By Tia Lyons
Staff Writer
EL DORADO — The El Dorado City Council recently agreed there was no need to adjust its operating rules for regular meetings, though one alderman said city officials should make sure that citizens know how they can voice concerns with their municipal representatives.
At the beginning of each year, the council establishes rules by which its meetings will be conducted. The rules are based on the Arkansas Municipal League’s “Procedural Rules for Municipal Officials.”
Mayor Frank Hash broached the topic during the council’s last regular meeting on Thursday.
Hash said the adoption of the municipal league’s operating rules are intended to help city officials “conduct orderly and civil meetings.”
“Are there any concerns about the operating rules of the council?” Hash asked council members.
When aldermen opted to leave the rules as they are, Alderman Willie McGhee said the council should revive an earlier decision to host post-meeting forums.
McGhee reminded Hash that he agreed to the informal meetings with citizens shortly after the began his first mayoral term in 2011.
At the time, Hash said the forums are offered by the municipal as an option allow citizens to address the mayor after the council has conducted its business and adjourned.
Several aldermen asked then if they could also participate in the forums, and Hash said they could.
“You said you would hang around after the meetings for citizens to voice their concerns. We’ve gotten away from that, and we need to follow through,” McGhee said.
“We need to have some type of avenue where the citizens can have access to us or you,” McGhee told Hash, adding, “People need to know that if they’re not on the agenda, they can still talk to you after the meeting or in your office.”
Earlier in the meeting, Hash had apologized to a citizen in the audience, Jimmie Bullock, about a miscommunication and a mix-up about her previous request to be placed on the council’s agenda.
Bullock was one of three citizens who complained about cars speeding through the area of Martin Luther King and Faulkner.
During the council’s June 9 meeting, McGhee introduced the issue, and Alderman Billy Blann — who represents Ward One, which encompasses the area — said he had already responded to and vetted the citizens’ request to reduce the speed limit on MLK between Faulkner and Champagnolle and determined that the change was not necessary.
Bullock, who was in the audience, then raised her hand to speak, and Hash denied the request, citing the council’s operating rules, one of which prohibits audience members from addressing the council without having been properly placed on the agenda in advance.
However, exceptions may be made with a mojority vote of the council approval.
The rules call for citizens to first complete a city form that outlines the protocol by which grievances and concerns may be addressed.
The council adopted the process in 2014 in order to help resolve issues presented by citizens more quickly and efficiently.
Aldermen noted then that some issues may be handled within the applicable city departments before reaching the full council.
The process calls for:
• Citizens to complete a complaint form.
• City employees to inform citizens who their aldermen are and how to contact them for assistance.
• The department supervisor to investigate the matter and make a decision.
• The citizen to appeal to the mayor if he is not pleased with the supervisor’s decision.
• The mayor to make a decision.
• The citizen may be placed on the city council’s agenda if he is not pleased with the mayor’s resolution.
The forms may also be used to share suggestions, ideas or compliments.
The forms are available in City Hall, and city employees who routinely work in the field and directly engage with citizens have been instructed to carry the forms with them.
Following the June 9 council meeting, Jennifer Stennett and Doris Lougin, said they had followed the procedure by completing the form, but received word from Hash’s office that their request to be placed on the agenda had been denied.
Hash explained that the women were not added to the agenda because Blann, as a result of his investigation into the matter, had not advanced the issue to the mayor or the city council agenda.
For more information, call Hash’s office at 870-862-7911 or City Clerk Heather McVay at 870-881-4877.
Other business
In other business Thursday, the council appropriated $8,112 to purchase 18 protective vests for the El Dorado Police Department.
Police Chief Billy White requested the amount, saying that the total cost is $12,312, and the department was awarded a $4,200 grant to cover a portion of the cost.
“You don’t have any money in your budget for this,” Alderman Judy Ward said.
White said there is no dedicated line item for the vests in the EPD budget, explaining that the grant usually covers the entire cost each year.
“But not with 18 vests. I usually have to replace five to seven a year,” the chief said.
He said the vests have a five-year life, and they are replaced for veteran officers whose vests wear out and purchased for new officers when they are hired.
McGhee noted that the vests are also measured to fit.
“And they may save a life,” he added.
Hash said the city has money in its budget to meet the request.
The council also voted to sell .36 acres of land in the area of East Main and Mosby to Don and Kent LLC for $1,000.
Hash said the sale was advertised, and the city received only one offer from Don and Kent.
Hash said plans are to use the property for parking space for an existing business in the area.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.