A long-running lawsuit involving several current and former city officials and the Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission ran into another delay on Tuesday, Oct. 1, as special judge William Randall Wright granted a motion by defense attorneys to stay the proceedings for up to 60 days.
Arkansas Municipal League attorney Susan Keller Kendall requested that Judge Wright hold off on hearing arguments on several motions in the case until U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks issues an opinion on a claim filed in federal court by State Auto Mutual Insurance, which is seeking a declaratory judgment on whether an insurance policy issued by State Auto affords coverage for the claims made by the plaintiffs in the original case, which is being heard in Carroll County Circuit Court.
Kendall said she expects Brooks to issue an opinion soon. After granting Kendall’s request for a stay at the conclusion of an hourlong hearing in the courtroom of the Western District Courthouse, Judge Wright instructed Kendall to advise the court if Brooks does not issue an opinion within 45 days.
Eureka Springs attorney Tim Parker filed the original complaint on March 10, 2021, on behalf of Rick Bright, Tracy Johnson, Greg Moon, Karen Pryor and Gina Rambo. At the time the complaint was filed, Bright was the CAPC’s finance director and Pryor was the commission’s group sales coordinator. Both have since left those positions. Johnson had served as special events coordinator for the CAPC on a contract basis. Moon had been a CAPC commissioner. Rambo is a former interim executive director of the CAPC.
Parker has since filed three amended complaints. Defendants in the most recent amended complaint, filed May 30, 2023, are the City of Eureka Springs, the CAPC, Mayor Butch Berry, Berry’s administrative assistant Kim Stryker and former CAPC commissioners Patrick Burnett, Jeff Carter, James De-Vito, Melissa Greene, Harry Meyer and Carol Wright. Meyer is a member of the Eureka Springs City Council. Greene was a member of the city council when the original complaint was filed but has since resigned her position.
Several motions are pending in the case, including a motion by Parker seeking a change of venue.
Judge Wright was appointed to preside over the case after the recusal of Carroll County Circuit Judge Scott Jackson.