Changes to Alexander Employee Handbook fail

The Alexander City Council failed to pass an ordinance removing language in the employee handbook that provides benefits to both employees and elected officials. The vote was four to four with alderman Lonny Chapman as the only present "No" vote. The vote occurred at the August 18 meeting around 9:30 PM after aldermen Samuel Gregory and Ceola Bailey had left. They were counted as "No" votes. Brad Scott's vacant seat made the fourth "No" vote. Voting "Yes" were Andrea Bearden, Juanita Wilson, Farren Wadley and Faye McKeon.

The proposed ordinance removes any reference to an "elected official" being a city employee. It also deletes both the "Eligibility" and "Retirement" sub-headings from page 29, which provides a pension to anyone working for the city 12 years or more.

The ordinance includes a qualifier that says state law has made city-run retirement plans illegal since July 3, 1989. It also says these changes are temporary until, "[T]he Alexander City Council repeals, or amends the Alexander Employee handbook dated January 1, 2006."

The proposed ordinance was vigorously debated and opposed by those who see it as a first step to ending former Mayor Shirley Johnson's monthly pension of $800. Johnson was granted the pension under a motion passed by the city council in 2012. Current aldermen Farren Wadley and Samuel Gregory are the only remaining members of the 2012 council.

When Johnson first attempted to use this section of the employee handbook to collect a pension, after losing re-election in 2010, council members at the time were told by an attorney from the Arkansas Municipal League that elected officials are not considered employees of a city or county. Alexander's current attorney Kevin M. Lemley advised the council that removing the language now could cause a problem because the current mayor is already vested since she's been mayor for more than a year.

Some of the aldermen are questioning whether the ordinance could be proposed again after someone is appointed to the vacant Ward-2 position. Alderman Brad Scott resigned in June and his seat was declared vacant at the August meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Alexander City Council will be held Monday, September 15, 2014. Meetings are held the third Monday of the month at 6 PM in city hall. The public is invited to attend.