Greenwood OKs mayoral-vote date

GREENWOOD - The third time was the charm Thursday as the Greenwood City Council voted to schedule an election for May 20 to elect a new mayor.

All five aldermen attended the meeting called by acting Mayor Jimmy Gossett on Thursday evening, which lasted about five minutes, long enough to take the necessary votes to pass the ordinance.

Del Gabbard resigned as mayor Jan. 13, citing medical problems and “the toll this job has taken over the past two years,” according to a letter he submitted to the city clerk’s office.

Thursday’s vote was the third time the council was asked to set the election. A motion at Monday’s regular monthly meeting to pass the ordinance died for lack of a second.

Gossett said the aldermen needed to set the election immediately so it could be held the same day as the Arkansas primary election. Having a separate election could cost the city as much as $8,000, according to City Attorney Mike Hamby.

Gossett had called a special meeting Wednesday evening to address the ordinance, but there wasn’t a quorum because Aldermen Rod Powell and Tim Terry didn’t show up.

Gossett said he and others had heard the speculation that the city would be sued for not upholding the law if it didn’t schedule an election. He said such speculation was not one of his reasons for scheduling the special meeting Wednesday.

Hamby said Wednesday that if the city was sued because the council willfully refused to act in setting an election date, the members could lose their immunity, be sued as individuals and the Arkansas Municipal League might not be able to represent them. They would have to hire their own attorneys.

Some aldermen balked at having a special election when the mayor’s term will expire at the end of the year. Alderman A.C. Brown said it would be a burden on the winner because he would be forced to conduct two campaigns this year and possibly as many as four, if runoff elections were required.

But Hamby said that after researching the state law and consulting with Arkansas Municipal League officials, he concluded that Greenwood had to elect a new mayor before the Nov. 4 general election because the position was vacated six months or more before the end of the term. The mayor’s current term expires Dec. 31.