Ray Gosack hired as new Fort Smith administrator

After serving almost 12 years as a Fort Smith deputy city administrator, Ray Gosack will now move across the office to be the new Fort Smith city administrator.

The hiring was made during the Tuesday (Jan. 4) meeting of the Fort Smith Board of Directors.

Gosack, 52, has served since Nov. 2 as the acting city administrator following the board’s firing of Dennis Kelly. The “acting” job was his third time to work in that capacity, in having managed city operations after former city administrators Bill Harding and Randy Reed.

The Fort Smith Board of Directors met with Gosack in executive session. The board then opened the meeting and voted 7-0 to hire Gosack. The meeting audience erupted in loud and long applause when it was announced that Gosack would be the next city administrator.

Mayor Sandy Sanders explained that City Director Don Hutchings would work with Gosack on contract details. The board will meet in a regular voting session at Noon on Jan. 11 to vote on the contract. Following the voting session, the board will continue with its planned study session.

For a city board criticized in recent years for failing to act, the quick hiring sent a message that the new board — three new board members and a new mayor — will act.

“This does set a tone,” said City Director Kevin Settle, who was also elected vice-mayor by the board. “We’re ready to move forward and make some decisions. … We thought Ray would be and will be very good, and we didn’t want to lose his knowledge of city operations and the history. Ray earned it.”

New on the board are City Directors Philip Merry Jr., and Pam Weber. Also new was Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders, who presided over his first board meeting as mayor. Merry and Weber join City Director George Catsavis who was seated on the board Nov. 16 after being elected to fill out the remaining two years of a four-year term following the retirement of former City Director Bill Maddox.

Returning to the board in 2011 are City Directors Andre Good, Don Hutchings, Kevin Settle and Steve Tyler.

Gosack, a native of Greenwood, said he is elated at the promotion, but also humbled by the work ahead required to address challenges and make the most of opportunities.

Gosack’s career with the city has included being responsible for streets, traffic control, engineering, water and sewer utilities, parks, and sanitation. Some of the key projects he had a major role in include Chaffee Crossing redevelopments (Graphic Packaging, Mars PetCare, Umarex USA, Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, infrastructure construction), Lake Fort Smith water supply expansion project, wet weather sanitary sewer improvements, numerous arterial street projects, landfill cell expansions, downtown streetscape and resurgence, various retail developments, makeover of Carol Ann Cross Park and construction of Elm Grove Community Center at Martin Luther King Jr. Park.

Prior to returning to Fort Smith, Gosack served during 1988-1999 as the assistant village manager and director of management services for the Village of Homewood, Ill.

He also worked as administrative assistant for the city of Fort Smith between 1985 and 1988. Gosack earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Arkansas. He was recognized as the outstanding 1985 graduate of the MPA program.