FORT SMITH -- Early voting begins Tuesday to winnow the crowded field of candidates in the race for the Ward 4 position on the city Board of Directors.
Early voting will continue until the primary election Aug. 9. Incumbent George Catsavis faces three challengers for the position: Neal Martin, Zachary Muncrief and Robyn Dawson. The winner will serve a four-year term.
If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the votes cast in the primary, the two candidates with the most votes will appear on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
The two candidates to file in the Ward 2 race, incumbent Andre Good and Martin Wade, also will appear on the general election ballot.
All four wards are up for election this year. Only the incumbents in Wards 1 and 3, Keith Lau and Mike Lorenz, filed for re-election in their wards and were declared the winners after the filing period ended June 1.
Catsavis is running for his second full term on the board. He was first elected in 2010 to fill out the term of Bill Maddox, who resigned. Catsavis was elected to a full term in 2012.
In his campaign, he said, he has been going door to door, putting up signs and meeting people on the street. A common thread in the concerns they expressed was about the sewer system, how the repairs are progressing and how the city got into the sewer problems predicament.
Fort Smith is under a federal consent decree to make improvements to its sewer system, which has violated the federal Clean Water Act for years. Last year, city officials signed the decree to make the improvements, estimated to total $480 million, or face federal sanctions that include daily fines.
Asked about what he thought could be done to help ease the city's tight budget, Catsavis said he couldn't see what other areas could be cut, remembering that the Police Department cut 13 officer positions, reducing the manpower for patrols to what he thought was a dangerously low level.
He recently proposed putting two officers in each patrol car as a safety measure after police assassinations in Baton Rouge and Dallas.
Noting that he hasn't voted for a tax increase while in office, he said he preferred to get more revenue by recruiting more businesses to Fort Smith to increase the tax base.
He said the city should be proactive and go after new businesses to move to Fort Smith by promoting the city's wealth of land and good infrastructure, rather than waiting for businesses to approach the city.
Responding to recent complaints about the lack of racial diversity in city government, Catsavis said two black officers in a department of more than 100 employees demonstrated that lack of diversity. He said the city should go out and recruit more members of minority groups, and he suggested even going to high schools to generate interest in students joining the police and fire departments.
Martin, application manager for Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care in Fort Smith, said he, family members and volunteers have been canvassing neighborhoods in the ward handing out fliers and putting up signs. He also has been speaking before various groups, he said.
On the budget issue, Martin said he would work with City Administrator Carl Geffken to go through city departments and look for ways to save money by updating or changing processes, and better use technology to improve efficiency.
He didn't know that he agreed that there is a lack of diversity in city government, although he agreed that it is a problem in the Police Department.
He said the city should recruit members of minority groups in Fort Smith, but also in Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock and on college campuses, and offer competitive pay to attract good job candidates.
On efforts to overhaul the city's sewer system, he said the Kansas City, Mo., consultant Burns and McDonnell was doing a good job working with the city on the decree work until a permanent utilities director is hired. He also said the city had to spend its money wisely and efficiently.
Muncrief, who works in surveillance for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma at the Choctaw Casino, urged voters to turn out to vote in the primary. People may have only one chance to vote in the election because of the possibility a candidate could win the election outright Aug. 9.
On the budget, he said tax increases may be needed to ease the tight budget. One way to save money, he said, would be to put two officers in each patrol car, which would cut down on car maintenance and fuel costs. Two officers also could back up each other.
There is a lack of diversity in city government but it is not the city's fault, he said. Human Resources could bring in more minority-group members if it actively recruited them, he said.
Muncrief said he would favor an increase in taxes to pay for sewer system improvements rather than through utility rates. Financing the improvements through taxes would favor lower-income people because they could choose by their purchases how much they would pay. Paying for the improvements with utility rates, the residents would have no choice but to pay what the city charged.
Muncrief also criticized Catsavis and another city director for voting against funding adjustments to police and fire pension programs. He said Catsavis' vote would allow the pension fund to run dry.
He also criticized the city's practice of awarding some construction contracts without taking bids, calling it a lack of transparency.
Dawson, principal at Spradling Elementary School in Fort Smith for five years and an administrator in the school system for 10 years, did not respond to requests for an interview.
State Desk on 07/31/2016