Rison City Council Selects First Woman to Fill Vacancy

RISON - Kristy Lowery was selected by the Rison City Council Monday night to fill the unexpired term of former Ward A, Position 1 councilman Scott Morrison. Meanwhile, the Rison City Council voted to give city employees as raise and Mayor Charles Roberts reported that the city is already seeing a positive financial impact of the increased water and sewer rates that were mandated by Act 605. That business and more was conducted Monday night in what was officially the November regular monthly meeting for the Rison City Council. The council usually meets the first Tuesday night of each month, but the November meeting was moved up to Oct. 30 to address some timely issues. The Ward A position came open when the Rison City Council accepted a letter of resignation from long-time councilman Scott Morrison during its Oct. 3 meeting. Morrison resigned his seat after moving to Northwest Arkansas. Mayor Charles Roberts asked for letters of interest from any residents of Ward A, which roughly encompasses the southern end of the city. Lowery will fill the position through Dec. 31, 2024. She will have an opportunity to run for a full two-year term next year's election when all six seats will be up for election. Lowery and Larry King both submitted letters of interest for the vacancy. Both candidates were life-long Rison residents and both drew praise from the city council. When it came time to make a selection for the vacancy, Councilman Cleve Reed said he felt it would be good to have a woman on the city council. "That would make history," Mayor Roberts said in response. Stan Sadler, former publisher of the Herald and a local historian, said he could never recall a woman serving on the Rison City Council. Several other council members echoed Cleve Reed's sentiments, and after some discussion, Lowery was selected by a 5-0 roll call vote. Those councilmen present for the meeting were Michael Barnett, Curtis Marks, Cleve...