Fort Smith city administrator back in running for Clearwater job

FORT SMITH -- Carl Geffken is back in the running for city manager of Clearwater, Fla., in that city's second attempt at filling the position.

Clearwater Human Resources Director Jennifer Piorrier said Monday that Geffken, Fort Smith's city administrator, has been selected for a pool of 12 out of 109 applicants for the position. He was one of two finalists in June before he was unable to attend a dayslong in-person assessment for the position, Clearwater officials said.

Clearwater city councilors will "hopefully" narrow the field of candidates to five Thursday, Piorrier said.

Clearwater, located near Tampa, Fla., had roughly 117,000 residents in 2019, whereas Fort Smith had about 88,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Geffken and Thornton, Colo., City Manager Kevin Woods in June were the final candidates for the Clearwater job after three of the five finalists dropped out of the application process, according to Clearwater City Council members. City councilors at a meeting in June expressed regret the field of candidates wasn't broader but decided to proceed with Geffken and Woods anyway.

Geffken said he still feels positive about the application process. He said he would like to move to Clearwater because he has family on the east coast of Florida whom he could meet in Orlando. He also said friends of his have moved to the area from New York and New Jersey.

Geffken said his experience around the country allows him to adequately serve any city or county he works for. He served as chief operating officer of Berks County, Pa., and managing director of Reading, Pa., before he was hired by Fort Smith in May 2016.

"It fits me personally, and it fits me professionally," Geffken said.

Geffken on Monday told the Fort Smith Board of Directors he was a finalist for the job after the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette notified him, he said.

Andre Good, Ward 2 city director, in June said the city likely would launch a national search for a city administrator if Geffken leaves. The search could last four to five months, he estimated.

Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman would assume the city administrator's responsibilities until the replacement is found, Good said.

"We've had situations before where the city has to replace the city administrator, and there's a process you go through. But we have very capable department heads, and we have a very capable deputy city administrator," said Lavon Morton, Ward 3 city director.

In Fort Smith, Geffken helped negotiate a five-year extension of Fort Smith's consent decree from the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency. The decree obligates the city to pay for wastewater improvements in response to decades of sewage runoff into the Arkansas River.

The city was initially projected to pay $480 million over 12 years starting in 2015 for capital improvements to its sewage system. It is now expected to pay more than $600 million, according to Lance McAvoy, city utility director.

Geffken also hired two police chiefs who have worked to improve officer diversity, community policing, technology and incarceration alternatives in the Police Department.

However, Geffken has drawn criticism for making decisions without telling the public in advance, such as trying to introduce an alcohol tax increase into the city's 2021 budget without speaking to bar and restaurant owners before it went before the board. He also came under fire in 2017 for obscuring the fact Fort Smith sanitation was dumping residents' recycling into a landfill.