SPRINGDALE — The city will have a special election Aug. 13 to fill a City Council seat.
The council, in a special meeting Tuesday, voted 5-1 to hold the election to fill the Ward 4, Position 1, seat of Bobby Stout.
The move came one day after the council appointed Dwight Heathman to the position. Tuesday morning, however, city leaders realized Heathman didn’t live in the ward.
Mayor Doug Sprouse said he supported the special election in Tuesday’s vote while he didn’t Monday.
“The difference is we had someone in Dwight Heathman who said he wouldn’t run in the next election,” Sprouse said. “Now that we don’t have him, I think the election would be best.”
The winner of the special election will fill out the remainder of Stout’s term. The term ends in 2014 so whoever is elected would have to run again in about a year.
At A Glance
Springdale Special Election
The schedule for a special election to fill the City Council’s Ward 4, Position 1, seat:
• Filing begins May 1
• Filing ends June 4
• Ballot position draw June 7
• Election Aug. 13
• Certification of election by Aug. 23
Source: City of Springdale
Alderman Mike Overton suggest Heathman for the appointment Monday.
“I take full responsibility for not checking my facts,” Overton said.
Everyone assumed someone else had checked to see if Heathman was in the ward, Sprouse said.
Heathman represented Ward 4 during his six years on the council, according to an email he sent to Sprouse. He lived in Ward 4 for 46 years before the council approved changing ward boundaries last year.
The change, made after the 2010 Census, evened population in each ward.
Alderman Jim Reed cast the only vote against a special election. Alderman Jeff Watson didn’t attend the meeting.
Kathy Jaycox, Eric Ford, Rick Evans and Overton voted for a special election Monday with Reed and Brad Bruns voting against. Bruns said he was concerned having all candidates in the 2014 election start on an equal footing.
“This is an elected position and I’m usually in favor of voting,” Bruns said. “Heathman was an exception since he wasn’t going to run again.”
Reed said he opposed spending money for an election when the winner would have to start running again in about a year. The estimated cost of the election is about $19,000.
“I had people call me up and say the city shouldn’t waste money on an election,” Reed said.