There was a nice piece in the newspaper today that let former Mayor Dan Coody take his leave and say goodbye. He was able to recount some of the changes that had occurred since 2000, and he did influence many of them to some degree. Coody also came as close to apologizing as we can ever expect for the sewer plant debacle and the unfortunate decision on the Wilson Spring wetland.
Coody did some good things while in office, and he was even better at articulating what he wished to do. All of that was good for our city. We are generous of spirit today, so we won't burst his fantasy that one of "the biggest accomplishments of his administration" was "the SouthPass development, which gained the city a free 200 acres for a regional park." We won't even mention that the city has yet to receive the warranty deed to that 200 acres, that it does not have the $39 million to cover the projected cost, that it is still waiting on the $1 million park contribution promised by the developers, or that all it has so far at SouthPark is a leaking landfill.
Ex-Mayor Coody now says he's finally ready to go back to the simple life of building a new house and vacationing with his wife. Those were the same plans he said he wanted to pursue in 2007 when he announced that he would not run for re-election as Mayor in 2008. On reflection after unsuccessfully trying to defend his record and ending up with a tattered image and an $11,000 campaign debt, he probably thinks voluntary retirement would have been the wiser choice.
According to the article, "Coody is looking forward to relaxing now. He said he has no plans to run for any sort of office, despite word that he could go after a Ward 1 on the Fayetteville City Council seat or a state representative seat in 2010." You can take him at his word.
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