FORT SMITH, Ark. — Fort Smith's City Administrator Carl Geffken has been terminated from his role after a unanimous vote by the Board of Directors on Dec. 10.
The City of Fort Smith said in a release that the board voted unanimously to "separate employment" from Geffken effective immediately, with Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman appointed to take his place in interim.
"We appreciate the patience and understanding of our residents as we move forward with this leadership change. Further updates will be provided as they become available," the release said.
When 5NEWS reached out to Geffken for comment, he said he hadn't had much time to think about it but explained that the city and its improvement is most important.
"Fort Smith is a great city and over the past eight years and seven months, we have done a lot to improve the city. That is most important," Geffken said.
This all comes on the heels of a controversial remark heard on a hot mic during a Board of Directors meeting last week, where someone could be heard saying "these people are stupid."
The person who made that comment has not yet been identified by the city, but Director Neal Martin believes it was Geffken and cites it as a reason for calling the meeting on Tuesday night.
Martin, Position 7 at-large city director, spoke to 5NEWS about the decision to call the meeting and why Geffken was fired.
"We looked at the comments that were made last week. You know, it happened to be reviewing the video, and we heard it and something like that's not acceptable. You know, we feel like all citizens need to be respected," Martin said. "When I heard that, I knew we had to at least have a discussion about it. And so that's what led me to call it."
Martin explained that the decision wasn't easy, and that everyone had to be on the same page about it.
"As a board, we got together, discussed the events surrounding the comment and everything associated with it, and we came to decision unanimously that it was time for us to make a change," Martin said.
Martin said that directors heard from people on both sides of the decision, and after their pivotal action it's time to move forward.
Kim Fodge, a Fort Smith resident who believes the controversial comment was made toward her, said she was surprised by Geffken's firing.
"I did not think that the board would come to this decision. However, I trust that they've made the right decision, and I look forward to the city moving forward from all of this, get to focus on what's important for the city," Fodge said.
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