter of censure to Ward 2 Director Laney Harris for his behavior.

Harris was removed from the Advertising and Promotion Commission.

“He has done some things that we think should not be— he can’t represent our city. We want the public to know this person is being censured,” Mayor Ruth Penney-Bell said. “We can’t remove him from office, but we can censure him to let the public know that we do not condone this type of act, that this is not what we think a board member should be.”

The actions came following an executive session at the end of Monday’s regular meeting, which Harris attended. He then left at the beginning of the executive session, according to reports.

Harris could not be reached for comment immediately after Monday’s meeting.

The board appointed Ward 1 Director Linda Teeters to replace Harris on the Advertising and Promotion Commission. She will serve on the seven-member commission, along with Ward 3 Director Tim Johnson. Harris was appointed to the A&P commission Jan. 17, 2017.

The A&P commission is comprised of city board members and people who own or operate hotels and restaurants. The commission is responsible

for allocating hotel/motel and restaurant sales tax revenues to agencies promoting tourism.

Harris, who has been serving in the Ward 2 seat since Jan. 1, 2009, was removed from the A&P Commission for three incidents, according to city officials.

In a May 4 complaint, a Texarkana, Ark., woman alleged Harris continuously harassed her at her home after she ended an intimate relationship with him. The complaint was originally brought to a city official, who then contacted the police. The woman told police Harris wanted her to return a mower he had given her, but that it had been stolen. She said he threatened to “call the police on her” if the mower was not returned and that he had been “sitting in the street watching her house.” He also allegedly used profanity in referring to her in public and in the presence of her grandson. The police department has since barred Harris from visiting the property.

“His most egregious error was having the harassment charge against him,” Penney-Bell said. “Those were serious charges.”

A second incident refers to Harris’ alleged harassment of a group at RailFest, which was held in downtown Texarkana two weeks ago.

“They said he climbed into a tree and was taking pictures surreptitiously of vendors and those coordinating the event,” Johnson said. “He denied it at first, then there was a verbal confrontation between some of the workers and Harris.”

Penney-Bell said Harris should have been out in the open taking pictures, instead of hiding in the shadows.

“Those were the reasons, the attitudes and the actions toward ordinary citizens at RailFest, the fact that he was surreptitiously taking pictures … he could have done that out in the open. He should have. I don’t think anyone would have been concerned,” she said.

The third event prompting Harris’ censure was for holding a meeting at the Boys and Girls Club in April, where he led an unauthorized walk through the building that city officials have been trying to bring back to life.

“We knew that he had done this,” Penney-Bell said. “We knew he had taken a group of people into a city-owned building without the knowledge or consent of the city manager.” Johnson concurred. “None of the board members were notified of the meeting,” Johnson said. “The mayor was not notified. The city clerk was not notified. No one was given notification of the meeting he was holding. There’s more than one group interested in this building. Only those that he contacted and invited were given the opportunity to view the building.”

The letter of censure is expected to be mailed this week.