HOT SPRINGS -- The Hot Springs Board of Directors has adjusted its schedule for appointing a new mayor, agreeing to move up the date for interviewing applicants by two weeks.
The amended tentative schedule calls for interviews to be held April 25, 11 days after applications are to be presented to the board for review. The adjusted timeline could put a new mayor in place by early May.
City directors said that rather than paring down the submissions to a short list, they'd like to interview all of the applicants before they appoint a new mayor by secret ballot majority.
Retired dentist Jack Porter, former City Director Pat McCabe and Whittington Valley Neighborhood Association President Mark Toth picked up application packets Wednesday, the first day of the application period, Assistant City Manager/City Clerk Lance Spicer said.
April 11 at noon is the deadline to submit applications. Registered voters who have lived in the city for at least 30 days and who are 21 or older are eligible. Applicants are required to present a resume, file a statement of financial interest and a petition for nomination that includes the signatures of at least 50 registered voters residing inside the city.
City Director Larry Williams said applicants should be prepared for the time commitment the unpaid position requires. The appointee will serve the remainder of Ruth Carney's second term, which runs through next year, and will be eligible to run for the position in the 2018. Carney resigned March 10.
"Whoever applies for this position needs to be willing to commit the time that it's involved with it," Williams told the board Tuesday night. "There's more to the job than meets than eye."
Williams listed several other boards on which the mayor serves -- the Tri-Lakes Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce and the Hot Springs Metro Partnership. The mayor holds Position 7 on the board and votes on all matters that come before it.
The mayor also presides over board meetings, establishes the agenda for board meetings, is recognized as the head of city government for all ceremonial purposes and by the governor for the purposes of military law.
The city code also authorizes the mayor to impose a curfew during times of emergency.
The board also adopted an ordinance Tuesday night that amended the rotation of the assistant mayor position. The ordinance adds an acting mayor provision to the city code, allowing the city director next in the line of succession for assistant mayor to serve in an interim capacity when both the mayor and assistant mayor are absent or unable to perform their duties.
The assistant mayor position rotates every six months. City Director Becca Clark assumed the role in January. Per city code, City Director Randy Fale will serve as assistant mayor starting in July.
Metro on 03/24/2017