I PUBLISHED THIS ON MARCH 13, 2013

POA Board of Directors Candidates

I have to confess, I'm not overly excited about any of the candidates. A lot of old men, which in the Village generally translates into conservative, ex-military types. Neither is bad in and of itself, but they are usually too tightly wound for me. I don't hear anything innovative coming from anyone. I remain undecided at this moment, but would give the candidates this advice:

1. Proceed with caution in hiring a new general manager. This is a profession that attracts a lot of big heads. I've seen, in my days, more bad city managers than good. Make what you do public. Let us see who you are thinking about. Secrecy is no way to run the Village.
2. The board needs to adopt municipal governing rules. No vote should ever be made in closed session. This is in violation of any municipal or county rules that I have ever heard of, although we are in Arkansas, where seemingly just about anything goes. The board needs clear rules governing its operation. They cannot be allowed to do things on a whim.
3. The board will need to elect a new Chairman and Vice-Chairman. This will set the tone for the coming years. I hope they do it very carefully and not necessarily by seniority. 
4. They need to do away with the time limit imposed on the public when speaking at meetings. It needs to be reasonable and adjusted to the topic being discussed. When the board is done discussing any particular topic, the public should be invited to voice their opinion at that time, not at the end of the meeting. Keeping the times reasonable and the discussion under control is the job of the chairman.
5. The board meetings should be conducted under Roberts Rules of Order. Someone should be appointed parliamentarian.

 Well, that's enough for now. Those are five pressing issues that the board should consider on an immediate basis.

They seemed to do better on hiring the general manager, although the verdict is still out. Nothing on two, four or five. We got a new Chairman and Vice-Chairman, but so far, not an improvement.