OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Fort Smith City Board Strategic Workshop - June 29, 2026

Meeting Portal — Monday, June 29, 2026
BodyFort Smith, Arkansas
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, June 29, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 5:27:50
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Here, our special meeting for our strategic workshop.

0:04

The mayor is still ill.

0:06

He was stuck on Tuesday.

0:08

Still is under the weather today.

0:11

So I think we have all we're gonna have here to start with.

0:14

So we do need to I'll nominate Kevin.

0:18

I'll just like it out.

0:20

Anyone all in favor of Kevin as our chair for today?

0:24

Opposed.

0:25

Kevin doesn't count.

0:26

Okay.

0:31

I did want to another one I'm gonna watch.

0:39

I'm gonna call this strategic work talk to order on June 26th at 9 15 a.m.

0:44

Welcome everybody.

0:45

With that, we'll turn it over to Jeff.

0:48

Yeah, I just wanted to uh I did of course we do have uh some staff in the room, share your course.

0:55

Uh Maggie is here, Josh is here to pay attention to listen, and I did ask Andy to come and sit in and listen, participate just because you know dollars are the thing, so we might as well have the dollars guy here, of course.

1:08

Um with that, I'll turn it to uh Dr.

1:11

Biggs.

1:14

Good morning, everybody.

1:16

Thank you for having me.

1:17

Welcome, welcome.

1:18

Yeah, good to be here.

1:19

Um if you haven't had me before, I'm Dr.

1:22

Mickey Vogel.

1:23

I am from UAFS Center for Economic Development, and so uh I always like to do the 30 second elevator pitch for Center for Economic Development.

1:33

Basically, we are the business outreach arm of the university, and so uh we do we have four centers that are housed there.

1:41

First, we have the Center for Business and Professional Development, which is what I've been a part of for many many years.

1:48

Uh, we do uh public workshops and contract training for businesses as well as consulting.

1:54

Everything from leadership to LinkedIn Sigma quality to uh industrial maintenance to just computer classes.

2:02

So we do a lot of different things.

2:04

Uh we also have the Jim Walcott Family Enterprise Center in that in that center, which is a series of programs for family businesses, large and small.

2:13

Uh we also have a branch of the Arkansas Small Business Development and Technology Center, which helps people be skin small businesses and expand small businesses, and then our newest center is the Center for Nonprofits, which we just started this year, which uh allows us to offer training and programs for nonprofits and their employees.

2:33

So that's what we do.

2:35

Um so I'm happy to be here.

2:38

I got to a chance to do this with you guys about four years ago, and so I am happy to be back doing this.

2:44

Uh so let's talk a little bit about what our plan is for today.

2:49

And uh I'm pretty loud, so I may end up sitting during some of this just because I like to talk to people face to face.

2:56

Um, but let me know if you can't hear me.

2:59

So basically, we've just done our welcome, and we are going to go through quickly the already established values, mission, and vision that you guys set.

3:11

Uh, I know it was updated as recently as August.

3:14

So we're gonna go through what those are just to remind everybody that's what's guiding us today.

3:20

Uh then we are going to go through a result of a SWOT analysis or environmental scan now to allow us more time today to actually spend time planning strategies for the year.

3:35

We have actually done that SWOT analysis through email.

3:39

So uh about a week and a half ago, we sent out the prompts for that.

3:44

Uh we've been getting the information back in, and so what we'll do is review what those answers were, and then we'll give uh the board members an opportunity to vote on their priorities, and then we're gonna use that as the basis to figure out what we want to do for the next year.

4:02

So, does that sound like a deal?

4:05

Awesome.

4:07

Okay, so to uh start this, let me give you just a couple of guidelines as you go through the day.

4:16

Your lens is that you are the voice of the citizens.

4:20

So uh you have your personal opinions, which you are as a citizen obviously entitled to have, but you you're representing not only your points of view but also the point the voice of all the citizens that you represent.

4:34

Um, also think about this as not a to-do list, um, it's not a wish list or Christmas list or a honeydew list.

4:45

Uh it's basically all about setting a direction for the next year and then a roadmap of how to get there.

4:53

Okay, so I always like to think about it as you're setting a direction with a compass, and then you're making a map to figure out what the steps are to get to where you're going to go.

5:05

So, as we go through the morning and the afternoon, some strategic thinking guidelines are to start with a blanks late, so be open to new ideas.

5:16

No idea is too outrageous, even if something isn't workable.

5:20

Sometimes you can get a piece of an idea that sounds a little crazy and make something sane and more creative out of that.

5:28

We want to generate a lot of ideas.

5:31

We want to monitor our biases always, and we want to stay away from task oriented thinking and more about strategic thinking.

5:40

Like what are the things that we're going to be doing to guide us towards where you want to go?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development██████████████████18%
Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████17%
Procedural████████████12%
Miscellaneous█████████9%
Fiscal Sustainability████████8%
Strategic Planning██████6%
Community Engagement██████6%
Homelessness██████6%
Public Safety████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Fort Smith City Board Strategic Workshop - June 29, 2026

The Fort Smith City Board held a special strategic workshop on June 29, 2026, facilitated by Dr. Mickey Biggs from the UAFS Center for Economic Development. Mayor was absent due to illness; Board Member Kevin was nominated as chair. The meeting focused on reviewing the city's values, mission, and vision, conducting a SWOT analysis, and setting priorities for the next year. Board members, senior staff, and finance director participated.

Consent Calendar

  • No consent calendar items were presented.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

  • Review of Values, Mission, Vision: The board reaffirmed the existing values (safety, quality of services, quality of life, opportunity, financial responsibility, hardworking community) and the mission and vision statements. A motion was made to have them printed and posted in the Blue Line and boardroom.
  • SWOT Analysis Results:
    • Strengths: FMS project, strong education and military anchors (UAFS, ACH, Ebbing AFB), geographic location as regional hub, abundant water supply, parks system. Board members also added parks as a strength.
    • Weaknesses: Water capital project financing, consent decree obligations, incivility among elected officials, communication issues, low population growth, lower salaries, downtown performance, lack of community engagement, need for a multi-purpose sports complex, competing general fund priorities, police/fire budget cuts, uncertainty due to city administrator process, and homelessness.
    • Opportunities: Investment tied to FMS, manufacturing growth, leverage of geography/I-49/NWA, riverfront development, retail and small business growth, housing availability linked to workforce, and potential shift in city governance model.
    • Threats: Competition with Northwest Arkansas for jobs and talent, manufacturing vulnerabilities, skilled labor shortages, public perception, social media influence, leadership uncertainty, health care crisis, and availability of illegal drugs.
  • Dot Voting Results:
    • Top strengths: FMS project and strong education/military anchors (tie).
    • Top weakness: Water capital projects.
    • Top opportunity: FMS-related opportunities.
    • Top threat: Public perception; tie for second between competition with NWA and the health care crisis.
  • Breakout Group Strategies:
    • Group 1 (FMS + homelessness): Suggested using F35 and ancillary jobs to prevent homelessness, developing an international downtown corridor, and updating Future Fort Smith to address homelessness.
    • Group 2 (education/military + competing general fund priorities): Proposed partnerships for internships, training, grant discovery, and challenging leaders to live in Fort Smith.
    • Group 3 (geographic hub + water capital financing): Recommended regional partnerships for long-term water planning, updating the regional hydrology study, and exploring an infrastructure surcharge for outside users.
  • Homelessness: The board discussed evaluating the effectiveness of existing homeless services and potentially convening a summit with service providers.
  • Water Capital Projects: Long debate on funding the transmission line and treatment plant expansion. Options included rate increases, infrastructure surcharges for wholesale customers, updating the hydrology study, and renegotiating contracts. Staff was directed to bring a focused 3-5 year CIP for discussion.
  • Competing General Fund Priorities: Focus on improving pay for current employees over restoring cut positions. Consideration of a paramedic model for fire department to reduce costs. Sales tax revenue from Bass Pro and other growth expected to provide incremental funding.
  • Public Perception: Board discussed improving transparency through social media, citizen academy, video series, and board members explaining votes post-meeting.
  • Health Care Crisis: Suggested adding reimbursement concerns to federal lobbying list, seeking grants, and partnering with local health entities.
  • Competition with Northwest Arkansas: Proposed changing narrative to collaboration, leveraging workforce development programs, and celebrating Fort Smith's creative community.
  • Budget Discussion: Staff to present a base budget with new needs highlighted separately. Sales tax revenue trending slightly above projections but not yet sufficient for major expansions.
  • Police Facility and Training Center: Financing via franchise fees to be discussed at a July 28 study session.
  • Street Overlay: In-house paving program proposed to save millions annually from the street sales tax.

Key Outcomes

  • Values, mission, and vision reaffirmed; staff directed to print and post them.
  • SWOT priorities identified: focus on water infrastructure, homelessness, competing general fund priorities, public perception, and healthcare.
  • Board directed staff to update the regional hydrology study and rate study to support water capital financing.
  • Board requested an evaluation of homeless services and a potential strategy session.
  • Board supported exploring a paramedic crew model for fire department and using franchise fees to finance a police training facility.
  • Board endorsed moving forward with an in-house street overlay program to reduce costs.
  • Staff to present a base budget with a separate list of new needs for board consideration.
  • Board agreed to recognize citizens for service, starting with Kyle Nail.

Meeting Transcript

Here, our special meeting for our strategic workshop. The mayor is still ill. He was stuck on Tuesday. Still is under the weather today. So I think we have all we're gonna have here to start with. So we do need to I'll nominate Kevin. I'll just like it out. Anyone all in favor of Kevin as our chair for today? Opposed. Kevin doesn't count. Okay. I did want to another one I'm gonna watch. I'm gonna call this strategic work talk to order on June 26th at 9 15 a.m. Welcome everybody. With that, we'll turn it over to Jeff. Yeah, I just wanted to uh I did of course we do have uh some staff in the room, share your course. Uh Maggie is here, Josh is here to pay attention to listen, and I did ask Andy to come and sit in and listen, participate just because you know dollars are the thing, so we might as well have the dollars guy here, of course. Um with that, I'll turn it to uh Dr. Biggs. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for having me. Welcome, welcome. Yeah, good to be here. Um if you haven't had me before, I'm Dr. Mickey Vogel. I am from UAFS Center for Economic Development, and so uh I always like to do the 30 second elevator pitch for Center for Economic Development. Basically, we are the business outreach arm of the university, and so uh we do we have four centers that are housed there. First, we have the Center for Business and Professional Development, which is what I've been a part of for many many years. Uh, we do uh public workshops and contract training for businesses as well as consulting. Everything from leadership to LinkedIn Sigma quality to uh industrial maintenance to just computer classes. So we do a lot of different things. Uh we also have the Jim Walcott Family Enterprise Center in that in that center, which is a series of programs for family businesses, large and small. Uh we also have a branch of the Arkansas Small Business Development and Technology Center, which helps people be skin small businesses and expand small businesses, and then our newest center is the Center for Nonprofits, which we just started this year, which uh allows us to offer training and programs for nonprofits and their employees. So that's what we do. Um so I'm happy to be here. I got to a chance to do this with you guys about four years ago, and so I am happy to be back doing this. Uh so let's talk a little bit about what our plan is for today. And uh I'm pretty loud, so I may end up sitting during some of this just because I like to talk to people face to face. Um, but let me know if you can't hear me. So basically, we've just done our welcome, and we are going to go through quickly the already established values, mission, and vision that you guys set. Uh, I know it was updated as recently as August. So we're gonna go through what those are just to remind everybody that's what's guiding us today. Uh then we are going to go through a result of a SWOT analysis or environmental scan now to allow us more time today to actually spend time planning strategies for the year. We have actually done that SWOT analysis through email. So uh about a week and a half ago, we sent out the prompts for that. Uh we've been getting the information back in, and so what we'll do is review what those answers were, and then we'll give uh the board members an opportunity to vote on their priorities, and then we're gonna use that as the basis to figure out what we want to do for the next year. So, does that sound like a deal? Awesome. Okay, so to uh start this, let me give you just a couple of guidelines as you go through the day. Your lens is that you are the voice of the citizens.

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