Fort Smith Board set to consider change-of-government election ordinances

A discussion Tuesday (May 12) about the process to change the Fort Smith form of government produced two competing future board agenda items. One item calls for a change of government vote in November 2026. The other would set a vote in November 2027.

A group of citizens began earlier this year to collect signatures to place a change-of-government question on the November 2026 general election ballot.

Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen, a leader in the signature-gathering effort, recently said the group had around 1,700 signatures as of May 8. A successful petition would need 2,608 valid voter signatures.

Initiative petitions must be filed at least 90 days before the next regular election, meaning signature-gathering effort has until late July/early August to submit signatures. The sufficiency of all local petitions shall be decided by the city clerk. If the city clerk determines the petition is sufficient, the city clerk shall certify that determination to the petition sponsors and the board of directors.

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 around 90,000.

The Fort Smith Board of Directors on Tuesday heard a presentation from Colby Roe, an attorney with Daily & Woods, which provides legal support for the city. (Link here for the agenda that includes the presentation, and link here for a previous story on the issue.)

‘PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE’
Director Christina Catsavis said she believes the city has outgrown the city administrator form of government.

A 2018 survey report by the International City/County Management Association, the most recent survey available, does not suggest that cities outgrow a certain form of government. The survey shows that a majority of respondents (48.2%) have a council-manager form of government, similar to that of the city of Fort Smith. The survey found that 38.2% have a mayor-council, and a majority of cities with populations below 5,000 have a mayor-council government.

Catsavis, who represents the city’s at-large position 5 seat, has announced she is running for mayor in 2026 and is not seeking reelection to the board seat.

“I believe the path of least resistance is for the board to send it directly to the ballot,” Catsavis said, adding that it’s important for citizens to have the question on a general election ballot as soon as possible, which would be Nov. 3.

In response to a question from Catsavis, Roe said a ballot title and petition could be ready by the May 19 board meeting if the board wanted to vote on an ordinance that would place the form-of-government question on the November 2026 ballot.

Director Kevin Settle said changing to a mayor-council form of government would mean the mayor would have hire-fire authority over all department heads, including the police and fire chiefs, without the city council being able to have a say. The seven-member Fort Smith board now has hire-fire authority over department heads and the city administrator. Settle said the city could “face turnover in department heads every four years.”

DUELING ORDINANCES
Director Jarred Rego said he prefers a mayor-council form of government and has “genuine respect” for those collecting signatures to change the form of government, but believes a vote should not happen until November 2027. He said there are many details to review and discuss, and residents have many detailed questions about a government change.

He also said a 2027 vote would separate the vote from “unrelated candidate elections” and leave just a year between the vote and 2028 in which elections for the new government would be held. A 2026 vote would include candidates in the existing government form and then require a two-year wait for the government change.

Rego made a motion that the board consider at the May 19 meeting an ordinance placing the change-of-government vote on the November 2027 general election ballot. Director André Good seconded it, which places the ordinance on the May 19 meeting agenda.

Directors Catsavis and Neal Martin responded with supporting placement of an ordinance on the May 19 agenda for a November 2026 vote on the form of government. Barring a change approved by four board members, the board on May 19 will have the two ordinances to consider.

Roe confirmed with Talk Business & Politics that if a government change vote fails in November 2026, it can’t be placed on the November 2027 ballot even if the board on May 19 approves a November 2027 ordinance.