NLR top attorney fancies 1 less hat

City seeks new leader for utility

Without opposition in the November election, Jason Carter will head unhindered into a third term as North Little Rock's city attorney, though his actual workplace remains elsewhere for now.

For the past 20 months, Carter, 45, has filled two jobs. He is the elected city attorney and also the mayor-appointed interim general manager of the Electric Department, with its $100 million annual budget and 38,000 customers to oversee.

The dual role was intended to be a temporary, "fill the gap" sort of duty while the search for a full-time manager was carried out, with a hire expected -- at the time -- within three months. The job turned into a much longer and more demanding assignment.

"Nobody expected it to go as long as it has," Carter said last week. "I was spending half of my time [as city attorney] doing Electric Department work. Now I'm spending 90 percent of my time doing electric work."

Carter, who didn't draw an opponent in the filing period that ended Friday, said he's hoping to be able to leave the utility manager's office at the Electric Department complex, 1400 W. Maryland Ave., and get back to his regular city attorney's office at City Hall sooner rather than later.

Mayor Joe Smith agreed, saying last week that his goal is to hire a permanent manager by the end of the year. That would be in time for Carter to be sworn in again Jan. 1 to his elected job for another a four-year term.

"I've told the Electric Department staff that I promise you I won't leave until we can find somebody better," Carter said. "But I believe we can find somebody better. And when we do, I'll leave. I was there to fill a gap.

"Hiring a general manager is a huge decision," he added. "The mayor wants to make a good decision, and I can appreciate that."

Carter became Smith's first department head appointment -- even before Smith was sworn in as mayor Jan. 1, 2013. Elected in a runoff in late November 2012, Smith chose Carter almost immediately to help him through the Electric Department transition when the former general manager, Mike Russ, resigned for a private industry job shortly after the election.

Carter already had been working closely with Russ and other utility personnel on both a restructuring of electric revenue bonds earlier that year and the utility's move into purchasing electricity at daily market rates.

"That's a very specialized position," Smith said of the manager search. "I know what I want and what kind of person we need to run that company. I'm not sure that I've found that person yet. We have not quit looking.

"I guess I'm looking for somebody to jump off the page like Chief Murphy did," Smith said, referring to new Fire Chief Jim Murphy, the mayor's most recent department head hire.

The city isn't actively advertising the utility position, Smith said, because he has candidates with whom he is "in discussions" with about the job. If a hire isn't made soon, Smith said he plans to "advertise pretty heavily" nationally.

The general manager's job paid $98,254 when Russ left.

Carter's city attorney position pays $92,497, but Smith asked the City Council early last year to bump Carter up to $127,521 for the added responsibility as manager and chief legal adviser to the utility. The increase made Carter the highest-paid city employee, above the mayor.

Carter also has brought on Matthew Fleming, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in Fort Smith, as deputy city attorney to help run the office.

"Jason is a workaholic," Smith said. "He's brilliant. So if ever there was somebody who could wear two hats and be very good at both of them, it's him and he's been able to do that. I've taken advantage of that, and that's given me an opportunity to really take my time in finding the right person because of Jason's capability.

"I don't think our legal department's missed a lick," in Carter's absence, Smith added. "We were fortunate to be able to bring in an experienced attorney like Matt to fill whatever void we may have needed in leadership down there."

With federal utility regulations, power purchase contracts, engineering rhetoric and daily market-rate prices involved with the Electric Department's operation, Carter said the experience will carry over into the job he's elected to do.

"It's made me a whole lot better lawyer," Carter said. "I have a deeper understanding of how the Electric Department works and how the Energy Department works, and I think I can be more of an asset to the city now. It's been very challenging to do this, but it's also very rewarding."

Metro on 08/18/2014

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