Helena aldermen veto voters, keep seats at 10

The Helena-West Helena City Council repealed an ordinance favored by more than 60 percent of voters in November that would have reduced the size of the City Council.

The 10 aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday to overturn the initiated ordinance after several aldermen said they were concerned that lowering the number of City Council seats from 10 to six would be detrimental to city business.

"It doesn't benefit the public," Alderman Don Etherly said. "The [ordinance] preys on people's dislike of government, but people don't know what would happen after they voted for this."

Elijah Mondy, the owner of several radio stations in Arkansas and Mississippi, collected petitions asking that the City Council be downsized. He gathered more than 800 signatures -- enough to place the measure on the city's general election ballot Nov. 8.

Mondy asked that the city be redistricted from five wards to three wards. He also requested that three aldermen be selected at large, rather than by ward.

The change would have gone into effect in 2018 had aldermen not repealed the measure.

"We could reduce costs," Mondy said of his proposal. "Any business would say it's a good thing if you can get the job done with less people and benefits."

He said Greenville, Miss., with a population of about 32,000, has six aldermen. Clarksdale, Miss., with about 18,000 residents, has one representative for each of four wards, he said.

Helena-West Helena has a declining population of 12,282, Mondy said.

Mondy said aldermen voted for the repeal because they "feared for their jobs." He said their action went against the election, in which 62 percent favored his plan.

"The moral thing is not to go against what the people want," Mondy said. "We did what the [state] constitution allowed us to do. We got almost 900 signatures and placed it on the ballot. Then the council just ignored the results."

Etherly said he felt Mondy's idea was based on personal grudges with two of the aldermen.

"This doesn't benefit the public," he said. "There were no public meetings held. The citizens didn't understand it. There is another side to this."

Mayor Jay Hollowell did not return telephone messages Friday.

Mondy said he wants to override the City Council's repeal and will gather more petitions to call for a second election if he has to.

"The council has the audacity to vote against the people who voted them in office," he said. "We are going to deal with this. We are going to fix it."

State Desk on 12/10/2016

Upcoming Events