SPRINGTOWN — The town of Springtown has a new mayor, Terri Glenn, as of Thursday night, but the steps leading up to the change in leadership require explanation.
At the August 9 regular meeting, Dixie Law was appointed to serve out the remainder of Glenn's term as Position 4 alderman of the town council following Glenn's resignation for unstated reasons.
Amanda Richardson was first nominated to fill Glenn's term, but her nomination failed with a split 2-to-2 vote. Law was then nominated and the council was again split 2-2, but Mayor Preston Barrett cast a vote in favor of Law to break the tie. Barrett then administered the oath of office to Law, and the meeting continued with Law as a voting council member.
The council also approved a resolution to move the September meeting to Thursday, Sept. 1, to allow the council to adopt an agreement with Black Hills Energy relating to a contract for natural gas service in the town at the earliest possible date and also handle the regular council business for September. No resolution or ordinance regarding gas service by Black Hills Energy, however, was ready for consideration at the Sept. 1 meeting.
At Thursday's meeting, the council was informed by City Clerk Shane Bauman that Barrett had resigned his post, effective at midnight on Aug. 31. Council members said they were individually notified of Barrett's decision at about 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 31.
After debate regarding whether it would be lawful to go into executive session to consider qualifications of possible appointees to fill the vacant mayor's post, Linda Taylor nominated Paul Lemke to serve out the remaining two-plus years of Barrett's post. Her motion died for a lack of a second.
After a motion by Karee Barrett to go into executive session, three of the four council members present -- Law, Karee Barrett and Charles Bostwick -- went into executive session with Bauman, who said he was acting as mayor. Taylor did not join them in the closed meeting but remained in the public area. Council member Don Jech was absent because of a prior commitment.
Following a brief executive session, the council returned to public session, where Karee Barrett nominated Glenn to serve as mayor, prompting comments from the audience, including accusations of collusion made by Paul Lemke and questions regarding Glenn's unstated reason for resigning as alderman just a few weeks prior.
"I didn't think my voice was being heard," Glenn said from the audience. "I thought I would have a louder voice as mayor."
When the vote was called, Law abstained because she is Glenn's mother-in-law. Karee Barrett and Bostwick voted yes, and Linda Taylor voted no. Because three votes are required to make up a majority of the council, Bauman voted yes to appoint Glenn as mayor.
At that time Glenn assumed leadership of the meeting and presided over a public comments section and unfinished business. Financial reports were not available due to a computer glitch, Bauman said.
City attorney George Rhodes said Glenn would have to be sworn in later at the county clerk's office.
Later in the meeting, Bauman announced his upcoming resignation from his post as city clerk and treasurer/recorder, saying he had closed on a house and would soon -- very possibly during September -- be moving out of Springtown. He said his resignation would likely precede the October meeting.
As a result, council members were asked to consider candidates for appointment to the post soon to be vacated by Bauman and bring them to the October meeting.
After all is said and done in Springtown, all the public officials except Karee Barrett, Jech and Taylor will have been appointed to office rather than elected. That, of course, should change some following the November election of council members, with all Springtown's alderman posts up for re-election.
Preston Barrett's resignation letter, not read during the public meeting, stated that Barrett resigned his post as mayor because of additional duties he had taken on at the Bentonville School District. He also extended his gratitude to the voters of Springtown and for the support of those council members who worked in harmony for the good of Springtown.
During the later stages of the meeting, the council:
• Heard a report on a paving project by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department;
• Delayed any decision regarding speed bumps on Main Street until paving work is done;
• Tabled a second reading of an ordinance regarding a street-closing petition due to some uncertainties regarding a land description on the deed to an adjoining property owned by Albie and Helen Pearson (Karee Barrett's parents); and
• Changed upcoming meeting dates to 6 p.m. on Oct. 13 and Nov. 10.
General News on 09/07/2016