New office posts to be recommended

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

GENTRY -- Council members on the Finance and Personnel Committees will recommend to the full council at its next meeting, Feb. 3, the creation of two new posts in the city office: that of finance director and administrative assistant.

In a Jan. 22 meeting at city hall, the committees discussed creating the positions and having the finance director position filled this year and the administrative assistant post filled in early 2015.

The new positions would take over responsibilities currently handled by JoEllen Martin, who holds a combined position as city clerk and fiance director for the city but plans to retire at the end of this year, and duties shared by other employees who cover to keep the city offices open during the noon hours each day.

Under the recommendation, the elected city clerk position would again become a part-time position with duties limited to statutory duties of city clerks, mostly attending and keeping minutes at official city meetings.

Arkansas Code (14-43-506. Duties of city clerk) states: "(a) The city clerk in cities of the first class shall have the custody of all the laws and ordinances of the city and shall keep a regular and correct journal of the proceedings of the city council. (b) (1) The city clerk, city clerk-treasurer, or city treasurer, as the case may be, shall be required to submit quarterly a full report and a detailed statement of the financial condition of the city. This report shall show receipts, disbursements, and balance on hand, together with all liabilities of the city. (2) The report shall be submitted to the council in open session."

With elections coming up in the fall for the city clerk's position, the change in duties is being discussed now so that potential candidates for the elected post will have time to file and know exactly the duties of the post for which they are filing, said Kevin Johnston, Gentry's mayor.

Part of the plan involves hiring and retaining a well-qualified finance director for the city not subject to replacement at elections every four years. If the positions of city clerk and finance director were left combined, the possibility of an individual being elected who was not capable to handle the city's finances is always a possibility, and the city would have no recourse except for a recall election.

The second post, that of administrative assistant, would be to help with office duties at city hall and make it easier to keep city hall open during lunch breaks and when the mayor and other employees are handling other business.

Also discussed at the meeting was the creation of a part-time library assistant position and possibly revising the personnel handbook if there are new recommendations from the Arkansas Municipal League -- scheduled to meet this week in Rogers.

General News on 01/29/2014