Fort Smith’s embattled utilities director Steve Parke to retire April 1

The list grows longer of top managers leaving the city of Fort Smith, with long-time utilities director Steve Parke set to retire on April 1, according to a note Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman sent Tuesday (Feb. 23) to the Board of Directors.

Dingman’s note to Mayor Sandy Sanders and the Board noted: “Steve Parke, Director of Utilities, has informed me that he intends to retire effective at the end of the business day on Friday, April 1, 2016.

“This date corresponds with the milestone date for the completion and filing of the first annual report required under the Consent Decree. Steve has a keen interest in seeing that particular milestone met.”

Parke, who has been with the city for several decades, has recently been at the center of attention thanks to an estimated $480 million consent decree between the city and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice. The decree, approved by the city in December 2014 after several years of negotiation, is likely to result in a tripling of water and sewer bills for all city customers on the Fort Smith system.

While the proposed settlement between the city and the DOJ is complex, the primary purpose of action is to increase capacity to eliminate wet weather overflows and address remedial defects to eliminate dry weather overflows. The time frame outlined in the city’s presentation of the proposed consent decree terms extend for 12 years, giving the city time to invest the needed funds to bring the sewer system up to standard.

BOARD BATTLES
Parke has in recent months battled with members of the Board – primarily City Directors Keith Lau and Tracy Pennartz – related to work toward the consent decree. For example, Parke was reprimanded by Directors on Feb. 17 for sending an $8.6 million proposal from Texas-based CDM Smith for implementation of the Program Management Information System (PMIS) in relation to the city’s $480 million consent decree for violations of the federal Clean Water Act.

Pennartz was unhappy that the city’s information technology department was not asked for input on the contract.

“I guess what bothers me about that is that our IT department is like our internal experts. They’re our internal expertise on issues of the computer system, our server, and so forth,” Pennartz said. “I’m a little bit flabbergasted they wouldn’t have been more involved in this process, and you’re asking us to approve an $8.6 million contract without their approval.”

Lau called it “a great example of how we have certain departments that operate as their own kind of private island without consulting other departments” within city government.

When asked about Parke’s decision to retire, Lau told Talk Business & Politics that his frustration was not personal with Parke.

“This was never about Mr. Parke and him personally. This was about needing the right person to execute an almost a half a billion dollar consent decree from the EPA and the DOJ. … I just didn’t think Steve Parke had the right skill set for that,” Lau said.

Lau said Parke’s successor should have a civil engineering background who has worked under a consent decree either for a city or in a consulting capacity.

“And I’m looking for someone with the ability to make sure we are getting the most value for the taxpayer money,” Lau said. “I need someone who can look at the consent decree and ask, ‘Why are we doing this … or why are we doing it this way.’”

MANAGEMENT MOVES
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.

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.

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. Dingman said the violations were serious enough to warrant sudden dismissal and would stand up under scrutiny.

No hires have been announced by the city for any of the open positions. The Fort Smith Board of Directors on Thursday (Feb. 18) narrowed down a list eight qualified applicants for the city administrator job with one person making the short list being Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman. Also selected was Daniel Biles, a 23-year veteran of the Air National Guard and the United States Air Force, and now a deputy county manager in Jefferson County, Ala., (Birmingham); and Carl Geffken, who is now the chief operating officer, Children and Youth Services, for the County of Berks, Pennsylvania. He’s also served as the city managing director (2010-2012) of Reading, Pa.