It is now official, at Monday night's Texarkana Arkansas City Board meeting, a contract was decided, and the city rehired Harold Boldt as City Manager.

Mr. Boldt will return to work immediately.

The vote was 4 to 3 with Ward 2 Director Laney Harris, Ward 3 Director Londell Williams, Ward 5 Director Mike Jones and Ward 6 Director Sue Johnson voting for the contract effectively immediately. Ward 1 Director Ruth Penney Davis, Ward 4 Director Chad Dowd and Smith all voted against the contract.

Mayor Smith adamantly fought to delay the vote for Mr. Boldt's contract, but could not get support from any board members. Mayor Smith made a motion to delay the contract for 180 days, but from advice by the city attorney all board members refused to second the motion.

Mayor Smith accused Boldt of offering favors to those on the board and in the audience who supporter his employment contract. At one point, Mayor Smith referred to Boldt supporters as a “couple of munchkins.”

The board also discussed how Boldt had been cleared by the State Ethics Commission of any violations in an investigation launched from a complaint allegedly lodged by an unknown Texarkana, Arkansas resident.

The board also questioned why $81,000 had just been spent on an audit for the previous year. An audience member explained that usually Legislative Audits are requested by towns who cannot afford to pay for their own audit and those audits can last up to two years before the results are released. Ruth Penny Davis, a council member, explained she had talked State Representative Prissy Hickerson who told her the audit had been fast tracked. The audit ordered was specifically looking only at the financial handling of projects at the Crossroads Business Park.

The meeting and opinions of not just voters, but the involved politicians themselves have been taking over the social media sites locally with Facebook pages supporting Harold Boldt, and Mayor Wayne Smith as it is, it almost seems this has become a battle between the two Texarkana Arkansas leaders, and their supporters.

Also at the meeting, the board approved a resolution to allow Jessica Hyman to return to the position of Finance Director and step down as the city’s interim city manager.

One thing is for sure, this not over. No, It's not over for the city board, or for the citizens of Texarkana Arkansas... Shamefully.

 

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