Chris Clifton, chair of the Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission, said during the commission’s regular meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 23, that discussion of recent FOIA requests received by the commission was “just not appropriate.”
Commissioner David Avanzino, also a member of the Eureka Springs City Council, said that he had asked for an agenda item regarding “recent FOIA & strategy moving forward.”
When commissioners reached that item in the agenda, Clifton said: “I think we should seek legal advice before we … I don’t know where that’s going.”
Avanzino said he would like all commissioners to be supplied with copies of responses to recent FOIA requests to “so that each commissioner on this table has a complete picture of what caused the articles in the local newspaper.”
Avanzino apparently was referring to recent reports in the Eureka Springs Times-Echo regarding the hiring of Bikes, Blues and BBQ director Tommy Sisemore as director of the Eureka Springs Auditorium and the CAPC’s plans to reserve “bike only” parking downtown for next month’s Bike Fest.
Information for the reports was obtained through open-records requests made by the newspaper pursuant to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
“This is a very sensitive issue for lots of reasons,” Clifton said. “I do not feel comfortable making decisions around this topic. I don’t.”
Avanzino then indicated that he wanted to read a statement and made a motion to do so. Commissioner Steve Holifield, also a city council member, seconded Avanzino’s motion but Clifton and commissioner Chris Jones voted no, meaning the motion failed.
Avanzino went on to say that the newspaper reports “shed the CAPC in a dark light for reasons that …” At that point, Clifton interjected.
“We had a motion and it failed,” he said. “And that’s where we’re at.”
Moments later, Clifton said: “There are important laws that we don’t understand. There are personal liabilities involved … I am not going to expose myself to whatever is going on with that.”
The CAPC’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27, in the lower level of the Auditorium.
