City Council Discusses 4-Year Terms

Vacancy To Be Appointed By Council

PRAIRIE GROVE — The City Council placed an ordinance on first reading April 23 to refer a question to the voters that would allow the alderman positions to go from twoyear terms to four-year terms.

Mayor Sonny Hudson said the council discussed doing this several years ago and decided not to pursue it at that time.

“It's up to ya'll,” Hudson told the council members. Such an ordinance would not affect Hudson because the mayor already serves a four-year term.

If the council approves the ordinance, the referendum would be placed on the November general election ballot.

City Attorney Steven Parker explained that if voters approve staggered four-year terms, all alderman positions would be open for election in 2014.

Candidates for position 1 in each ward would run for four-year terms and candidates for position 2 in each ward would run for two-year terms. Then in 2016, candidates for position 2 in each ward would run for four-year terms.

Alderman Murphy Pair already has announced he will not seek re-election in November and he wondered if four-year terms would discourage people from seeking office because of the longer commitment.

Larry Oelrich, the city's director of administrative services and public works, agreed the proposal has pros and cons. One pro, Oelrich said, is that candidates would not have to spend time gathering signatures every two years to run for office.

In other action, the council adopted an ordinance to regulate the use of bows, BB guns, air rifles and other air weapons. The ordinance allows the use of the weapons in the city but prohibits the use of the weapons with the intent to cause injury to persons or animals or to damage property.

The council placed an ordinance on second reading to abolish the combined office of city clerk/treasurer and to create two separate positions. Currently, the city clerk/treasurer position is an elected office.

The proposed ordinance would make city clerk an elected office and the city treasurer would be a fouryear appointed position.

The council has discussed compensation for each office and Monday agreed on $100 per month for the city clerk position and $50 per month for the treasurer's job.

The council is making the changes because City Clerk/ Treasurer Carol Pair has announced she will resign her elected position mid-term on July 31. Pair has served in the combined position since January 1979.

The council will appoint someone to fill the vacancy for the remainder of Pair's term and it's possible this same person could serve as treasurer. By state law, both positions will require the applicant to live within the Prairie Grove city limits.