Mayor: ‘Meetings will not be allowed to deteriorate’

story by Luke Hobbs
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Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders and former city council candidate Eric Arthur both made statements a day after they were involved in an altercation following a city board meeting.

Last night (Aug. 16) Sanders told The City Wire that Arthur confronted him after the meeting and that, after Sanders refused to talk to him, Arthur followed him and used both hands to shove him to the ground.

Arthur refused to comment publicly about what happened, but told police that when he approached Sanders, the mayor turned around, hitting him with his shoulder. Arthur said he was knocked backward and put his hands up instinctively.

“He said the next thing he knew,” the report reads, “Mr. Sanders was falling to the ground.” Arthur said he didn’t know whether Sanders’ shoulder hit was intentional or an accident.

Both men complained of feeling poorly after the incident. Sanders said he had chest pains and was taken inside the building by EMTs, but refused to be taken to the hospital. Arthur said he had back pain from being struck by Sanders, and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Sanders declined a follow-up interview with The City Wire on Wednesday (Aug. 17), but released a statement. While he did not mention Arthur by name, he described the incident as a “one-sided assault” and said such behavior “will not be tolerated.” (See end of story for Sanders’ full statement.)

Sanders continued, “All citizens of Fort Smith are given the opportunity to speak openly to the Board of Directors and I hope those procedures will continue. However, citizens will always be required to follow the procedures and meetings will not be allowed to deteriorate.”

Sanders did not say whether he plans to press charges against Arthur.

Arthur initially also refused to grant an interview, but later called The City Wire to make what he called his only statement on the incident: “I’m willing to do a lie detector test as long as Mayor Sanders is willing to do a lie detector test.”

Jerry and John Hamel were present at the incident and gave accounts that matched Arthur’s, saying they believed Sanders had chest-bumped Arthur. According to the police report, they said they believed Sanders lost his footing on the grass hill near the steps of the building, causing him to fall. The City Wire was unable to contact the Hamels on Wednesday.

Fort Smith City Director Don Hutchings was also present at the incident. Hutchings agreed with Sanders and said Arthur is solely responsible for the unfortunate incident.

“I was standing outside talking to Eric Arthur and he was in my face cursing and I was trying to calm him down,” Hutchings said. “And when the Mayor came out, Eric turned to him (Sanders) and said ‘This is who I want to talk to.’”

Hutchings said Mayor Sanders did not “chest-bump” Arthur. Hutchings said Sanders was in fact trying to avoid Arthur.

“Eric was right in the Mayor’s face. That’s probably why some people think it was a chest bump. But it was just Eric being Eric — Eric being rude and obnoxious,” Hutchings said.

When Arthur pushed Sanders to the ground, Hutchings said he asked a citizen to call the police and stepped in to prevent anything else from happening. (Link here to the Times Record website to hear the 911 calls of the altercation.)

Sanders and Arthur had had several verbal confrontations during Tuesday night’s board meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, after the board approved the minutes of the previous meeting, Arthur stepped to the floor microphone and told the board that those watching the meeting on television could not hear. Sanders told him he was not recognized to speak. The two talked over each other for a minute before City Police Chief Kevin Lindsey walked to the front of the room, after which Arthur finally sat down. Sanders then opened the first business item and the meeting continued.

Arthur was later recognized to speak in the board’s discussion of whether to endorse the prepared food tax. He began by telling Sanders, “When people agree with you, you’re happy. When they don’t agree with you, you’re just downright rude.” Then Arthur again complained that the meeting could not be heard on television and asked “you guys” to turn up the volume.

“There are times to do that,” Sanders said; “you’re out of order to do that.”

“Listen, I’m paying attention to my time, OK?” Arthur said. He went on to argue that the Fort Smith Convention Center, which would receive revenue from the proposed food tax, is a civic center rather than a convention center.

After Arthur had left the podium, City Director Kevin Settle named several recent events that have taken place at the Convention Center. “It is a convention center,” he said pointedly, “not a civic center.”

Arthur then got up again and went to the podium. Sanders again told Arthur he was out of order and asked him to sit down, but Arthur said, “List at least more than 52 events, OK? List more than 52 events.”

Lindsey returned to the front of the room and told Arthur he would remove him from the room if he made any more outbursts. Arthur sat down.

Arthur returned to the podium a final time during the citizens’ forum at the end of the meeting.

“You may just want to send the police up here right now to take me away,” he quipped.

“That’s a thought,” Sanders said, smiling.

Arthur said the city had not updated the board meetings section of its website since early July, and reiterated his complaint that no one could hear the television broadcast of the meeting. He said he knew that the elderly were mainly the ones who watched the television broadcasts, and that he wondered whether the city was trying to “kill” its older citizens’ right to be informed.

STATEMENT FROM FORT SMITH MAYOR SANDY SANDERS
Thank you to the many people who have called and sent messages of support and concern.

Other than a sore back and very sore neck I am doing well.

The one-sided assault on me following the board meeting is most unfortunate in so many ways, most importantly because Fort Smith has long been a community of caring and civility and is not known for this type of behavior. The actions of one individual absolutely do not represent the wonderful people of Fort Smith, and actions of this nature will not be tolerated.

All citizens of Fort Smith are given the opportunity to speak openly to the Board of Directors and I hope those procedures will continue. However, citizens will always be required to follow the procedures and meetings will not be allowed to deteriorate.

Regardless of personal opinions regarding city issues, those individuals elected by the people deserve the respect of the office. Unfortunately, city officials, especially city directors, have been the target of a small group of individuals. Now, it has come to physical attacks.

It is time to stop allowing inappropriate and destructive behavior. In difficult times we must all pull together to do the right things, working together to make our city better every day. I ask the caring citizens of Fort Smith to take a stand with me for cordial, civilized behavior.

We must be willing to learn the facts, not be influenced by rumor or deliberate misinformation. We must all correct the lies, stop allowing bullies to dominate communications, and speak out for what is right. Fort Smith deserves no less.

STATEMENT FROM FORT SMITH POLICE OFFICER RICK ELLISON
On 08/16/2011 at approximately 8:42pm, I was dispatched to 3401 Jennylind Rd., in reference to a disturbance in the parking lot of the Fort Smith Schools service center.

I made contact with Fort Smith Mayor, Edward Sanders, inside the building where they had just ended a city meeting. He told me he was pushed to the ground by Eric Arthur, several minutes after the meeting ended. He said Mr. Arthur approached him and said he wanted to talk to him about the meeting. Mr. Sanders told him he didn’t want to speak with him. At this point, Mr. Arthur got in his face and said something else. Mr. Sanders said he turned to walk away and was pushed by Mr. Arthur. Mr. Sanders said he pushed him hard with both hands, knocking him backwards. Mr. Sanders said he then fell to the ground in the grassy area near the entrance to the building. At first he told me he was alright, but later complained of pain in his chest and he was wheezing.

EMS was called to the scene, but he refused to be transported to the hospital.

I spoke with Donald Hutchings at the scene. He told me he witnessed the incident between Mr. Sanders and Mr. Arthur. He gave the same account of the incident as Mr. Sanders did. He provided me with a written statement as to what he saw.

I spoke with John and Jerry Hamel, who also state they saw what happened. They said Mr. Arthur wanted to talk to Mr. Sanders about the meeting, so he approached him. They said Mr. Sanders turned around and his shoulder struck Mr. Arthur. They said Mr. Arthur put up his hands in defense and Mr. Sanders fell to the ground. They both believe that Mr. Sanders lost his footing on the grass hill near the steps and fell backwards. They were unsure if Mr. Sanders struck Mr. Arthur with his shoulder on accident or intentionally.

I made contact with Mr. Arthur in the parking lot. He was talking to EMS on his cell phone when I approached him. He said Mr. Sanders hit him with his shoulder when he approached him to talk about the meeting. Mr. Arthur said he put his hands up because he was knocked backwards by Mr. Sander’s shoulder. He said the next thing he knew, Mr. Sanders was falling to the ground. I asked him if the shoulder hit was intentional or an accident and he said he didn’t know.

Mr. Arthur was transported to Sparks hospital by EMS.  He told me he is in poor health and his back was hurting from the incident.

I explained to Mr. Sanders that a report would be taken and he was given a CFS card. Due to Mr. Sanders’s age, a battery 2nd offense report was completed.