Little Rock talks government change

New mayor plans meetings with board on path to take

The Little Rock mayor and city board are moving forward with a study of the city's form of government, discussing a timeline and forum structure at Tuesday's agenda meeting.

Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said he would meet with three city directors who made suggestions or expressed interest during the meeting -- Dean Kumpuris, Ken Richardson and Kathy Webb -- to determine the study's parameters, then bring something back before the rest of the board.

The meeting took place a day after Scott announced that six city departments -- finance, fire, human resources, planning, public works and police -- would report directly to him. Voters in 2007 approved an ordinance expanding the mayor's executive authority, but until this month all departments reported to the city manager.

The city board on Dec. 3 approved a resolution to create a forum structure in the first month of the year to study the city's form of government. Discussion of the study was not listed on Tuesday's agenda. Kumpuris brought it up at the meeting's end.

"We need to start thinking about how we will form that group and how we look at that, and I'm open to any suggestions," Kumpuris said.

The at-large city director said he and Scott had talked about it and tried to reach a compromise on how long it would take. Scott said the targeted timeline was between 120 and 180 days.

Webb said one way to create a forum would be to have the mayor and each of the 10 city directors appoint one person. She said the group should represent a diverse cross-section of Little Rock in terms of race and age.

Scott said there was precedent for a mayor setting a process for a study in consultation with the board. Little Rock has studied its form of government twice before, in 1993 and 2000.

He suggested that the board consider discussing the matter in an executive session as the process moves forward. City Attorney Tom Carpenter said he was not sure whether the issue could be discussed in a closed executive session, noting that it is not a personnel matter.

In an interview, Scott said the study was a good thing and could look at additional changes in City Hall, including a move to a mayor-council form of government and repurposing at-large city directors into additional ward representatives.

Little Rock has a city manager form of government, meaning a city manager appointed by the board runs the day-to-day operations. Usually, that is paired with a part-time mayor, but Ordinance No. 19,761 expanded the role in Arkansas' capital city to a full-time position with expanded executive authority.

Scott said he believed that the voters who elected him gave him a mandate of change. Changing Little Rock's form of government became an issue during the campaign.

"When you campaign for close to 12, 14 months, win with 58 percent -- people want change, or at least to look at it," Scott said.

Metro on 01/16/2019

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