Second attempt to remove planning chairman fails?

(Updated 1/25/2024  1:45 PM)

Alexander Council Member Joy Gray made an attempt to remove Planning Commission Member Michael Huck from his post as chairman. At the December council meeting Gray made a motion to remove Huck from the planning commission based on a complaint concerning comments he made towards another planning commission member after the October planning meeting. This time she says a complaint has been made from someone outside Alexander.

"There's been another complaint this time it was from the water, the water reclamation (Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority - LRWRA)" Gray said. "The person that represents them has specifically asked if she can speak with anyone besides Michael Huck, because of his way of conducting himself with her and his just sort of general rudeness."

"(S)ame song, second verse with another person," Gray continued. "And this person is not a city person that we can say, oh well, he's, you know, he's only mean to people in Alexander, people that work in Alexander and whatever. This is someone from outside to the first person they're supposed to be able to talk to and deal with and what is going to be in this instance the Planning Commission. And so it's embarrassing, it's not good for business. And so I would ask, so I'm just going to make the motion again, I move that we remove Michael Huck as a head of the Planning Commission."

Since 2021, the planning commission has been working to write a new Comprehensive Master Development Plan to guide current and future city officials when it comes to dealing with commercial and residential growth in Alexander. The new Master Plan will replace one passed in 1980. It will also meet a requirement established in a 2018 contract between Alexander and the LRWRA.

The LRWRA provides sewer service to the Pulaski County portion of Alexander and areas in Saline County along the Pulaski County line. The new contract required Alexander write a new Master Development Plan along with a new zoning ordinance. A new zoning ordinance was approved by the city council in 2019. It also replaced the zoning ordinance passed in 1980.

The contract also requires that the Little Rock Planning Department, the LRWRA and the Little Rock Board of Directors (in that order) approve Alexander's new Master Development Plan before the Alexander City Council. Based on Huck's monthly reports to the city council, the Alexander Planning Commission sent the Master Plan to the Little Rock Planning Department in April, 2023. After providing additional documents and information the Planning Department sent an approval letter to the LRWRA in September. A vote on sending Alexander's Master Development Plan to the Little Rock Board of Directors, for final approval, has yet to appear on the LRWRA's monthly agenda.

In another portion of the meeting, Mayor Crystal Herrmann reported that she and City Attorney Chris Madison had met with LRWRA officials. Herrmann said Madison will be writing a new contract with LRWRA to replace the 2018 contract.

As the roll call vote began Huck said, "No defense, huh?"

"This isn't a court of law Michael," Gray replied.

Voting "Yes" on the motion were council members Joy Gray, Angela Griffin and Gina R Thomas-Littlejohn. Voting "No" were Mitchell W. Smith and Juanita Wilson. Council members Joe Pollard, Tony Staton and Harold Timmerman were absent.

"There's three Ayes and two Nays," said Office Manager Jennifer Hill. Hill was taking the meeting minutes, substituting for City Recorder Sharon Bankhead who could not attend the meeting.

"That's actually, the others (the three absent members) count as Nos," said Wilson. "There are five Nos."

"That's three removals and two Nos," said Herrmann.

"Five Nos," replied Wilson.

"They don't get to count," said Hill. "Because if they were here they could vote."

For decades absent council members were counted as a "No" vote. In the past that would have made this vote five to three causing the motion to fail.

"(A)sk the attorney and that's one of those things that we can check and see," Gray said. "I would be comfortable with that."

"And then for the record, the vote was three to two in favor of removal of the people present," Gray continued. "And then if legally those three count as No votes, then I'll just keep bringing it up. And you can put it in your gossip blog (The Alexandrian), but I'm just going to keep bringing it up, Michael. And then we'll do it again and again and until people (are) ashamed into it."

This issue is addressed in a booklet, published by the Arkansas Municipal League titled, "Municipal Law in Arkansas, Questions and Answers, Revised November 2021."

"Q: What if some members are absent. Does it then take fewer votes to pass?"

"A: No. You still must have a majority (or in some cases, two-thirds [2/3]) of the entire council. For example, if two members of a 

six-member council are absent or abstain, a three-to-one vote would not be sufficient, as three is not a majority of six."

Next meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is Tuesday, February 20 at 6:00 PM in the courtroom at the Alexander Municipal Complex. The public is invited to attend.