Fort Smith Board to again vote on change-of-government resolution

The first agenda item on the Tuesday (July 7) Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting will be a vote to place a change-of-government question on the November general election ballot. If the board vote is held, it will be the second time the question has come before the board.

Director George Catsavis during the board’s June 16 regular meeting called for the vote to be placed on the July 7 meeting agenda. Director Christina Catsavis, a mayoral candidate on the November ballot, seconded the request. The concurrence of two directors during a meeting places an item on a future meeting agenda.

A group of citizens are collecting signatures that would seek a vote on the city’s form of government. As of July 6, the petitioners have between 3,300 and 3,400 signatures toward the effort to have a mayor-council form of government rather than the council-manager form now in place.

The group will have to submit 2,608 valid voter signatures by late July or early August, verified by Fort Smith City Clerk Sherri Gard, for the item to be placed on the November ballot. Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen has said they will seek 700-800 more signatures than the required number to cushion against losing signatures deemed invalid.

A June 10 letter from Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin clarified the question of a deadline for the signature-gathering process.

“In addition to fixing permissible election dates, A.C.A. § 7-11-205 imposes a minimum timing requirement: the special election must be held at least 70 days after the proclamation or other authorized document is filed with the county clerk,” Griffin noted in a letter to Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester. “The general election in 2026 will occur on November 3, 2026. Counting backward 70 days establishes August 25, 2026, as the latest date on which the proclamation may be filed to satisfy the statutory minimum period. Because the mayor’s duty to call the election arises only upon receipt of a valid petition, the petition must be submitted sufficiently in advance to allow time for the proclamation to be issued and for the required filing to be completed by August 25, 2026.”

Saying he is unable to attend the July 7 meeting, Director André Good on July 1 asked for board concurrence to delay the vote. Good was unable to obtain the concurrence of three other directors to remove the agenda from the July 7 meeting.

Because the resolution is of a “general and permanent nature,” it will require three separate readings at board meetings if it is approved with just four of seven board members voting for it, according to Fort Smith Clerk Sherri Gard.

PREVIOUS VOTE, BACKGROUND
During a May 19 board meeting. Directors Christina Catsavis, George Catsavis, and Neal Martin voted to place the question on the 2026 ballot. Directors Good, Lee Kemp, and Jarred Rego voted against it. Director Kevin Settle abstained, leaving the measure short of the four votes needed to pass. Rego made a motion to place the question on the November 2027 ballot, but did not receive a second to his motion. Without a second, the motion died.

In Fort Smith’s form of government, the city administrator is the CEO, managing an annual budget of more than $300 million and more than 1,000 city employees who provide safety, sanitation, water, sewer, and other key services to a city with a population of about 90,000. The city administrator is hired by the board of directors and can be fired at any time by the board.

Changing to a mayor-council form of government would place management responsibility with the mayor. Most large cities in Arkansas with a mayor-council government have at least one experienced city manager supporting the mayor in day-to-day operations. The mayor-council form of government would also include elections for city clerk, city attorney, and city treasurer, according to state law.

If voters approve a change of government in November 2026, elections for the new government would be held in November 2028. If voters reject a change of government, state law prevents the question from returning to voters for four years. Link here for more information about a change of government.