Eliminating Alexander treasurer's position tabled

An ordinance, that will eliminate the elected position of treasurer and transform it into a position for hire, was tabled until the next council meeting to allow the mayor time to advertise a Request For Qualifications (RFQ). Council Member Juanita Wilson wants to know what type of choices the city will have when the elected position is eliminated and the position can be filled by any individual or accounting firm,

Former City Treasurer JoAn Churchill resigned effective December 31, 2023. As an elected position the council was limited to finding someone who lives within the city to fill the vacancy. No one submitted a resume. Also, no one filed a petition to run for city treasurer in the upcoming November election.

"And I was told by municipal league (Arkansas Municipal League) several times that they have to be city qualified," Wilson said. "At the time when I checked on it three to four years ago, there were only two. ... And I checked the last couple of weeks. And I haven't found anybody else that's listed that is city qualified. My thought is we may have to contact the municipal league" and ask "If there is anyone else who is qualified to do city audits and all that, that's what we need to have done for a treasurer. And we need to find out what (it) is going to cost the city."

"So two things," began City Attorney Chris Madison. "First off, the appointment of a city treasurer does not affect the issue that you're raising. So the appointment of a city treasurer is basically taken an employee or somebody and said, hey, keep our books like we have been doing. But offer us an opportunity to do so."

"The issue you're talking about is the retaining of an outside firm to do either audit work or what's called agreed upon procedures," Madison continued. "They do have to be government certified, which means they know how to do government accounting."

"So the question is how much work do you want them to do," Madison asked? "If you're hiring the outside firm to do all of it, that's what it costs a lot more. If you're appointing an employee under the city treasurer for what we have here, the employee is protected under the city umbrella of doing the work. And then what I would suggest and want to argue is to look for an outside firm to do what's called agreed upon procedures, where they would check to make sure we're reconciling the bank records correctly. If they would do spot audits of paperwork so that they have a more limited scope of work, thus lower the cost, but still provide an oversight of the work that's being done by the city folks."

Wilson asked, "Well, then why would we not go ahead and contact someone instead of doing all this right now?"

With a voice vote the motion to table the ordinance until the next meeting received three "Yes" and two "No" votes. Voting "Yes" were Joe Pollard, Mitchell W. Smith and Juanita Wilson. Voting "No" were Joy Gray and Angela Griffin. Absent were Tony Staton, Gina R Thomas-Littlejohn and Harold Timmerman. Since absent council members count as "No" votes the total was three "Yes" and five "No."

When the voice vote was not unanimous, Mayor Crystal Herrmann asked for a roll call vote. Gray cut-in and said, "Never mind. They'll win anyway."

Other actions taken during August 19 Council Meeting;

Animal Control Ordinance gets second reading

A new Animal Control Ordinance received its second public reading. A third reading is required for the ordinance to go into effect. The new ordinance will replace all animal control ordinances currently on the books. It combines the treatment of dogs and cats along with the operation of a city animal kennel.

Stormwater Regulations Ordinance receives first reading

An ordinance establishing stormwater regulations received its first public reading. This new ordinance essentially duplicates the existing ordinance but with the addition of a permitting process to control stormwater related construction.

Zoning regulations amendment gets first reading

An ordinance, amending the zoning regulations passed in 2019, received its first public reading. The ordinance amends two items. It adds text to the definition of "Recreational Vehicle" which reinforces that its illegal to live permanently in an RV within the city. The ordinance also removes the term "Duplex (site-built)" from Section 9 Mixed-Use Residential District.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is Monday August 16, at 6:00 pm in the courtroom of the Alexander Municipal Complex (City Hall). Meetings are open to the public.