CAVE SPRINGS -- Justin Eichmann is again city attorney, and he says has a plan to help the City Council regain trust with residents.
The City Council held a work session and special meeting April 17 and unanimously voted Eichmann in as city attorney, bringing him back to the position he resigned from Aug. 29. Eichmann cited differences with Mayor Travis Lee on the direction of the city as the reason he resigned. Eichmann handed out memos at the meeting charting what the city must do in the future.
Rules to follow
Justin Eichmann said the following three measures are necessary for the Cave Springs City Council to follow:
• Restore confidence and public trust in the financial data of the city.
• Implement a process that focuses on the roles and responsibilities of the City Council.
• Ensure city government follows the Freedom of Information Act
Source: Staff report
"I said I thought we should go back to basics and focus on a couple of fundamental issues and get them right, because, if you don't, nothing else would work," he said.
Eichmann urged city leaders to focus on restoring public trust in the city's financial data, implementing a process that focuses on the roles and responsibilities of the council and ensuring city government follows the Freedom of Information Act.
"I think we have a lot of work to regain trust and get people comfortable and confident that we can improve things going forward," Eichmann said.
Lee and Treasurer/Recorder Kimberly Hutcheson have been locked in a dispute since September when Lee sent Hutcheson home and blocked her from accessing city computer data. Lee said he did so because Hutcheson had mistreated city workers. The bitterness spilled into Lee's relationship with council members, as they disagreed over spending and connecting to the Razorback Greenway.
Lee said he looks forward to Eichmann helping the city and went on to thank two aldermen he had been at odds with.
"I want to compliment Mary Ann Winters and Larry Fletcher for facilitating this whole thing and making sure it happened. They're the ones who got [Justin] on board," Lee said.
Winters said Eichmann's presence is reassuring because she and fellow city officials are familiar with him. However, she said she'll continue to speak her mind.
"I fight for what is right. I will continue to do that. In five years, Cave Springs will be totally different, but if we can keep it a small town a little longer that would be good," she said.
Eichmann said he's confident city officials can regain some degree of trust.
"We need to work on everybody understanding their role. I hope they are ready to do that," he said. "We need to slow everything down and do the basics and make sure everyone focuses on their role. That will not necessarily make everyone best friends, but it will reduce the tension."
Robert Smittle, who has lived in Cave Springs since 1969, hopes Eichmann will help Cave Springs.
"Justin did a good job before, and I think he'll do us a good job now if we let him," Smittle said. "If the mayor and the council will let him do a job, I think he will do a good job."
Eichmann isn't under contract. He will receive $175 an hour and a $250 flat fee for city meetings. The rate is the same he received during his previous stint, which lasted about 12 years, he said. Eichmann worked an average of five to 10 hours a week, but doesn't know how many hours he will work to help the city.
Tom Guarino replaced Eichmann as city attorney in November.
During a Jan. 10 meeting, council members went into executive session to discuss the jobs of 10 employees the council fired a week before. Guarino objected immediately after Fletcher made the motion to go into executive session, saying it violated the Freedom of Information Act.
Guarino said in January that Winters objected to his findings from his investigation into city spending. Guarino quit in February.
NW News on 04/24/2017