With no opponents, no election date set for Fort Smith Board of Director seats

Don’t look for yard signs or any other campaign material from candidates for the four Fort Smith Board of Director seats. All four who filed for the seats saw the deadline come and go without opponents.

The four candidates who filed for the four open positions on the Fort Smith Board of Directors were certified by the Sebastian County Election Commission and declared the winners in each of their respective seats Monday (June 1).

The deadline for candidates to file for city directors positions in Wards 1, 2, 3 and 4 was noon Thursday (May 28). Four candidates filed by that deadline, one for each open seat, said Fort Smith City Clerk Sherri Gard.

Those filing were Jarred Rego, Ward 1; André Good, Ward 2; Lavon Morton, Ward 3; and George Catsavis, Ward 4. Good, Morton and Catsavis now serve as the director from their wards. Rego, 33, will fill the seat of Director Keith Lau, who did not seek reelection.

Catsavis, 65, was first elected to the board in 2010 to fill a partial term left vacant when Bill Maddox resigned from the board. This will be his third full term on the board. Good, 55, was first elected to the board in 2008. This will be his fourth full term on the board. Morton, 69, was appointed to the position in April 2019 following former Director Mike Lorenz’s move out of state.

Because all four candidates were verified by the clerk’s office and certified and declared elected by the election commission, there is no need for a primary or general election for the seats. Their terms will run Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2024.