Mayor Baker: Willing to ‘take the harassment’ to preserve citizen forums

Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker forcefully stressed Tuesday (April 27) that he is willing to “take the harassment” from a few boisterous citizens rather than remove citizen forums from the regular board meetings.

Baker made the comments at a city board study session during which Deputy City Administrator Ray Gosack outlined a series of changes to the city code related to citizen forums and board policy. The recommendations do not exclude citizen comments at board meetings, but do direct initial citizen complaints through the city administrator’s office. Also, Gosack said the policy changes update city rules so they conform to modern methods of communication and changes in law — including updates to conform to Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act.

Citizens complaining about taxes and spending by the city dominated the citizen forum period at the March 9 and March 16 board meetings, with more subdued protests at subsequent board meetings. One particular outburst included a citizen repeatedly yelling an expletive at the directors as the board members attempted to remind the citizen that children were present or watching the live broadcast at home.

“We should not let a small group change a policy,” Baker told the other board members during the Tuesday meeting, adding that the existing policy “worked fine” until a few folks became consistently unruly.

A proposed city code change would require citizen complaints to first go to the city administrator’s office prior to being presented at a board meeting. The administrator then attempts to resolve the complaint and report results or options back to the citizen. If the citizen is not satisfied with the response, then the complaint can be made in public to the board. The proposal also includes moving the citizen forum to the end of the meeting rather than having the open forum at the start of the meeting.

Current city policy allows citizens two minutes to address the board on any matter at the beginning of each regular board meeting. If a complaint is made, often the board asks the city staff to review and report back to the citizen or the board.

Fort Smith City Director Cole Goodman said the new rules “protect the citizen forums” by better codifying the rules, providing a uniform understanding of the process and bringing the process “into the 21st Century.”

The board is scheduled to vote on the proposal at the May 4 regular board meeting.