Fort Smith Board names acting city boss, begins candidate search

After a more than two hour executive session, the Fort Smith Board of Directors on Friday (July 10) voted 7-0 to named Jeff Dingman the acting city administrator following the surprise resignation Friday morning of City Administrator Ray Gosack.

Dingman, who has been the city’s deputy city administrator since June 2011, said he plans to apply for the job.

After the executive session Mayor Sandy Sanders asked Richard Jones, head of human resources for the city, to identify headhunter firms that could help with a search for qualified candidates. In an interview after the meeting, Dingman said he believes the job will attract many applicants.

Prior to moving back to Fort Smith in 2011, Dingman was the city administrator in Baldwin City, Kan., (pop. 3,400). He served as a management intern in 1996-1997 with the city of Bonner Springs, Kan., and between May 1997-June 1999 was an aide to the city manager of University Park, Texas. Between June 1999 and July 2003, he worked as the assistant county administrator for Sebastian County Judge David Hudson. He left that job for the city administrator post in Baldwin City.

Dingman said the Board has “big expectations” of his role as the acting boss, and said he is excited to be “part of the solution-finding process.”

Solutions are needed.

The city faces a shortfall in its contributions to a pension fund for police and fire employees. The Board is now working to find more than $2 million a year in cuts or new revenue to keep the fund from becoming insolvent by 2021. Reinstating a business license fee, pushing a prepared food tax and making 3% budget cuts are some of the ideas discussed between top city staff and the Board.

City officials are also in the early stages of implementing an estimated $480 million in federally mandated sewer system improvements between now and 2026. The Board recently approved funding for hiring 28 people to improve the city’s “Capacity, Management, Operations and Maintenance” (CMOM) programs. The 28 new jobs would be realized in 2015, and are part of a plan to hire 75 new people by fiscal year 2017.

The Board and city staff recently disagreed on how the city should structure its annual budget. After several meetings that included frank exchanges, the Board voted to change from a cyclical to a structural method. However, Mayor Sanders vetoed the ordinance, and the Board was not able to override the veto.

The pension fund problem, sewer system work and budgeting dispute have created tension between top staff and some of the Board members. Dingman admitted Friday after he was named acting city administrator that part of his job is to manage through any conflict.

“The staff is restless, and they have been for awhile,” Dingman said, adding that he plans to communicate and be open with employees, citizens and Board members.