Springdale Alderman Resigns

Council Considering Replacement Procedure

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

SPRINGDALE — The City Council will soon be short a member.

Alderman Bobby Stout submitted his resignation for his Ward 4, Position 1 seat Tuesday, effective April 1. A message he sent to Mayor Doug Sprouse said he was leaving for personal reasons. Stout wasn’t at the meeting.

Web Watch

A replacement from Springdale Ward 4 will be needed because of the resignation of Bobby Stout. A ward map for Springdale is available at www.springdalear.go…

Source: City of Springdale

The council will discuss replacing Stout at its April 1 meetings. According to state law, the council can pick an alderman or call for a special election to allow the voters to make the selection.

Stout declined to expand on his reasons when contacted Tuesday. He said personal appointments were conflicting many times with council meetings.

Stout was first elected in 1996, taking office on Jan. 1, 1997. He was the senior member of the council, said Jerre Van Hoose, former mayor.

“The council and the city will miss his tremendous knowledge of the actions of the council,” Van Hoose said.

At A Glance

Council Action

Springdale’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:

-Rezoning 2.5 acres at 3112 N. Thompson St. owned by Six Judges Inc. from open display commercial to large product retail sales and 151.8 acres at 9165 Nations Drive owned by Ecclesia Inc. from agricultural to institutional

-Splitting the cost up to $300,000 for new equipment for a special-needs playground with the Rotary Club

-A contract to build an all-access fishing pier at Lake Springdale for $159,508, with $50,000 coming from an Arkansas Game & Fish grant

-Waiving competitive bidding to buy a $34,652 backup generator for the city’s buildings on Shiloh Square

-A $10,500 engineering design contract for drainage near Oak Grove Road

-Spending $21,000 from the district court automation fund for software and equipment

Source: Staff Report

Stout was re-elected in 2010 to a four-year term. His successor would have less than two years remaining to complete the term.

Alderman Mike Overton said he would prefer holding a special election.

“Anybody we appoint would have a leg up when it comes to the next regular election,” Overton said. “I think the public should make the choice from the start.”

Alderman Jim Reed said he would prefer the council appoint an alderman because of the cost of an election. He suggested the city take resumes from those in Stout’s ward, which is mainly in the northeast section of the city.

A new alderman, picked by the council or through election, would have to live in the ward. The council needs to pick an alderman or call for an election at its next meeting, said Ernest Cate, city attorney.

City staff will gather information for the council by the committee meeting, Sprouse said, including the estimated cost for a special election. The election would cover the entire city, since council members in Springdale are elected from wards by all municipal voters.

Sprouse said Stout has been a fixture on the council.

“I knew Bobby before I was mayor,” Sprouse said. “He has a lot of institutional knowledge about the city. We will miss him.”

The council also approved creating Information Technology and Engineering departments. The Technology Department would be split from the Administration Department and engineering from Planning and Community Development Department. Mark Gutte became the head of technology and Alan Pugh of engineering.