Five file for two city board positions in Fort Smith
Posted on Saturday, March 1, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/218357/
FORT SMITH — Both open seats on the Fort Smith Board of Directors will have contested races in the April 8 special city election.
Two candidates for Ward 1 and three candidates for Ward 2 filed petitions to run in the election.
The week-long filing period for the positions ended at noon Friday.
The Ward 1 candidates are Travis Stephens of 4700 Free Ferry Road, a business development officer and commercial lender for Bank of the Ozarks; and retiree Steve Tyler of 205 Sweet Ave.
The Ward 2 candidates are Eric Arthur of 1115 Garrison Ave., owner of Marketing Sales Concepts Inc.; Andre Good of 4716 Mill Pond Court, a FedEx worker; and Carolyn Plank of 1014 N. 12 th St., a part-time FedEx worker.
The terms of each of the ward positions expire Dec. 31. The candidates who win in the special election would be eligible to run for re-election in the fall.
The Ward 1 position became vacant Friday when the resignation of Ken Pyle became effective. Pyle resigned early last month to take the job as executive director of the Fort Smith Housing Authority.
Ward 2 Director Velvet Barrows resigned Feb. 20 during the attempted removal of Police Chief Kevin Lindsey. Lindsey fired her husband, then-police Maj. Jeff Barrows, in October for insubordination.
She resigned after a raucous city directors meeting Feb. 19 during which more than 300 of Lindsey’s supporters voiced their opposition to his being fired.
Barrows, who said she had received threats, said she did not attend the meeting over fears for her family’s safety and resigned the next day.