PINE BLUFF - Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Hannah has appointed retired Circuit Judge Ted Capeheart of Ashdown to hear a lawsuit today that will decide the date of the next Pine Bluff mayoral election.
Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth filed suit March 25 to challenge the Jefferson County Election Commission’s decision to place former Mayor Carl Redus on the May primary ballot this year. Hollingsworth contends that a judge should stop the election because the city’s next mayoral race isn’t supposed to be decided until 2016.
The hearing will be held at 9 a.m. at the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Jodi Raines Dennis sent a letter to Hanna on March 25, requesting to recuse from the case. Circuit Judges Berlin Jones, Robert H. Wyatt Jr., Bill Benton, Leon Jamison, Earnest Brown, John Kearney and Kim Bridgforth asked to recuse, as well.
Redus is named as the lead defendant in the lawsuit, followed by Jefferson County Election Commission Chairman Ted Davis, county Election Commissioners Stu Soffer and Cynthia Sims, county Election Coordinator Will Fox and the county Election Commission as a body.
Other candidates Hollingsworth contends are on the ballot improperly were included as defendants.
Redus was the only candidate to file for the mayor’s seat in the May primary. He maintains that the city’s highest office and clerk and treasurer positions are open this year because Pine Bluff’s population has dropped below 50,000, according to the2010 Census.
On March 7, the commission approved placing Redus on the Democratic ballot for the May 20 primary election, despite a previous lawsuit and opinions by Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter and the Arkansas secretary of state’s office that said the next mayoral, city clerk and treasurer elections shouldn’t occur until 2016.
The commission also approved placing Pine Bluff City Clerk Loretta Whitfield - who was re-elected for a four-year term in 2012 and is named as a defendant in Hollingsworth’s suit - on the Democratic primary ballot, along with retired Arkansas State Police Capt. Lloyd Franklin Sr., who filed for city treasurer and is also a defendant in the mayor’s suit.
Pine Bluff Treasurer Greg Gustek was elected to a four year term in 2012.
Cities with fewer than 50,000 residents are supposed to hold elections for these offices during the presidential midterm cycle, but the law doesn’t spell out what happens when a city that had previously been above that mark drops below it. Pine Bluff’s population is now 49,083.
Davis, who served as chief of staff for Redus during his eight years in office, has said he agrees with the former mayor that Pine Bluff’s mayoral election should be held this year.
Hollingsworth - represented by Dermott attorneys Charles Sidney Gibson and Charles Gibson, his son - says in her lawsuit that “Redus filed as a candidate at the ‘last minute’ as a ploy to assure lack of interdictive scrutiny and action, albeit an overt act to carry out a conspiracy to flaunt the law.”
Redus filed his own lawsuit before the November 2012 mayoral race to stop the election, making the same population argument. But a Pulaski County judge didn’t agree and ruled that the vote should continue that year.
Redus maintains that he “simply wants Pine Bluff to follow Arkansas law, and that states that cities below 50,000 residents must hold mayoral elections during the mid-term election cycle.”
The former mayor has had few other comments on the matter, but Pine Bluff residents are eager to speak out.
Pine Bluff resident Tammy Sanders said she feels the former mayor’s actions are “an embarrassment for our city.”
Sanders, who owns a small business that deals frequently with out-of-town customers, added that many people around the state have mentioned the situation.
“I don’t see what the issue is, especially if you have the secretary of state saying that the election should not be held until 2016,” she said. “This should not even be an issue, and Redus needs to get over the fact that he is no longer mayor and never will be again.”
Some other residents see the issue as necessary to reset Pine Bluff’s election cycle.
Gary Blann said he is curious to see how the judge will rule.
“There is some murkiness in the state law governing population and elections, so this could be something that has to go all the way to the Legislature. Who knows?” Blann said.
“I actually think this is good for the city because we are challenging something that may set a precedent. One thing is for sure, no one is going to forget all of this drama.”
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 04/03/2014