The city of Mansfield is facing legal action in the middle of a tense period between its mayor and City Council.
Fort Smith Attorney Joey McCutchen announced in a news release Tuesday he filed a lawsuit on Mansfield Mayor Larry Austin's behalf. McCutchen announced Dec. 28 he would be representing Austin in connection with attempts to have Austin's duties removed or to have him removed from office.
McCutchen's lawsuit alleges a violation of the open meeting provision of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act connected with a series of text messages between several members of the Mansfield City Council and Mansfield Recorder/Treasurer Becky Walker.
The city of Mansfield held a scheduled council meeting Dec. 21 in which the council members unanimously requested Austin to resign from his position, McCutchen said.
A similar account of the meeting was given by Walker in an article previously published in the Times Record, with the group request taking place after Ward 3, Position 1 Alderman Rick McDaniel addressed Austin and the council with a prepared letter highlighting the issues Mansfield has faced since Austin took office. McDaniel said the problems include a boil order that had been in place since a Dec. 5 storm damaged the city’s water tower, as well as Austin’s alleged tendency to micromanage city workers to the extent that they cannot perform their duties without fear of being fired. Posts on the Mansfield city website state the boil order had been in place from Dec. 5 to Dec. 29.
However, McCutchen said Walker and several City Council members secretly discussed and agreed on a plan through a series of text messages on Dec. 23 to remove all of Austin’s duties and powers. During a Dec. 28 special meeting, the council passed an ordinance to remove the duties of the mayor, which Austin vetoed.
McCutchen said his suit alleges the text messages constitute an illegal meeting, which was not public and for which no notice was given, as is required by Arkansas FOIA law.
“The Mansfield City Council and Becky Walker, through a series of text messages, devised a secretive and unlawful plan — out of the public eye — to effectively remove Mayor Austin from his position," McCutchen said.
Arkansas law is clear that a board of directors cannot hold a meeting to discuss public business without giving advanced notice to the media, McCutchen said.
"Removing the powers of an elected official in this manner is an attempt to undermine and circumvent the democratic process," McCutchen said.
The suit asks the Circuit Court to declare the text messages constitute an unlawful meeting, and enjoin the city of Mansfield from holding further meetings without notice as required by FOIA, McCutchen said.
The lawsuit lists Austin as the plaintiff and the city of Mansfield, along with McDaniel and fellow City Council members Sheri Hopkins and Beverly Lyons, as the defendants.
Mansfield City Attorney Matt Ketcham said on Tuesday he had not read McCutchen's lawsuit. The next regular Mansfield City Council meeting will take place Thursday at 7 p.m.