Mayor Rebukes Rumor

Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody said there is no truth to the rumor floating around that he has asked veteran Police Chief Richard Watson to resign.

Coody told the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal that he had also heard the rumor.

“I have not told [Watson] he needs to leave,” Coody said. “He’s welcome to stay. He’s done a good job with his department.”

Coody said the rumors probably got started because he has asked the police chief to give him plenty of advance notice on his retirement so he can “put together something where we can bring in someone that’s a really class act like we’ve done with the fire chief and the airport manager. The whole process takes about eight months, and we don’t want to go through an interim process if we don’t have to. We want to get the best person for that job that we can possibly find.”

Fayetteville Fire Chief Mickey Jackson retired in November and was replaced by Chris Bosch.

Watson has been with the FPD for a record 35-plus years and as chief for another record 15-plus years. “That speaks well for our department,” Watson said.

Watson said he and Coody had talked about his retirement and that the mayor wanted a long enough notice for a smooth transition.

“I’ve got a long-term goal to be here until Oct. 1, 2003, at the very limit,” said Watson, who will turn 65 in June of 2003. “At that point, I will consider going on my own. The shortest I’d be here would be through Oct. 1, 2002.”