LITTLE ROCK — A group of Gould residents has sued two aldermen in a bid to oust them, claiming that the representatives are unqualified to serve on the City Council.
It’s the latest dust-up in Gould, a town of 1,000 people in Lincoln County in southeast Arkansas. The town is struggling to find money to pay the Internal Revenue Service, and the Arkansas State Police has investigated a report of an assault on the mayor. City telephones were out Thursday because no one had paid a bill of nearly $9,000.
Gould residents Norvell Dixon and Samuel Kind, individually and on behalf of the nonprofit, Gould Citizens’ Advisory Council, filed a lawsuit on July 26 in Lincoln County Circuit Court.
The suit alleges that Alderman Rosieanna Smith does not live in the ward in which she was elected, and that Alderman Harry Hall has a criminal record.
Smith, who was elected in2010, represents Ward 2. The lawsuit says Smith lives in Ward 1 at 704 N. First St. and that she lived there when she ran for the Ward 2 position.
By law, an alderman must live in the ward in which he runs, and must continue living there while representing the area.
Mayor Earnest Nash, who is also a Gould Citizens’ Advisory Council member, included an affidavit in the lawsuit stating that Smith lives in Ward 1, not the ward she represents.
“The fact of Rosieanna Smith’s residency has been made known by me to the City Board of Gould,” he wrote. “However, the City Board has refused to declare Rosieanna Smith unqualified to hold the position or to fill the position according to law.”
The lawsuit includes telephone directory pages purporting to document Smith’s Ward 1 address and a 2010 tax statement that showed she owned property in Ward 1.
Smith couldn’t be reached for comment. No one answered a telephone number listing Smith at that residence Thursday.
Hall, a resident of 507 E. Jackson St., represents Ward 2 in Gould. Hall has a sealed criminal record on file in the Jefferson County clerk’s office, the lawsuit says.
Article 5, Section 9 of the Arkansas Constitution states that someone convicted of certain crimes cannot hold public office.
Efforts to reach Hall were unsuccessful Thursday.
In another development, the state police announced it has finished investigating Nash’s report that an associate of one of the City Council members pistol-whipped him late last week.
The agency planned to turn over the investigation file to the prosecuting attorney’s office Thursday afternoon, said Bill Sadler, state police spokesman.
Information for this article was contributed by Claudia Lauer of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Arkansas, Pages 15 on 08/05/2011