Nearly 500 people have applied to be Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.'s chief of staff or one of his two assistants.
As of Tuesday evening, the city had 47 applications for the position of mayor's chief of staff. The application period for the position closed at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. A total of 265 applications were received for assistant to the mayor, and 153 were received for administrative assistant to the mayor. The application periods for those jobs closed Friday.
The number of applicants was provided to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette by the city in response to an Arkansas Freedom of Information Act request.
It was not immediately clear Tuesday whether the city has received that high a number of applications for any previous position. Scott said he believed it was a testament to the commitment, concern and energy that residents have.
"I'm humbled and grateful by the overwhelming interest in serving the city of Little Rock," he said.
He said he was trying to make those hires as soon as possible and had interviewed some candidates. He said he would make final decisions in a matter of days.
As of Tuesday, the chief of staff job was advertised with a salary of $60,074 to $92,514. The chief of staff coordinates the day-to-day operations of the mayor's office, performs research and analysis on community and constituent issues, and provides professional support in implementing special programs and initiatives, according to the job listing.
As of Friday, the administrative assistant position was advertised as having a salary of $31,821 to $49,004, and the other assistant position salary was $54,889 to $81,449.
Scott said he planned to change the assistant's title to senior adviser and the administrative assistant's title to executive assistant.
A total of 49 applications for the three jobs are current or former city employees.
Separately, about 200 applications for positions on the mayor's transition subcommittees have been submitted. That number was provided by Stephanie Jackson, Scott's transition team spokesman, roughly 24 hours after an application went live on frankscottjr.com.
"It shows a lot of interest, which was what Frank wanted," Jackson said.
The mayor's transition team is seeking residents to serve on subgroups that will deal with the areas of economic development; education; finance and administration; inclusion; mobility; public safety and accountability; quality of life; and transformation and government reform.
The size of each subcommittee has not yet been determined. Each will meet weekly until March 15, according to the website. The application period closes at 8 a.m. Monday.
Metro on 01/09/2019