Bryan Day, a former assistant city manager in Little Rock who has led the Little Rock Port Authority since 2014, won't apply to become the next city manager.
Day, 61, was close with the late City Manager Bruce Moore, who died in October.
"Being Little Rock's City Manager would be one of the greatest honors of my life; however, I am not going to apply for the position. The timing is not right at this time," Day wrote in an email last week. "If the opportunity came up again in the future, I might reconsider my position."
In an interview earlier that day, he elaborated on his thinking. Day suggested that the next city manager ought to come from a different community and bring in "new ideas."
The mayor has the power to hire and remove the city manager, subject to the approval of the Little Rock Board of Directors.
Assistant City Manager Emily Cox, who has served as acting city manager since Moore's death, applied for the position in January, records show.
The Metropolitan Housing Alliance's board of commissioners last week voted to move ahead with a contract with the Barber Law Firm for legal services.
Commissioners previously voted to part ways with attorney Sylvester Smith, who represented two ousted commissioners in their effort to regain their seats on the board. Smith asked to withdraw from the litigation in January.
The Barber Law Firm has offices in Little Rock and Bentonville.
The Sue Cowan Williams Library has reopened following renovations.
The branch of the Central Arkansas Library System located on South Chester Street sports a new teaching kitchen, podcasting room and more. Stop by sometime and check it out.
The Williams Library serves many students from the nearby Dunbar Magnet Middle School, and branch manager Latina Sheard recalled that students were "squealing" with excitement when they got a sneak preview of the refurbished branch recently.
"When have you heard middle schoolers squealing to be in a library space?" Sheard said.
That's all for this week. Some more local stories are below.
