LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A group of community members in Wynne announced the submission of a petition requesting the removal of Jennifer Hobbs as Mayor of the city.
"Always A Jacket" initiated the petition after they reportedly witnessed a "series of grievances from Wynne residents in the wake of tornado recovery from last year’s devastating storm."
The group's petition received signatures from 1,207 registered Wynne residents and was presented to Cross County Clerk Mary Beth Sanders on Monday, August 5, 2024.
According to Arkansas code, 25% of registered voters in a city must sign and file a petition with their county clerk no less than 91 days before the next general election to remove a mayor from office.
Upon Gov. Sanders' certification of the petition to the Cross County Board of Election Commissioners, the referendum on the November 5 ballot will provide people in Wynne with the choice to vote for or against the removal of Jennifer Hobbs from office.
Princella Smith, spokesperson for Always A Jacket, made the following statement:
“It has become abundantly clear that Mayor Hobbs was not adequately prepared to respond to the tornado. Her recovery strategy has been disastrous, and she was unable to draw up a plan for restoration. I have personally spoken with numerous Wynne residents who feel ignored or forgotten.
Housing is the biggest issue. There is no adequate option for displaced residents whose time in FEMA trailers will soon end in October. Some already experienced a mandatory exit from those trailers this summer. Mayor Hobbs has failed to develop a real construction plan with vocational groups who offer free labor to rebuild homes, and she hasn’t secured any grants to that end.
On top of which, Mayor Hobbs has refused to rebuild a historic park building in the heart of Ward 4, the most low-income ward in Wynne, which was regularly used for structural recreational activities. Hobbs received $500k in insurance money for the building but has yet to offer an adequate answer to Wynne residents as to what she has done with those funds.
Wynne is too small of a town to recover without all hands on deck headed by the city’s lead official. Hobbs has done none of this, and this is why Wynne residents are going to vote in favor of the referendum to remove her on November 5th.”
Smith also explained how she doesn't think Mayor Hobbs has the community's best interests at heart.
Smith claims Mayor Hobbs has failed to make a construction plan to rebuild houses destroyed by the tornado and has not helped people approaching their move-out deadline in FEMA trailers.
However, Mayor Hobbs said there's a process and added that while the city does in fact have $500,000 in insurance money, it is up to the city council to decide how they plan on using that money.
The city council will be voting on how to spend that money on September 17.
"Per FEMA guidelines, they have 12 to 18 months that they're living in those. All expenses paid, it is on the person to set their own recovery plan, and FEMA works hand in hand with them very closely to try to formulate that recovery plan," Mayor Hobbs added.
She said the city is not allowed to spend its finances on building new homes, but they are trying to get organizations to come in and offer free labor.
"We have to have in hand documentation showing that we have materials or money donated that could fund a minimum of five home rebuilds. We need to have that done by the end of this month," she explained.
Smith said she wants to see action and that's why she got the community involved.
"With 25% of registered voters signing a petition, we could give the voters of win an option to keep or to dismiss this mayor, and that's what we did," Smith said.
"I have the best interest of our city as at heart, and it is disheartening to see this divide going in our community right now," Mayor Hobbs explained.
You can read the full statement from Mayor Hobbs here:
