As a result of Monday evening’s Eureka Springs city council meeting, commissioner Damon Henke will continue to occupy his seat at the City Advertising and Commission table, but only temporarily because his nomination was still not confirmed.
Henke was first nominated by the CAPC to fill an open seat on the commission in October 2013, and was approved by council at the November 25, 2013, meeting. That term expired at the end of June 2016, and the CAPC re-nominated him for the seat at its August 13 meeting. Council, however, at its August 22 meeting voted 3-2-1 on confirming Henke’s nomination, so confirmation failed.
CAPC commissioners re-nominated Henke at the Sept. 14 meeting thereby sending the matter back to council. On Monday evening, alderman Terry McClung again moved to approve Henke’s nomination. Alderman Bob Thomas questioned whether or not this was a new application or if council had already had its vote on Henke. Mayor Butch Berry said his judgment was Henke had a new application, and City Attorney Tim Weaver deemed Berry was correct.
Alderman James DeVito stated the enabling legislation for the CAPC allows it to appoint who it wants on the commission, and it nominated Henke.
Alderman Kristi Kendrick, who had abstained in the August 22 meeting, said if McClung would rescind his nomination, she would move to approve Henke thereby removing the question of whether his application was new or not. McClung followed her lead, and she moved to approve.
Alderman David Mitchell then told council one of his concerns about Henke was when Henke took over as Interim Director of the Chamber of Commerce following the departure of former Director Mike Bishop, Henke did not remove or disavow the contentious position statement Bishop had issued on Ord. 2223. Also, Henke had put up on the Chamber website an ad promoting a business he owned, and Mitchell said this bothered lodging folks in town. Mitchell wondered if Henke was using his position to promote himself over other businesses.
Kendrick said she had abstained in the earlier vote because Henke had not served a full term and others were interested in his seat. However, she had since spoken with Henke about her opinion of the CAPC and its relationship with the Auditorium. “The CAPC has shown deplorable support of the Auditorium,” she said, blaming the CAPC for poor attendance at the recent JazzEureka festival. Kendrick said there have been wonderful concerts at the facility, but not nearly enough. She maintained the CAPC must commit to better promotion of the facility, and she believes Henke is committed to that goal, so would support his nomination.
McClung commented he has sat with Henke at CAPC meetings and has found him “highly involved.” He said Henke works hard, is knowledgeable and forward thinking.
“Our number one goal is to serve and protect our citizens,” alderman Mickey Schneider remarked. She said the town depends on tourism, and claimed there have been rumors of “horrific incidents” at the Chamber regarding Henke. “This will hurt tourism; this will hurt our people,” she claimed, adding she would not support Henke being a city official.
DeVito decried Schneider’s spreading the seeds of speculation and innuendo, proclaiming Henke has been a conscientious commissioner who has contributed many ideas about bringing visitors to town and making the CAPC marketing effort more efficient. He also asked why no aldermen have asked him or McClung about being at the CAPC table with Henke.
Mitchell read from Arkansas law that council does indeed confirm nominations for commissions, and moved to defer the vote on Henke indefinitely. Schneider quickly seconded the motion.
Berry pointed out Mitchell’s motion to defer takes precedence over Kendrick’s motion to approve, but Weaver said Mitchell’s motion needs a time frame. Mitchell decided upon deferring until the January 9, 2017 council meeting.
McClung then observed if the seat is remaining vacant until January, Henke would still occupy it as a full voting commissioner because he has not been replaced.
Vote to defer a vote until January was 3-3, with McClung, DeVito and Kendrick voting No. Berry cast the fourth Yes vote, so the matter was deferred.
Henke responds
It just so happened that Public Comments immediately followed this discussion, and Henke was the only person signed up to speak. He said he has served on the CAPC for more than 2.5 years and they are making progress toward bringing more and more folks to town. He pointed out he maintains three websites which promote far more than just his own business interests, and enumerated several of the businesses and individuals with a presence on his sites. He also mentioned that he bought the ad for his business on the Chamber site because the Chamber at the time needed the income. Regarding Schneider’s comments, he pointed out he never had any conversations with the Chamber board about the kinds of incidents Schneider accused him of. Referring to his part in promoting the city, he has regularly attended meetings of the Mayor’s Task Force on Economic Development.