Lovely County Citizen

Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry and former City Advertising and Promotions Commission events coordinator Tracy Johnson are on opposite sides of a legal battle.

Now, they’ll be opponents on the ballot as well. Berry filed as a candidate for a third term in office during the municipal filing period that opened Aug. 3, with Johnson filing to challenge his re-election bid.

Johnson is the lead plaintiff in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Berry and several other city officials. Among the allegations in the suit are that Berry made “false and malicious statements” about Johnson. On an audio recording of a conversation between Berry and city council member Autumn Slane, Berry responds to Slane’s concerns about possible embezzlement in connection with the CAPC by saying: “The embezzlement was Tracy.”

Berry also tells Slane in the recorded conversation that state auditors had been made aware about concerns regarding Johnson. An internal email written by a staff member with the state’s Division of Legislative Audit, obtained by the Lovely County Citizen, later confirmed that Berry had contacted auditors about Johnson.

The city’s 2020 audit did not include any findings related to the CAPC.

Berry and Johnson were the only mayoral candidates to file their paperwork with the county clerk’s office by 9 a.m. Tuesday but the filing period continued until noon Wednesday. Because of deadlines, the final list of candidates was not available for this week’s issue, but it will be posted online at www.Lovely-Citizen.com.

As of Tuesday morning, there were two contested races for seats on the Eureka Springs City Council. Melissa Greene, the incumbent in Ward 2, Position 1, is being challenged by former council member Bob Thomas, while Ward 2, Position 2 incumbent Bill Ott is being challenged by Steve Holifield.

Incumbent Harry Meyer filed for re-election to the Ward 3, Position 2 seat. Laura Jo Smole, who held the Ward 1, Position 2 seat on the Eureka Springs City Council before resigning for health reasons in October 2021, filed as a candidate for the Ward 1, Position 1 seat.

Ida Meyer filed as a candidate for city clerk. City attorney Forrest Jacobi, who was appointed earlier this year to fill the vacancy created by the death of Tim Weaver, filed as a candidate for that position.

A slew of incumbents filed to seek re-election in Holiday Island: Mayor Dan Kees; city clerk Wesley Stille; Ward 1, Position 1 council member Lynn Dumas; Ward 1, Position 2 council member Kenneth Mills; Ward 2, Position 1 council member Jerry Pittman; and Ward 3, Position 1 council member Patrick Elwood.

The general election will be held Nov. 8.

Berry

The 2022 general election is scheduled for Nov. 8

File photo