Fort Smith Board members explain vote shift

Fort Smith Directors Philip Merry, George Catsavis, Steve Tyler, and Pam Weber, who all changed their votes to support automated solid waste collection by Fort Smith Sanitation at the last Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting, recently addressed skepticism surrounding their turnaround.

“I made my motion Thursday night at the request of many citizens who contacted me over the past few weeks and asked me to now vote for fully automated trash,” wrote Merry in an email. “This vote was not a surprise to the citizens that I spoke with in the days leading up to the meeting. Many of these citizens were the same ones who came to me almost a year ago and asked for help with what they considered to be a broken promise by the city – they believed the city had guaranteed them the continuance of manual trash. They asked me to continue to work to find a compromise which is what I have worked for the past several months.”

Merry continued: “It is their belief that the city is not interested in any form of compromise so they asked me to ‘stop the discussions, arguments and division’ asap and move on. Many of these constituents told me they were contacting each of the directors that had worked on their behalf. This is why I made the motion and as to my promise to them – I will move on and not discuss this any further.”

No matter how some perceive the turnaround, Catsavis, Tyler and Weber, are aligned with Merry in their reasons.

“I received info from the NB asso. (Neighborhood Association),” Tyler wrote. “That they were ready to move forward with automated at this time and that residents that had problems would access the Troubleshooter Program.”

“It is really quite simple,” Catsavis added. “The leaders of each neighborhood group opposing the automation of sanitation called me and said throw in the towel. As Carolyn Plank stated on The City Wire, something was going to have to give. That was the message from the opposing neighborhoods. This is exactly what happened at the following meeting.”

The abridged and unverified comment from “Carolyn Plank” that Catsavis was referring to said, “There is a time that you have to realize that someone is going to have to give. That is what we did. Not the Directors. All of this bad mouthing and ‘trash talk’ should end and get on with more productive issues such as jobs, (and) beautification of our city. For those people that are looking for a decrease in their sanitation bill, I hope it happens. It was never our intention that anyone have their sanitation bill raised.”

Weber confirmed that the “neighborhood leaders” in the affected areas came to her and said, “We’re tired,” adding that said leaders “were willing to go for a compromise, but the petitioner (Joel Culberson) was not.”

City Administrator Ray Gosack verified that Culberson, who launched the Vote for Automated effort in response to a board-approved suspension of automated conversions to the remaining 4,095 Fort Smith households, declined the compromise offered.

“The compromise would have automated all neighborhoods immediately,” Weber said, adding that “should the technology become available in the future to automate the alleys,” the city would be open to pursuing that option.

Another stipulation for compromise that Weber championed would have called for the use of the Troubleshooter Program on historic brick streets. (The vehicle is lighter in weight than fully automated trucks.)

Weber also hoped for enforcement to ensure “no trash cans would be visible from the streets,” stating on Monday that she “really didn’t care” who enforced trash can visibility, but had previously spoken to Fort Smith Sanitation Director Baridi Nkokheli about his department handling enforcement.

Gosack said this proposed duty transfer to the sanitation department was a part of the compromise presented to Culberson.

It was announced that the Vote for Automated campaign fell short 10 signatures last Thursday (Aug. 23) prior to the board meeting. The petition was also found insufficient based on two legal problem’s with language on the ballot. Culberson said on Saturday that he would pursue the remaining signatures during the 10-day amendment period.

On Wednesday (Aug. 29), Fort Smith City Clerk Sherri Gard reported that Culberson had submitted more signatures and amendments intended to address the legal problems with the petition language.

“I've forwarded the amended ballot title to the city attorney for his review and will begin the process to verify the additional signatures first thing in the morning,” Gard noted in her Wednesday e-mail statement.