A federal lawsuit challenges the Helena-West Helena City Council's repeal of an ordinance favored by more than 60 percent of voters in November that would have reduced the number of elected aldermen.
The action, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court's Eastern District of Arkansas, asks for a declaratory judgment and the invalidation of the council's repeal.
"How do you tell people that your vote doesn't count?" asked Elijah Mondy, the owner of several radio stations in Arkansas and Mississippi who is named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. "It's tromping on the rights of the people."
Mondy sought to reduce the number of wards in Helena-West Helena from five to three and the number of aldermen from 10 to six, and gathered enough signatures to place the issue on the city's general election ballot in November.
Residents favored the measure, voting 2,465 in favor to 1,561 against.
Aldermen, however, voted 9-0 on Dec. 20 to repeal Ordinance 1-2016 after several said they were concerned that the reduction of seats on the council would be detrimental to the city.
"It doesn't benefit the public," Alderman Don Etherly said in December after the vote. "The [ordinance] preys on people's dislike of government, but people don't know what would happen after they voted for this."
James Valley, a Helena-West Helena attorney who filed the lawsuit, said the council's action violated constitutional law. Valley said aldermen placed an emergency clause on the repeal so it would go into effect immediately, rather than publish their actions in a newspaper over several weeks so residents could respond to it.
"The council acted selfishly to protect their jobs, which require about four hours of work per month at a pay rate of nearly $175 per hour," Valley wrote in his lawsuit.
He said the ordinance, passed by the voters Nov. 8, required the city to enact it within 180 days of its passage. May 7 was the 180th day after the election.
Mayor Jay Hollowell did not return telephone messages Thursday.
Mondy said reducing the number of aldermen would save money for Helena-West Helena, which is declining in population. The Phillips County town has a population of 12,282.
Nearby Clarksdale, Miss., with 18,000 residents, has four aldermen. Greenville, Miss., has six aldermen who serve the town of 32,000.
"The council is not functioning the way it should function," Mondy said. "They do not want to hold each other accountable. They are worried four council members would be out of a job, so they circled the wagons and repealed this."
Valley said he hopes a judge will render a ruling on his lawsuit within 30 days.
Mondy said he is prepared to gather more signatures and place a similar measure on the ballot again if needed.
State Desk on 06/16/2017