Merry unopposed for city board; two board seats set for August vote (Updated)

No election is required to know that Philip Merry Jr. will be a new member of the Fort Smith board of directors come January 2011.

Merry, president of BMB Merry Insurance of Arkansas, announced April 15 he would seek the Position 7, at-large seat now held by Dr. Cole Goodman. Goodman is not seeking re-election.

Updated info: One of Merry’s first jobs now that he has no opposition is to return most of the more than $14,000 he had raised for the campaign. Merry said most of that money was raised without a fundraising call. A few dollars have been spent on getting the campaign ready, Merry said.

“But we’re going to mail most of that back as soon as we can,” he explained.

Other than returning campaign funds, Merry said his first priority is to learn the ropes.

“My first order of business is to put myself on a steep learning curve … and get caught up as possible on every single item that is being pondered … and learn better the city systems,” Merry said.

He said his second order of business is to “learn the chemistry” of the board. Merry said he believes successful boards include people who know when to be a strong individual and when to work as a team. Also, he plans to watch the other director races and “take note of the issues that come out of those races.”

Merry is also interested in creating more of a pro-business climate in Fort Smith and “do more to stimulate that 21 to 35 age group to come out and lead.”

Merry declined to issue an opinion on how best to fix the funding shortfall with the Fort Smith Convention Center. An ad hoc convention center committee on May 26 unanimously endorsed the idea of a 1% hospitality tax to fill an up to $1 million funding shortfall related to the Fort Smith Convention Center. The committee will meet June 2 to approve, presumably, the recommendations it will send to the city board.

“I’m not a board member yet, so I have to be careful here,” Merry said. “I think it’s improper, if not rude, to comment on that. … I haven’t yet earned the right to interject myself in any of that.”

City board positions 5, 6 and 7 (all at large seats), and the mayoral post are up for re-election in 2010. The 1-4 positions are up for re-election in 2012. However, the recent resignation of Position 4 Director Bill Maddox creates an election cycle where five of the eight-member board (seven directors plus the mayor) seats are up for grabs.

Of the five seats, only two have a chance of returning incumbents.

Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker is seeking a sixth, four-year term as mayor. He is challenged by Sandy Sanders.

City Director Kevin Settle has filed for re-election to the Position 6, at-large seat. He is challenged by Eric Arthur and Michael King. King recently was defeated by Dickie Lee Robertson in the Democratic primary for Sebastian County Quorum Court District 10.

The election for Positions 4 and 6 will be held Aug. 10 because they have 3 or more candidates. If no candidate garners more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will be on the Nov. 2 general election ballot. The municipal races with less than 3 candidates — mayoral race and Position 5, will be on the Nov. 2 ballot.

The following are the candidates who have filed a statement of candidacy for municipal positions.

Position 4:
George Catsavis
Patrick Jacobs
Marshall Sharpe

Position 5:
Juan Martinez
Pam Weber

Position 6:
Eric Arthur
Michael King
City Director Kevin Settle

Position 7:
Philip Merry Jr.

Mayor:
Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker
Sandy Sanders