A special meeting of the Eureka Springs City Council set for Tuesday, Dec. 17, was canceled less than an hour before its scheduled 4 p.m. start time.
The single agenda item for the special meeting had been announced as “Approving a Special Election,” apparently in connection with a petition for referendum circulated by local resident Karen Lindblad.
Lindblad’s petition calls for a public vote on an ordinance adopted by the Eureka Springs City Council in September that established a permanent entertainment district at Pine Mountain Village.
The ordinance took effect in late October, with stipulations that it will be effective for two years before requiring another council vote and that it can be revoked at any time at the suggestion of the city’s police or fire chief.
Eight residents spoke in support of the proposed ordinance before the Sept. 23 council vote, with one resident speaking against it. In addition, five of seven letters from residents read by city clerk treasurer Ida Meyer on the subject expressed support for the entertainment district.
Council member Harry Meyer cast the lone vote against the ordinance. He later signed the petition circulated by Lindblad.
Carroll County Clerk Connie Doss wrote a letter to Ida Meyer and Lindblad on Oct. 31, informing them that she had certified 153 of the 169 petition signatures that were submitted, surpassing the total of 148 certified signatures needed to trigger a referendum.
Email records obtained by the Times-Echo through a request pursuant to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act indicate that there is some question as to the timing of a public vote on the ordinance.
On Dec. 4, Ida Meyer emailed attorneys Blake Gary and Caleb Alexander-McKinzie of the Arkansas Municipal League, asking: “Have you come to any conclusions on the petition validity and the date of election? The petitioner is getting anxious and has called me several times.”
“We’ve had several discussions about this in our office,” Alexander- McKinzie responded on Dec. 9. “The short version of where we have landed is that the petition may be ok to certify, but when the election is held seems to be at the discretion of the city.”
The city council would need to approve an ordinance establishing a date for a special election.
A Dec. 13 email from Doss to Chris Madison, director of the Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners, says Doss “spoke with Caleb this morning along with Ida who was on the call. Caleb said he had sent this email to the ES clerk/recorder as to how he has gotten to the February 11th date for a special election on the referendum issue. He said to give him a call, but he seems to be insistent about the date and I told him my job was to stamp the ordinance when I got it and let the attorneys tussle over it.”
