The Mayor and the vision thing

The irrelevance of the office of mayor in Fort Smith is a structural deficiency that needs to be corrected. Under our current form of government the mayor’s function is designed to be a ceremonial position, a position whose primary qualification is the ability to speak in complete sentences and smile on cue.

I claimed in my last article that Fort Smith’s mayor is irrelevant to the governance of Fort Smith. If the position was eliminated nobody would notice. I haven’t changed my mind.

For clarification, I did not claim nor do I think that Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders was or is irrelevant as a person. If he chooses, he could become very relevant. As the mayor he might be in the best position to lead Fort Smith toward a vibrant future in spite of the legal limitations of his office … IF he would refuse to live up to our low expectations.

This is how our government works. Fort Smith elects a seven-member board of directors to hire a city administrator and to set policy for our city government. A mayor is also elected and is expected to attend and conduct the city board meetings. Although the mayor conducts the board of directors meetings, he has no vote but does have the power to veto. A mayoral veto requires five votes to overturn.

Our city board of directors functionality was modeled after the way corporations are governed. In a corporation the stockholders elect a board of directors. The directors are responsible for hiring the chief executive officer, approving broad policies and objectives to guide the CEO in managing the company, and assuring the company has the necessary resources to achieve its mission, its vision and strategy.

However, the functionality of our city board of directors falls a bit short of the corporate model. Our directors do hire our city administrator and help set policies and procedures for the city. The deficiency is they seem to be blind in perceiving the future needs of our city. A successful corporate board guides the company with its vision of the future and its strategy to achieve its vision. Our city board of directors don’t. I don’t think this is a personnel issue. I believe it is a design flaw. I would bet the responsibility for a vision and its achievement just isn’t in their job description.

The real power to make things happen in Fort Smith resides in the position of city administrator. This position was designed to provide our city with professional administration that is buffered from politics and ultimately accountable to our city board of directors. Effective administration is wanted and needed in Fort Smith and although there has been some visible failures in the past few years, day-to-day operation work well. Unfortunately it is this effective administration of our city services that mask the losses we suffer with only a ceremonial mayor.

Our form of government has allowed Fort Smith efficient administration for most city services, but it has left our city with a blind spot. When comparing key performance indicators with other areas in Arkansas and Oklahoma, Fort Smith’s indicators are lagging or declining in key areas.

So how do we fix the design flaw in our form of government to allow the leadership necessary to negate the absence of attention to the future prosperity of Fort Smith?

Fort Smith needs to find its collective vision of the future. Though Fort Smith and its market area is far from depressed, numbers warn that we are developing some negative trends. Rather than wait until those trends continue in the wrong direction, Fort Smith would benefit if we could find our vision, a shared vision that we could all work toward. But to be successful in this effort a leader is required. The person with the platform and position to unify our city and facilitate the finding of a vision is the mayor. No vote would be required. Only his want to and a willingness to rise above a ceremonial expectation is needed.

Now granted, Mayor Sanders didn’t run for reelection promising to help Fort Smith create a vision. If you look at the city’s budget, the mayor’s office lacks the staff or resources to effectively lead. But I bet we could, as a community, call on the mayor to lead us in finding a vision to insure a prosperous and thriving future for Fort Smith and I bet he would take the task and run with it. I can’t imagine he would shrink away in shame. But our mayor can’t be successful in this task without resources and people to follow his lead.

Fort Smith residents can complain and moan about what we don’t like or we can come together to do something about it. Maybe someday we will change our form of government to give the office of mayor real authority and influence, but we don’t have that government today and we need to start somewhere. So here is my suggestion for those that are willing to help Fort Smith retain its vitality.

Mayor Sandy Sanders is our mayor for the next three and one-half years. He may or may not want to rewrite his job description, but I believe he wants Fort Smith to thrive now and in the future. What mayor would want their obituary to read, “Although he wielded no influence he could smile when called upon.” So I suggest we help him become a leader where his obituary not only has a picture of him smiling, but includes a long list of accomplishments he influenced in his last term as Mayor.

As residents we need to usurp the status quo imposed by our current city government and we need to both challenge and help Mayor Sanders become an exceptional mayor. To get the ball rolling, do me a favor. Unless you just want to complain for complaint’s sake or you lack any desire to improve Fort Smith’s future, email our Mayor with this offer:

Mayor Sanders:
What can I do to help you make Fort Smith a better place for all of us to live? What can I do to help you find Fort Smith’s shared vision for our future? I’m willing to help. Contact me when you are ready to start.
(Your name and contact information)

I’ve already emailed the mayor with my offer to help.

Then call or email our city board of directors and ask them to fund the mayor’s office. We need an influential mayor, not a prop. An influential mayor needs some basic resources.