Economic stability, city hall changes among top Fort Smith area stories in 2015

Economic stability following years of uncertainty, a controversial mascot change, and the unexpected success of new events in downtown Fort Smith were among the top regional stories in 2015.

Before noting the top five, let’s review some other notable headliners. In no particular order, they are:
• The new $15.5 million, 58,000-square-foot Windgate Art & Design Building is located on the UAFS campus at the intersection of Kincaid Avenue and Waldron Road, and is the first building to be constructed as part of the university’s new master plan.

• Work continued on the $32.4 million Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine located in the Chaffee Crossing area. The school will be housed in a three story, 102,000-square-foot building, and a fully operational osteopathic college is expected to serve about 600 students. Initial planning estimated that the new college would employ around 92 (full-time equivalent jobs) with an average salary of $116,000 – not including adjunct professors and other part-time support. It is on target for an April 2016 opening.

• Two area taxes were extended, with a trails tax rejected by Fort Smith voters. During a May 12 special election in Fort Smith and Crawford County, Fort Smith voters renewed a 1% street tax for city infrastructure, but rejected a plan to divert 5% of the street tax revenue for construction of a 35-mile multi-use trail system. Crawford County voters renewed a 1% sales tax by a large margin.

• Pushes for new schools were also part of 2015. A public process that began July 9 with several public hearings ended Thursday (Nov. 12) with the Arkansas Board of Education approving a charter for the Future School of Fort Smith – the first public enrollment charter school in the city. The Fort Smith Trinity Catholic High Exploratory Board announced Dec. 11 it has been approved to move forward on forming a college prep school that would be open to students in much of the Fort Smith metro.

Also, link here for the top statewide business stories of 2015, and link here for the top statewide political stories of 2015.

TOP FIVE
Following are the top five stories of the year for the Fort Smith metro area as determined by the editors of Talk Business & Politics.

5. Mascot change at Southside High School in Fort Smith
The Fort Smith Public School Board voted 7-0 on July 27 to change the mascot and end use of the “Dixie” fight song that has been associated with the school since it opened in 1963. The Board voted to discontinue use of “Dixie” as the Southside High School fight song in the 2015-2016 school year and to drop the Rebel as the Southside mascot in the 2016-2017 school year.

In November, a mascot committee selected Mavericks as the new mascot and also approved a new logo.

However, the mascot change may be a story well into 2016. Two Fort Smith School Board positions will be up for reelection on Sept. 20, 2016, those of Susan McFerran (zone 2) and David Hunton (at-large). Those opposed to the mascot change have said they may use the board election process to attempt to reverse the change.

4. Leadership changes with Fort Smith city government
As 2015 ended, the city of Fort Smith was without people in the following top positions: city administrator, fire chief, sanitation director, and human resources director.

The city’s finance director also stepped down in 2015, but that move had an orderly transition with Jennifer Walker approved by the Fort Smith Board of Directors to assume that role.

Fort Smith City Administrator Ray Gosack suddenly resigned in early July. He had been with the city 16.5 years, with almost five years of that as city administrator. Gosack gave no reason for the sudden move, but a possible reason he left was that a majority of the Fort Smith Board of Directors and Gosack did not agree on the city’s direction in terms of budgets and spending priorities.

Fort Smith Fire Chief Mike Richards announced Sept. 2 he would step down on Oct. 30 after almost 33 years with the department. Richards, 60, said the decision to retire was based solely on “providing 100%” of his time to family support rather than firefighting support.

Human Resources Director Richard Jones announced Sept. 21 he would resign effective Oct. 2. He was with the city 14 years. Interim City Administrator Jeff Dingman said following Jones’ announcement that the departure does not come at a good time. In addition to trying to replace Gosack, Dingman said the HR director also deals with a lot of natural turnover among the around 900 people employed by the city.

As if that wasn’t enough, Baridi Nkokheli, the head of Fort Smith’s Department of Sanitation for more than 10 years and popular re-enactor of legendary U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, was fired Dec. 7 by acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman. Nkokheli said the reasons for his termination are unfounded and he plans legal action against the city. Dingman said Nkokheli (pronounced NO-KO-KAYLEE) was dismissed “for violation of personnel policies and the code of business conduct.” Dingman said the violations were serious enough to warrant sudden dismissal and would stand up under scrutiny.

3. Successful downtown Fort Smith events
The year also saw three different groups successfully organize and conduct three entirely different events in downtown Fort Smith.

The Festival of Murals project held in downtown Fort Smith resulted in more than 1 million people worldwide seeing the city in a new context, according to festival organizers. The inaugural festival was held Sept. 6-13 in downtown Fort Smith with more than seven well-known international street and urban artists painting or creating large and unique murals on several buildings in the area. The first year of the event was pitched as “The Unexpected Project” by Steve Clark, owner of Propak Logistics, a Central Business Improvement District member and active supporter of the murals effort. The project is part of 64.6 Downtown, an organization formed in January 2015 to promote downtown Fort Smith.

Artists involved in the first “Unexpected” mural event included Maser (Ireland), Vhils (Portugal), D*Face (United Kingdom), Roa (Belgium), Ben Eine (London), Ana Maria (Puerto Rico), and Bicicleta Sem Freio, an artist duo from Brazil.

The inaugural Steel Horse Rally held in downtown Fort Smith in early May was attended by an estimated 25,000 people and resulted in a regional economic impact of $4.272 million, according to a report from the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Held May 1-2 in downtown Fort Smith, the rally was attended by around 10,000 bikers, according to estimates at the time from the Fort Smith Police Department. Riders came from more than 15 states. The event was hosted by more than 200 volunteers organized by Karen and Dennis Snow, secretary and president, respectively, of Steel Horse Rally Inc.

The event was geared toward honoring members of the military, veterans, police and firefighters and first responders. The rally also providing funding to local charities including the Gregory Kistler Treatment Center, The Arkansas Veterans Home, The Fort Smith Museum of History and the Darby Legacy Project.

This first year of the Peacemaker Music & Arts Festival was held at Harry E. Kelley Park in downtown Fort Smith and drew more than 7,800 attendees during the 3-day event held July 31 – Aug. 2, 2015. The festival featured headliners Jason Isbell, and The Chris Robinson Brotherhood plus other national and regional performers. The group also announced plans to create a new music series call “Peacemaker Presents” that will be ongoing throughout the year.

Organizers of the three events have plans for 2016 events.

2. Federally mandated sewer system work begins in Fort Smith
The Fort Smith Board of Directors and city staff began in 2015 to address an estimated $480 million in federally mandated sewer system improvements by 2026. The order requires extensive investments in new infrastructure and ongoing maintenance activities to bring the city in compliance with the Clean Water Act. The consent order, agreed to in late 2014, resulted in frequent conflict between the Board and city staff.

Controversial rate hikes were eventually approved, but fights over spending and auditors consumed much of the year. Fort Smith Director Keith Lau pushed for an auditor to monitor spending. Lau told Talk Business & Politics that “we (the city) owe it to the citizens of Fort Smith to make sure that we’re spending their money wisely. … If we were to save 10 percent of the total cost of that consent decree, that’s $48 million. If we could save five percent, that’s $24 million. If we save one percent, it’s $4.8 million.”

As part of the $480 million plan, the Board approved the funding for hiring 28 people to improve the city’s “Capacity, Management, Operations and Maintenance” (CMOM) programs. The 28 new jobs would be realized in 2015, and are part of a plan to hire 75 new people by fiscal year 2017. Approval of new personnel, reviews of pump stations and other items often came only after several heated meetings between the Board and Steve Parke, director of utilities for the city of Fort Smith.

1. Fort Smith regional economy finally showing signs of stability
The year began with the Fort Smith metro area posting a “B” grade on The Compass Report for the first time since the report launched in the first quarter of 2009. (The quarterly Compass Report is managed by Talk Business & Politics, and is sponsored in the Fort Smith area by Arvest Bank. The report is the only independent analysis of economic conditions in Arkansas’ three largest metro areas.)

Improvement in the region’s non-farm employment, gains in sales tax collections and continued strength in building activity played a primary role in the region posting its best grade with The Compass Report. However, Fort Smith’s metro economy in the second quarter was not able to build on gains seen in the first quarter.

“Data for the Fort Smith regional economy had been mixed for some time. The obvious conclusion is that the region has stabilized but there is no obvious source of growth which could change the current trend,” noted Jeff Collins, the economist for Talk Business & Politics who gathers the extensive data used in The Compass Report.

Despite Collins’ assessment, there are some glass-half-full trends. As of November 2015, federal data shows 6,076 out of work in the region, which is trending toward dropping below 6,000. It was April 2008 the last time the region had fewer than 6,000 reported as out of work.

There are also more people working during the year. The number of employed in November is estimated at 114,352, above the 113,315 in November 2014, and above the 110,991 in November 2013. And while the number of employed has shown some signs of consistent growth in the back half of 2015, it is well below the region’s peak employment of 125,426 in June 2006.