Proposed LR ordinances up for review

Directors to weigh mayor’s power and board makeup

The Little Rock Board of Directors has been presented with two proposed ordinances increasing the mayor’s authority and repurposing atlarge seats on the city board.

The first, if approved, would give the mayor the power to hire and fire the city manager and city attorney. The second would turn the seats that are elected citywide into positions that are elected from regional districts.

The board is tentatively scheduled to vote on the ordinances Feb. 18.

Little Rock’s form of government was a frequent topic of discussion during the 2018 mayoral race, and a task force that convened in 2019 spent several months debating what it should recommend to the city board as the best form of administration and representation.

The city has a hybrid form of government between a city manager form and a mayor/council form, with a city board composed of seven ward representatives and three at-large members who are elected citywide.

That structure was most recently modified in 2007, after voters approved a ballot referendum that made the mayor’s office a full-time position with a six-figure salary. About two weeks after taking office in January, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced he would use the extra authority that ordinance grants to restructure City Hall so that six of the city’s 14 department heads now report to him rather than City Manager Bruce Moore.

Scott said during his State of the City address Thursday that his team would present the ordinances implementing the task force’s recommendations to the city board Friday.

In the speech, Scott said the city’s form of government should foster unity and representation.

“The people have spoken and we will act,” Scott said. “In order to lift Little Rock, our government must work for the people it represents, and this ordinance will better allow us to work for you.”

The ordinance dealing with the city manager and city attorney states that it serves “a desire for the city to operate more like a business with a leader who can

be held accountable — by the people — for city operations.”

It argues that the mayor cannot be held accountable for the city manager, city attorney or their staffs unless he is able to first act on hiring or termination decisions.

If the ordinance is approved, those decisions by the mayor would be final unless overridden by a twothirds vote by the city board.

Under current city code, specifically Ordinance No. 19761, the mayor’s authority to nominate, hire or remove the city manager and city attorney is subject to approval by two-thirds of the city Board of Directors.

The ordinance addressing at-large city directors states that repurposing those seats into three regional positions would make it easier for more people to gain election to the board.

During its study, the task force considered a 2015 Hendrix College report that found that citywide campaigns are expensive, and that ward elections result in more women and nonwhite people gaining election.

If approved by the city board, the ordinance would put the question of at-large representation to voters during the general election that will be held Nov. 3.

It would take effect Jan. 1, 2025.

The geographic boundaries of the regional districts could include portions of the geographic boundaries of one or more wards. They would be determined by the most recent federal decennial census.