FW: Public Safety Consortium on May 21
Blake Holte
I appreciate anyone who could take a few minutes to complete the survey linked below (and those who have) aimed at highlighting public safety staffing challenges in growing communities.
Blake
From: Rob Smith <robs...@nwacouncil.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2026 8:14 AM
To: Blake Holte <bho...@springdalear.gov>; jlu...@co.washington.ar.us; Michael...@bentoncountyar.gov; cha...@centertonpd.com; JCan...@WashCoSOAR.gov; ss...@bellavistaar.gov; Chad.B...@flyxna.com; Reynolds, Mike <mrey...@fayetteville-ar.gov>; Derek Wright <dewr...@springdalear.gov>; dusty.m...@bentoncountyar.gov; mtho...@centertonfire.com; bha...@fayetteville-ar.gov; jgr...@bellavistaar.gov; jvan...@siloamsprings.com; russel...@flyxna.com; sw...@fayetteville-ar.gov; dkin...@siloamsprings.com; swiede...@lowellarkansas.gov; wwa...@washingtoncountyar.gov; Ray.S...@bentonville.arkansas.gov; smi...@siloamsprings.com; shawn.h...@bentoncountyar.gov; ste...@uark.edu; jb...@rogersar.gov; sr...@centralems.org; tk...@lowellarkansas.gov; dqu...@rogersar.gov; shar...@centralems.org; wh...@rogersar.gov; jsca...@bentonvillear.com; Leslie, James H. <jle...@rogersar.gov>; Derek Spicer <dsp...@siloamsprings.com>; John Luther <JLu...@washingtoncountyar.gov>; Matt Thompson <mtho...@centertonfire.gov>; Aron Shelton <ar...@findingnwa.com>
Subject: Re: Public Safety Consortium on May 21
Friends, Several of you have provided budget and staffing-related information that will be helpful to our Public Safety Consortium conversation on May 21, but we definitely need more responses. I hope you’ll prioritize providing responses with
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Friends,
Several of you have provided budget and staffing-related information that will be helpful to our Public Safety Consortium conversation on May 21, but we definitely need more responses.
I hope you’ll prioritize providing responses within a few days (see what I marked in yellow below). The survey isn’t hard. Really. The goal was to get something back from everyone by May 1, but a few days beyond that is not a big setback for us.
I will have to create some PowerPoint slides about the information that’s provided, so sooner is always better.
If you can’t or just don’t want to provide the information that’s being requested, I hope you’ll know that.
Have a good rest of the week.
Rob Smith
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Robert J. Smith
From: Rob Smith <robs...@nwacouncil.org>
Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 2:18 PM
To: Blake Holte <bho...@springdalear.gov>, "jlu...@co.washington.ar.us" <jlu...@co.washington.ar.us>, Michael Waddle <Michael...@bentoncountyar.gov>, "cha...@centertonpd.com" <cha...@centertonpd.com>, Jay Cantrell <JCan...@WashCoSOAR.gov>, "ss...@bellavistaar.gov" <ss...@bellavistaar.gov>, Chad Breeden <Chad.B...@flyxna.com>, "Reynolds, Mike" <mrey...@fayetteville-ar.gov>, Derek Wright <dewr...@springdalear.gov>, "dusty.m...@bentoncountyar.gov" <dusty.m...@bentoncountyar.gov>, "mtho...@centertonfire.com" <mtho...@centertonfire.com>, "bha...@fayetteville-ar.gov" <bha...@fayetteville-ar.gov>, "jgr...@bellavistaar.gov" <jgr...@bellavistaar.gov>, "jvan...@siloamsprings.com" <jvan...@siloamsprings.com>, "russel...@flyxna.com" <russel...@flyxna.com>, "Wood, Shane" <sw...@fayetteville-ar.gov>, "dkin...@siloamsprings.com" <dkin...@siloamsprings.com>, Scott Wiedensohler <swiede...@lowellarkansas.gov>, "wwa...@washingtoncountyar.gov" <wwa...@washingtoncountyar.gov>, "Ray.S...@bentonville.arkansas.gov" <Ray.S...@bentonville.arkansas.gov>, Scott Miller <smi...@siloamsprings.com>, "shawn.h...@bentoncountyar.gov" <shawn.h...@bentoncountyar.gov>, Steve Gahagans <ste...@uark.edu>, "jb...@rogersar.gov" <jb...@rogersar.gov>, "sr...@centralems.org" <sr...@centralems.org>, "tk...@lowellarkansas.gov" <tk...@lowellarkansas.gov>, "Qualls, Dusty" <dqu...@rogersar.gov>, Steve Harrison <shar...@centralems.org>, "wh...@rogersar.gov" <wh...@rogersar.gov>, "jsca...@bentonvillear.com" <jsca...@bentonvillear.com>, "Leslie, James H." <jle...@rogersar.gov>, Derek Spicer <dsp...@siloamsprings.com>, John Luther <JLu...@washingtoncountyar.gov>, Matt Thompson <mtho...@centertonfire.gov>, Aron Shelton <ar...@findingnwa.com>
Subject: Public Safety Consortium on May 21
Friends,
I hope you’ll attend the next Public Safety Consortium meeting that’s scheduled to start at 12:30 pm on Thursday, May 21 at the Northwest Arkansas Council office in Springdale. The address is 4100 Corporate Center Drive, and I’ll send you a calendar invite today.
Lunch will be provided.
Our topic is unique and I’ll need your help to pull this off. Here’s what we intend to do:
With some fire departments and law enforcement agencies starting to think about what their own 2027 budget request should look like, Chiefs Reynolds and Holte and I talked about a survey of each of you to better understand your department’s priorities, staffing, budget and challenges. We thought it would be informative as you make those requests on behalf of your own departments (or sheriff’s office) to know how neighboring agencies compare.
Generally, you’ll want to know these things before starting this survey:
- Last year’s approved budget amount
- Number of employees in the department
- Number of law enforcement officers or firefighters
- Number of open positions
- Staffing goals
- Your department’s No. 1 need
- Annual calls for service
There are a couple of other questions but you’ll be able to answer those without looking anything up in advance. The link is here:
https://nwark.typeform.com/to/G9DCyfYN
If you’d be so kind as to complete this survey by Friday, May 1, that will leave me ample time to put together information that shows everyone what was learned from the group. If you personally need a bit more time, I’m sure we can work that out but having the bulk of the information by May 1 would be helpful.
Additionally, we’ll invite some of you to present information about your own departments, too, but we’ll worry about that later.
Thanks.
Rob Smith
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Robert J. Smith