FORT SMITH : Administrator’s job attracts 38 hopefuls
Posted on Monday, June 9, 2008
FORT SMITH — City officials are reviewing the resumes of 38 people who are seeking the Fort Smith city administrator job.
City directors and Mayor Ray Baker were given the stack of resumes the week after the May 23 application deadline, Human Resources Director Richard Jones said. Some of the applications were submitted to Jones’ office while most went to the city’s recruiter, the Mercer Group Inc. of Santa Fe, N. M.
The directors have not met to cull the applications, yet. Jones said he expected them to meet sometime before June 24 when Jim Mercer is expected to go to Fort Smith for a list of semifinalists who will undergo background checks.
The list will then be pared to two or three finalists who will be interviewed. Jones could not give a date when those interviews would be conducted. An original timeline he drew up had the finalists being interviewed between June 16 and June 27, but the delay in Mercer getting the list of semifinalists will push back the timeline, Jones said.
City officials hope to have a new administrator in place by the end of the summer.
The directors will be looking for applicants with direct municipal experience, Jones said. If an applicant doesn’t meet that qualification, he “will have to have something special to make the board want to leave that person in the mix,” Jones said.
About a dozen applicants are in other professions.
Fort Smith is looking for a city administrator to succeed Randy Reed, who quit in February during the controversy of the continued employment of Police Chief Kevin Lindsey. Reed, the city’s former police chief, was hired as city administrator in June 2006 to replace Bill Harding, who resigned.
Jones said he did not believe the turmoil surrounding Reed’s departure as city administrator made potential applicants shy away as much as the chances their names will appear in the press.
He said a couple applicants commented to him that they were concerned their current employers may be upset with them applying for another position, especially if they don’t become finalists for the job.
Jones added, though, that the applicants who made those comments did not withdraw their names.
The names of people applying for city administrator, and for various other public sector positions, are public information and are subject to disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
Among the Arkansans who have applied is Gary Dumas, Fayetteville’s director of operations. He’s held the position since May 2001 and listed his responsibilities as all city services but public safety, the airport and finance.
Other Arkansans or former Arkansans who have applied for the job are: Jeffrey A. Cheatham of Camden, who earned a master’s degree in operations management from the University of Arkansas in August 2007. He has worked as the area manager / service technician for CenterPoint Energy from July 1999 to January 2006.
Kevin Crosson of Holiday Island serves as the manager of the Holiday Island Suburban Improvement District. Before that, he was employed for several years with Fayetteville, his last position being director of administrative services from October 1998 to October 1999. Keith Frazier is the Malvern fire chief and former assistant director of the Arkansas Fire Academy. He listed himself as a candidate to receive a master’s degree in public administration this year from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Richard E. Haberman is the city manager of Clawson, Mich. He served as the Barling city administrator from January 1994 to March 1999. Before that, he was an administrative intern in Fayetteville from December 1992 to January 1994. Fred Coy Hurd has worked for Fayetteville since 2002 and has held the positions of director of the Building Services Division, capital projects manager and the city’s Americans with Disabilities Act officer.
Bryan Kennedy of Hensley works as a security specialist for the Pine Bluff Chemical Demilitarization Facility. Charles H. Nickerson, the city manager of Powder Springs, Ga., since May 2007, was the city manager of Texarkana, Ark., from April to May 2007. He also served as the city manager of Little Rock from 1993 to 1997. Alex J. Sanchez of Fort Smith is general manager of Tortillas Puebla in Fort Smith and is an interpreter with Arkansas Spanish Interpreters and Translators Inc. of Little Rock. He also worked for Border City Foods Inc. in Fort Smith from 1996-99 as human resources director.
C. Blain Smith is executive director of the Arkadelphia Area Chamber of Commerce.
Eric M. Tucker of Little Rock listed his current employment as professional finance management services for the Republic of South Africa, training municipal staffs and writing policies and procedures manuals for local governments there. He also worked as finance director for Detroit from June 1994 to August 1995 and graduated from Harvard, Northwestern and DePaul universities. OUT-OF-STATE CANDIDATES The following are non-Arkansas residents applying for the Fort Smith city administrator post and their current or most recent jobs Michael L. Ashcraft, deputy city manager, Olathe, Kan.; Daniel Frank Bishop, city administrator, Milan, Mich.; James C. Collard, city manager, Shawnee, Okla.; William J. Cooper, former city manager, Mount Clemens, Mich.; Mary O. Daly, former city manager, Alvarado, Texas; Michael Duhn, former administrative intern, El Dorado, Kan.; Col. Michael A. Dyer, fellow, Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group (Naval War College ), Newport, R. I.; Col. James A. Harrold, commander, 3 rd Mission Support Group, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.
Anthony Heimerman, former housing division supervisor, Wichita, Kan.; Ricky A. Horst, city manager, South Jordan, Utah; Jeffrey Howell, city manager, Kilgore, Texas; Don A. Hoyt, manager, Chambers County, Ala.; Douglas Johnson, management specialist, Passaic, N. J.; David W. Johnston, former village administrator, Rantoul, Ill.; Dennis W. Kelly, deputy city manager, North Miami, Fla.; Michael G. Miller, former city manager, Farmington, N. M.
Stephan B. Moody, Boonville, Mo., alarm central manager at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. home office; Darnell Alanda Morehead-Olufade, faculty associate, Arizona State University, Glendale, Ariz.; Michael J. Nagy, former city manager, Fort Morgan, Colo.; Francisco (Frank ) Ordaz, assistant director for administration, Human Services Department, Norfolk, Va.
Arnold L. Peoples, senior adviser, Office of Receivership Oversight, U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D. C.; Ambrus C. Price Jr., Morgan City, La., professor, Malawi University, Africa; Ed Sadler, city manager, Webster City, Iowa; Tami E. Scott, administrative services director, Cathedral City, Calif.; Serena Starkey, business development manager, Austin, Texas; Scott Starnes, former city manager, Eagle Pass, Texas; Donald L. Turner, director of facilities maintenance, Okaloosa County, Fla.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
