Ida Meyer was once told by a college professor that she was “going to go nowhere” as long as she had bright, colorful hair.

Well, Meyer currently has pink hair, loves to ride a Harley and occasionally dresses in drag. All as the youngest city clerk in Arkansas.

Those unique qualities are quite fitting for a unique city like Eureka Springs.

Meyer, who recently turned 26, was elected city clerk treasurer last November and is in her sixth month serving in the role.

“It’s been pretty smooth sailing,” Meyer said of the first five months on the job after replacing longtime city clerk treasurer Ann Armstrong, who retired.

Meyer said she’s always had a love for politics, following in the footsteps of her father, Harry Meyer, a longtime Eureka Springs city council member, and her mother, Lisa Ellis, a former justice of the peace in Marion County who was elected at age 21.

“My dad was friends with Monty Davenport, which was our representative in Yellville, and he would take me down to the state capitol and let me shadow him when I was too young to be a page,” Meyer said. “I was that little awkward kid that would watch C-SPAN with my dad watching the pages and crying because I couldn’t do what they were doing. In my head, I was just as big as them.”

Meyer lived in Yellville until moving to Fayetteville for her senior year of high school. She attended a couple of years at the University of Arkansas before moving to California.

It was on the West Coast where Meyer got into the finance world working for credit unions and also becoming politically active.

In January 2020 Meyer moved to Eureka Springs and started working for a local bank as a loan officer and business account manager, she said.

“And then in May of last year I heard that Ann was thinking of retiring,” Meyer said. “So, I scheduled a meeting with her and we met and I asked her what were all of her responsibilities. I asked her to give me the nitty gritty. I wanted to know if this was something I wanted to do because it seemed to line up with my background really well.”

Meyer said she met with Armstrong a couple of times before making up her mind to get the signatures needed from residents to get her name on the ballot.

“She told me that no one else seemed to be interested [in the position], but I had no idea that I’d be unopposed,” Meyer said. “I was definitely prepped for an opponent.”

Meyer said she shadowed Armstrong for a few weeks before taking over the role, which led to a smooth transition when she took over in January.

“I’ve had some things pop up at first that I wasn’t expecting in this role,” she said. “But now, I realize how much it makes sense that this office does handle certain things.”

She also credits the welcome and help she has received from Mayor Butch Berry and his assistant, Kim Stryker, for her transition.

“Kim has kept me sane some days,” she said. “Both of them have been great. Of course, we have not agreed on everything but we have great communication and that’s the key there.”

While a lot of Meyer’s work for the city is behind the scenes, one of her major duties includes preparing the agenda and minutes of city council meetings and reading proposed ordinances and resolutions.

Four seats to her right sits her father, Harry, but Meyer said that fact hasn’t been awkward for her.

“He has his opinions, but I’m a non-voting member and I kind of stay in my lane because my job is to be there to support them at the table,” she said. “I’m there to support everyone at the table.

“There have been times that he makes a comment and it’s hard for me to not throw a pen at him, but I feel anyone in that situation would feel that way.”

Council member Melissa Greene praised Meyer’s performance in her new role.

“It would take an hour or two to tell you how impressed I am with her,” Greene said. “Not only is she bright, but she has the attitude, personality and fortitude that is needed to handle what at times is a challenging job. She has shown to me what a bright future our town has. I am sure it has been a challenge at times for her, but she meets everything head on and gets it done.”

Meyer recently attended a City Advertising and Promotion Commission meeting where she reminded commissioners of meeting minutes that have still not been submitted to her office for filing of official record.

Commission chair Chris Clifton apologized for the oversight, but Meyer was quick to assure the commissioners that they would get it all taken care of by working together.

“One good thing I learned in the corporate world was communication style and working together as a team,” she said. “You don’t have to agree with the person you’re talking to, you don’t have to agree on everything, but there has to be some sort of civility, communication and teamwork because that’s how the municipal government structure is set up.

“And I think in the past communication hasn’t always been there and it’s shown.”

When she’s not at work, Meyer said she loves spending time outdoors, spending time at places like the Buffalo River and hopping on a Harley-Davidson for long-distance rides.

“My dad rode, my mom rode, my stepdad rode and my brothers rode,” she said. “I’m the only girl. It’s been more of a family thing for me.”

You might also see Meyer at a charity event dolled out in drag.

“I primarily do charity shows,” she said. “I don’t really do pageants or any paid shows, I just enjoy doing it.”

Just like she enjoys expressing herself with her hair, which has been pink since November.

“Through high school and my first year in college I always did crazy fun colors with my hair,” she said. “That was one of the things that my parents allowed me to do because they said that once I got into the real world I wouldn’t be able to do this.”

But Meyer continues to prove some wrong with bright hair and a public-serving job she hopes to be able to continue for many years.

In fact, she recently attended a clerk’s conference where reality really set in.

“I really want to get my job down and I’m all about continuing education and training,” she said. “And it was so great to talk to the other clerks, some who have been a clerk longer than I’ve been alive.

“That really put things in perspective for me. It was just a really awesome feeling.”