Lindsley Smith named manager of communication for the city of Fayetteville

The city of Fayetteville’s new communication director is an attorney and state representative who’s been teaching communication on a collegiate level for 20 years.
State Rep. Lindsley Smith, D-Fayetteville, 45, started her new job Tuesday. Heroffice is on the third floor of the City Administration Building on West Mountain Street, in the cluster of offices near Mayor Lioneld Jordan.
Jordan hand-picked Smith from finalists forwarded to him by a selection committee and called her “the final piece of the team. We worktogether here not only as a team, but as a family.”
Smith will be paid $73,700 in her position as director of communications, marketing and volunteer services. The mayor instructed herto promote his philosophy of transparency and accountability, she said.
“My job is to make sure,through all means, the city is listening, getting the message from residents in - and getting messages out,” Smith said. “I will make sure the true reality of Fayetteville is communicated, and keep citizens informed. We’re there for the people.”
Jordan said he was impressed by Smith’s education, background in communication, and her contacts in state, local and federal government.
“She was chair of the rail and mass transit subcommittee, which is one of my interests, and has working knowledge of the Freedom of Information Act,” he said.
The position has been vacant most of the year. Jordan and city staff chose not to fill it for six months, in light of budget shortfalls and the economy. Two other positions remain unfilled.
“We tried to get as much savings as we could, but I have to make this kind of judgment call. She will take some pressure off of [Don Marr, chief of staff ],” he said.
Smith will act as a liaison with the press, may be asked to give policy advice and “will be a great person to kick ideas off of,” Jordan said.
Smith earned her associate degree in business administration in Alabama. She then earned both a bachelor’s degree in public relations and advertising and a master’s degree in communications from the University of West Florida.
Smith taught at Clemson University in South Carolina, Ferris State University in Michigan and the University of West Florida, as well as with summer programs at Stanford University, Yale University, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.
She graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1998, then worked as a law clerk for the Arkansas Court of Appeals and as lead clerk for Judge Richard Arnold of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.
Smith spent the last nine years at the UA as a parttime research assistant professor in the communication department of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.
Smith will continue in her term as state representative through the end of the year. She may spend three tofour weeks on unpaid leave from the city to tend to those responsibilities, she said.
She took that office in 2005, and because of term limits cannot seek re-election. She won’t pursue any other elected position at this time, she said.
“I’ve had people ask me to run for (various positions), but I’m really an academic at heart and am excited to go back to the communications [field]. I’ve been teaching people for 20 years how to do this job,” Smith said.
Smith said she doesn’t anticipate conflicts to arise between her position and political office.
“It’s a citizen legislature - most are retired or doing some job. The UA was also a government entity,” she said.
Jordan agreed.
“She’ll be fine. I know she’ll separate [those positions],” he said.