Cities can govern themselves using state statute as a guideline, and the duties of the mayor would be vastly different in a mayor-council form of government, the executive director of the Arkansas Municipal League told Little Rock's governance study group Wednesday.
The group, formed by a resolution the city board adopted in December, is tasked with recommending the best form of government for the city. Wednesday marked the group's third meeting, and the 11 members plan to present a report with their findings to Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and the city board by June 30.
Some task force members said at the previous week's meeting that they wanted to know more about the forms of government permissible under state statute and make sure that whatever form of government they recommended is legal.
Mark Hayes, executive director of the Arkansas Municipal League, told the group that Arkansas and its cities have "statutory home rule," meaning state statute serves as a guideline but, unlike most cities 200 years ago, they couldn't do more than what was specifically allowed by the state Legislature. Cities can govern themselves as long as there are no conflicts with statute, Hayes said.
Cities and towns in Arkansas have three different forms of government, and the majority -- 492 out of 500 -- have a mayor/council form of government. Little Rock is among five cities that have a city manager form of government, but is unique in the state in that its city manager form of government is paired with a full-time mayor who has additional powers. The other type is a city administrator form of government.
Hayes said Little Rock's current form of government is "cut from the same cloth" as a mayor/council form of government, but pointed to some key differences. In a mayor/council form of government, the mayor has the power to hire and fire department heads. Currently, those decisions would be subject to approval by the city board.
Under a mayor/council form of government, the mayor would be in the same role as the city manager in Little Rock's current form of government -- the "person who runs the show 24 hours a day," Hayes said. Additionally, the city attorney, clerk and treasurer would be by default elected roles under that type of governance.
Task force member and Ward 7 resident Don Shellabarger said Little Rock's current form of government allows for a "cafeteria mayor" who can choose the duties he wants and leave the "junk" for the city manager.
The task force is also discussing the makeup of Little Rock's city board, which is a hybrid of ward representatives and at-large members. Sixty to 70 percent of Arkansas cities have boards or councils that are split that way, Hayes said.
Loretta Hendrix, the group's Ward 1 appointee, said she felt the racial breakdown of wards in those cities was important and that she wanted to know those demographics.
She said the group also should bring in someone who could speak about governance from a financial perspective and someone who could talk about other cities of Little Rock's size.
Members also discussed hearing from Jay Barth, one of the authors of a Hendrix College study on Little Rock's governance, and inviting At-large City Director Dean Kumpuris to the next Neighborhood Connections meeting to speak to residents about the role of city board members elected citywide.
Metro on 04/11/2019
CORRECTION: In a city with a mayor/council form of government, the city attorney is by default an elected position. An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported how an individual could be hired and fired from that position.