Dumb as a Rock but Hardly as Honest

Alderman Mike Overton, 62, is running for Mayor of Springdale. He has served for six years on the City Council, and he owns Overton Realty, a storage business, a commercial building company, and a property management company. He claims to have a BSBA from the University of Arkansas and an MBA from Missouri. When he announced last January, according to a press release someone must have written for him, he had himself say, "As a result of my education, business experience and experience on the City Council, I believe I have the required skills and ability necessary to help move us forward in a positive manner."

Now Mr. Overton, one of the reactionary throwbacks who has driven the Springdale economy and city finances into the ground, has gone and bought himself a website. The pathetic thing about it, in addition to being about Overton, is that he is a sneakthief who stole the copy verbatim from the campaign website of Josh Jenkins, 29, a fine young man who is running for the Springdale City Council and a former blogger who has had an online campaign presence for months.

Take a look at the Jenkins link for Support Josh, then compare with Alderman Overton's identical link for Support Mike. In case Overton can actually read, realizes that he has been busted, and has someone change the copy, I have saved the screen shots for the record. Here's a sample of the plagiarist's handiwork.

Josh Jenkins says, "Even if you find that you can’t formally volunteer, I’d ask that you consider talking about my candidacy at every opportunity and sending out emails to your friends in Springdale, pointing them to this web site. It’s going to take a team approach to be able to bring a new day to Springdale. Will you join me?"

Mike Overton echoes, "Even if you find that you can’t formally volunteer, I’d ask that you consider talking about my candidacy at every opportunity and sending out emails to your friends in Springdale, pointing them to this web site. It’s going to take a team approach to be able to bring a new day to Springdale. Will you join me?"

Josh Jenkins does say some things that Overton would not steal. For example, Josh says, "The political machine, the same old thing, isn’t working," but you'd be unlikely to catch Mike Overton conceding that, or Josh's unique idea that "Council members are elected to represent the citizens." Nor would Overton admit, as Jenkins charges, "The policies of yesterday brought decreasing sales tax revenue, loss of major retailers, shrinking economic base, and increased graffiti & gang activity. It’s time for a new day in Springdale." Oh, wait, Overton did steal the slogan about a new day in Springdale, even though he has been one of the main problems on the Council for the last six years.

Alderman Mike Overton not only has no new ideas, he can't even make up new sentences.

And the sad thing is, Overton's not the worst candidate running for Mayor of Springdale.

UPDATE: Overton's website was revised Thursday evening to replace much of the lifted text. Click on image above to see the original political purloining.