‘Take Back the Fort’ group wants to have petitions ready by March 2

The petition drive seeking to change the form of Fort Smith city government is set to begin Friday (Jan. 30), with around 35 group supporters gathering Thursday night at the Fort Smith Public Library to hear the “nuts and bolts of how to organize” the petition effort.

Take Back the Fort 2015 first met Jan. 16 to begin the public discussion on changing city government, with Don Paul Bales leading the first meeting and Thursday’s gathering. Bales is a former Fort Smith police officer who was fired and is now suing the department to get his job back. The meeting was also attended by Frank Glidewell, a former state Representative and Sebastian County Judge, and Denny Altes, a former member of the Arkansas House and the Senate.

Fort Smith’s city administrator form of government has a city administrator who is hired and fired by the seven-member elected Board of Directors. Fort Smith has a mayor, but the position is largely ceremonial, with the primary duty to preside over Board meetings.

Bales told the group they need 2,517 signatures to force an election on the issue, but wants to collect “far more than necessary” because the effort will be “viciously fought” by city leaders.

“They are going to fight the legality of all of those (signatures) on each petition once they get it,” Bales told The City Wire, adding later that the group is “trying to anticipate their (city’s legal team) attack and shut it down.”

Prior to outlining numerous requirements of those who volunteer to collect signatures, Bales said the plan is to submit signatures to Fort Smith City Clerk Sherri Gard by March 2. He said that should provide enough time for certification so the issue can be placed on a city election already set for May 12.

The Fort Smith Board of Directors approved Jan. 20 a special election for May 12 seeking voter approval to renew the 1% sales and use tax for streets and drainage. Should voters choose to approve the 1% renewal, the ballot also would ask voters to consider an option for 5% to go from streets and drainage to help develop and maintain a citywide trails and greenways network.

Bales and Jack Swink, the treasurer for the group, will begin on Friday five weeks of “Fight for the Fort Fridays” in which they will work a signature table at the Sweet Bay Coffee shop near Creekmore Park and the Sweet Bay on east Rogers Avenue in Fort Smith. Bales, who will be at the Creekmore Park location, and Swink will set up each Friday between 4 and 9 p.m.

Bales said he hopes for 10 “mobile” volunteers to work the city to gather signatures, and 10 who will have set locations like the first two at Sweet Bay. As volunteers are assigned, Bales said information on where voters can sign the petition will be listed on the groups’s website and Facebook page. Volunteers receive organized notebooks that provides instruction on the correct way to gather signatures and other responsibilities of those who witness the signature gathering.

Ironically, Bales is not a Fort Smith resident and can only collect signatures. He does operate a business in the city.

During the one-hour meeting, Bales said he thought former City Directors Philip Merry Jr. and Pam Weber would support the effort, but was not certain. Merry and Weber served one term on the Board and did not seek re-election in 2014.

Merry was not willing to commit 100% to the effort because he says there are “multiple groups in town” that have talked about changing the form of government.

“But before I join any one group, I’d like to see if all the groups would sit down. I am just hopeful that all of these groups could work as one team,” Merry told The City Wire during a Thursday evening phone interview.

Merry does support a change in government, saying that the mayor-council forms of government in Fayetteville and Rogers are examples of what he would prefer.

“I am for a system that will improve transparency and accountability in city government, and I think that Fayetteville and Rogers have nailed it in that regard. … This city, and our people deserve a (system) that is open and transparent and consumed with providing good public service,” Merry said.