Take Back the Fort now seeks form of government vote in November 2016

A leader of Take Back the Fort says the group is delaying its effort to change Fort Smith’s form of city government until the November 2016 election. It’s a move they believe will give city leaders “enough rope to hang themselves.”

Don Paul Bales, a leader of the Take Back the Fort petition drive, said he believes people in Fort Smith are “special electioned out,” and the group has decided to take “a more methodic pace” to getting a change of government vote on the November 2016 general election ballot.

“I don’t even know that we are going to pursue a special election. And that’s the biggest thing you could put out,” Bales told The City Wire.

Bales is a former Fort Smith police officer who was fired and is now suing the department to get his job back. The other group leaders are Jack Swink of Fort Smith, and Little Rock attorney Matt Campbell, according to a filing with the Arkansas Ethics Commission. Campbell is Bales’ attorney in his legal action against the city. The group has not reported donations or expenses.

PETITION BACKGROUND
Take Back the Fort formed in early 2015, provided petition forms to volunteers on Jan. 29, and reported 398 “firm” signatures after the first week of the petition drive in early February. That is the last time the group reported details on signatures. The group’s website still notes that petition signing is being held at Sweet Bay by Creekmore Park in Fort Smith each Friday. However, the group is no longer actively collecting signatures, Bales said.

According to Fort Smith City Clerk Sherri Gard, it requires 2,518 valid signatures to place the form of government vote on the ballot. That number comes from a requirement that a petition for a ballot action needs 15% of the votes in the previous mayoral election. The 2014 election saw 16,788 vote in the mayoral race in which Mayor Sandy Sanders ran unopposed.

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. Take Back the Fort wants to change to a form of government where the mayor is responsible for city operations and hires a manager to help with those duties. The new form would also have a city council serving in the normal legislative capacity. Any effort to change the city form of government is possible once every four years, according to the city’s municipal code.

‘THE LONG GAME’
Bales said Tuesday that the group decided on “playing the long game” in what he said is an effort to let actions by the city staff and Fort Smith Board of Directors prove that a form of government change is needed. He said the city is “doing everything that I think people will need to support Take Back the Fort.”

“All their behavior and all their maneuvering is anathema to transparency,” Bales said.

He predicted the city staff and Board will by the end of summer begin talking about “aggressively” raising water rates. That move, coming just a few months after a steep increase in sewer rates, will push more people toward a change in government, Bales said.

And according to Bales, there is no time limit on their petition collection effort.

“We can run this petition for the next year, and if I get the required number of signatures, it would be put on the ballot,” Bales said.

The petition collection effort will continue. Bales said the group is working to “carefully structure” 10 to 20 locations in businesses in Fort Smith as places people may sign petitions in a manner that meets legal requirements.

Bales emphasized that just because they are not as public as they once were and are taking a more low profile approach to getting signatures for 2016, they are still active and using avenues like Facebook to push the discussion.

“Our numbers are growing,” Bales said.

As of May 27, the Take Back the Fort Facebook page had 1,348 likes.