Board OKs screening committee for new city administrator

SILOAM SPRINGS — A still divided city Board of Directors voted 4-3 Monday to set up a screening committee to review potential applicants for the city administrator’s position.

The position became vacant March 7 when the board voted 4-3 to terminate Phillip Patterson’s contract. Patterson had been administrator for eight years.

Directors David Allen, Betsy Blair, Lesa Rissler and Ken Wiles voted to end the contract. Directors Reid Carroll, Mindy Hunt and Carol Smiley voted against termination. Allen made the motion, which was seconded by Rissler.

Allen made a motion Monday to appoint himself, former state Rep. Jonathan Barnett and Arthur Hulbert, president and CEO of the Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce, to the screening committee.

Carroll said it would be good if there was not a director on the committee, adding there should be more than three people.

Carroll also recommended asking members of John Brown University’s Human Resources Department for help.

“They have expertise in hiring people such as the city administrator, where basically you’re wanting to hire someone who is a leader of leaders,” Carroll said. “I think it’d be good to have a tremendous resource with that.”

Carroll also suggested bringing in Chris Blair, chief administrative officer of Siloam Springs Regional Hospital, to the committee.

Hunt and Smiley agreed with Carroll.

“I believe that we need a cross-section of our city,” Smiley said. “I don’t believe we need a board member on there that did the termination.”

Smiley also recommended having Mayor Judy Nation appoint the committee members. Smiley added she would like to see seven members, saying that is a good number for a cross-section of business leaders.

Rissler asked if someone could run through what the committee who hired Patterson did. Nation said the committee was appointed by the mayor and approved by the board, then they reviewed the applications and made recommendations back to the board.

Smiley offered an amendment to the motion that the mayor choose the committee, which should have at least seven members and no board members. The amendment failed by a 4-3 vote. Allen, Rissler, Wiles and Blair voted against, and Carroll, Hunt and Smiley voted for the amendment.

Smiley said she thinks it is highly unusual to have a board member who terminated the city administrator to be on the selection committee.

Allen called a point of order and said he did not terminate the administrator.

“I did not vote him off on my own and with superpowers snapped him off,” Allen said. “That’s just ridiculous to say that.”

Mark Simmons, the president of Simmons Foods, offered to lend someone from his company’s human resources department if the board needed it, according to Nation.

Since this was a special meeting where public comment was not allowed, Hunt made a motion to table this until the next board meeting to allow for public comment. The motion failed by a 4-3 vote with Allen, Blair, Rissler and Wiles voting no and Carroll, Hunt and Smiley voting yes.

An amendment was made to appoint Barnett; Hulbert; Rissler; Randy Torres, president of the local Generations Bank; and a Simmons representative to the committee. That amendment passed by a 4-3 vote with Allen, Blair, Rissler and Wiles voting yes and Carroll, Hunt and Smiley voting no.

At that point, Matt Feyerabend, who was in the audience, stood up and protested the vote, saying the board is running amok. Allen called for a point of order. Feyerabend continued speaking.

“It is so clear what you’re doing,” Feyerabend said of Allen, Blair, Rissler and Wiles before leaving the meeting with two Siloam Springs police officers following him out.