Little Rock will pay more than $21,000 to house its new police chief and Community Programs Department director for the rest of the year, according to lease agreements obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
As part of hiring negotiations for the new department heads who are relocating from out of state, the city agreed to pay for temporary housing until they get accustomed to Little Rock and find their own places.
The city will pay $1,730 a month for Police Chief Kenton Buckner until the end of the year, according to the lease agreement. Buckner began work Monday and is coming to Little Rock from Kentucky, where he was the assistant police chief with the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department.
Community Programs Director Dana Fisher, who begins work today, will be put up in a $1,830-per-month apartment until the end of the year. Fisher relocated from Washington, D.C., where she worked as a senior creative project specialist with the National Education Association.
"I want department directors to be able to get here and hit the ground running, not having to worry about trying to find a permanent place to live," City Manager Bruce Moore said. "I think this is something standard we've done. It allows them to get in and get in corporate housing and begin focusing on their job."
Both officials will stay in furnished extended-stay apartments where the rents include utilities. Each official was given the option of a location downtown, in midtown or in west Little Rock.
It's been the city's policy to pay for up to six months of housing for relocating department directors, said Human Resources Director Stacey Witherell.
It has been at least a decade since a department director was hired from out of state. The city paid for temporary housing for Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr in 2004, Finance Director Bob Biles in 2001 and Police Chief Lawrence Johnson in 2000.
Metro on 07/01/2014