PINE BLUFF -- Mayor Debe Hollingsworth on Thursday vetoed an ordinance passed earlier this week by the City Council that would have required all city department heads to live in Pine Bluff.
On Monday, the City Council voted 5-3 in favor of making all city department heads live within the city limits. Current department heads would be exempt from the new law.
Previously, department heads were required to live within 12 miles of the city in accordance to a 2013 ordinance passed by the council.
"We spent six months on this in 2013, and there is nothing wrong with this ordinance," Hollingsworth said Thursday. "Why go back and create the wheel? I just don't get it."
Hollingsworth's decision didn't come as a surprise. She told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Tuesday that she planned to veto the ordinance. She also vetoed an ordinance last year that would have required all city employees to live within the city limits.
The City Council would need six votes to override the mayor's veto. If not for the veto, the ordinance would take effect Jan. 1.
According to Pine Bluff Human Resources Director Vickie Conaway, only one of the city's 10 department heads lives outside of Pine Bluff. Hollingsworth said Police Chief Jeff Hubanks lives between Pine Bluff and Star City but meets the 12-mile requirement of the current ordinance.
Hollingsworth said she based her decision to veto the ordinance from her experience of serving on the Civil Service Commission in 2010 and 2011. She said sometimes it takes allowing employees the freedom to live wherever they want in order to attract the right people.
"I know in attracting firemen and policemen on the Civil Service Commission, we had to broaden our scope to recruit applicants," Hollingsworth said. "Otherwise, our pool to recruit was very small and we were not getting good applicants."
Alderman Steven Mays, who sponsored the ordinance, said he believed department heads need to live within the city so they get to know the community better and can better serve those who pay their salaries.
He also noted that the new residency requirements would be for department heads coming in after January, when mayor-elect Shirley Washington takes office.
"I don't feel what [Hollingsworth] did was right, but she has the authority to veto this legislation," Mays said. "We will try to look at it again after she leaves office.
"We don't need department heads coming in at the first of the year living across the state of Arkansas, because Pine Bluff is a great place to live, raise a family and work."
Alderman Glen Brown Sr., who also voted for the measure, pointed out that Little Rock recently considered making residency a requirement for its new police officers. That proposal was turned down by the Little Rock city board, marking the second consecutive year it rejected such a proposal.
"I voted for this because I think it is the most important thing for our city because taxes allow the city to survive," Brown Sr. said. "We have to maintain population and have something to make them want to live here."
State Desk on 09/23/2016