Thursday, April 22, 2010

Bad Day in Benton County


The front page today has two stories from Benton County, related to position on the page and on the political spectrum. Benton County Judge David Bisbee was charged with five counts of ethics violations related to three separate incidents. Bisbee offered no comment, but it looks like he was just following the Republican Party line of running government like a business -- his own or maybe Enron. Lots of self-dealing, corner-cutting, and ethics-winking by the developer-politician. The Prosecuting Attorney is preparing a petition to remove Bisbee from office; Bisbee says he ain't going nowhere and is running for re-election in that little one-party fiefdom.

Just down the road, Pinnacle Point Properties, LLC, already way behind on paying $700,00 in local property taxes, has filed for bankruptcy. Lined up to take another hit to their capital accounts are Metropolitan National Bank of Little Rock ($34.9 million) and Chambers Bank of Danville ($6.65 million). Chambers Bank is also sucking air in the John Lindsey bankruptcy deal. Bill Schwyhart is the man behind the curtain here. Last year, he was slapped with a $27 million foreclosure suit by Bank of America on other properties, and was involved in litigation, and the year before that he was sued by widow Johnelle Hunt, a former partner in a $30 million air charter deal.

In 2008, Schwyhart invested $13,900 in the campaign coffers of Mike Huckabee, John Boozman, Jim Inhofe, Mitch McConnell, John McCain, and the Republican Party of Arkansas. Back in 2004, he dumped $18,300 on Bush-Cheney, John Boozman, Ernest Istook, Kit Bond, and Marvin Parks. Less than 5% of his generosity went to Democrats, and that was a single wasted contribution to Dick Gephardt.

John Boozman should consider hiring Bisbee and Schwyhart as campaign consultants and economic advisors. He owes them something for their past support.

10 comments:

  1. So glad Jonah mentioned the Lindsey bankruptcy, if only briefly.

    Recall when junior Lindsey first filed his record-setting bankruptcy and poppa Jim jumps up and says that junior has nothing to do with Lindsey and Associates, the powerhouse Realtors and developers in Fayetteville and worldwide?

    Well, they got outed yesterday by the Little Rock paper, ADG, bidness section:

    "Lindsey owes more than $169.6 million to creditors, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in March. He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation on Feb. 20.

    Lindsey is the principal broker and general manager of Lindsey & Associates, the real estate company founded by his father, Jim Lindsey, a past chairman of the University of Arkansas board of trustees and former Razorback and professional football player."


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  2. Every day is a bad day in Benton County unless you are a Walmart corporate executive knocking down $19 million a year and sneering at the rest of us.

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  3. The Lindsey's and their ilk have sneered at every honest business person in Arkansas for decades.

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  4. What a waste of ink. Just put 'em in prison and parcel out their remaining wealth among the homeless.

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  5. Damn, you are a radical, 11:58. Why share the wealth with the non-taxpaying homeless? Put it into a tax refund for those who actually filed last year and the last 40 years or however long Lindsey senior has been ripping off the public.

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  6. Don't put them in prison. Make them homeless. In prison they would start a ponzi scheme and soon have all the cigarettes to sell back to the other jailbirds.

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  7. Buy a lot in their neighhborhood and DEMAND the right to dig it out for a red dirt farm or limestone gravel pit.

    See how that turns things around!

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  8. Why do I always get here late for these discussions? Jim Lindsey's true character was public record decades ago. Anyone who did business with him or any of his progeny did so at his own risk.

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  9. FEM and the horses they rode in on!

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  10. FEM and the horse they rode in on.

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