Affordable Housing Scam Ignored by City?

A group known as the South Fayetteville Community Development Corporation appears to have gotten away with a major act of fraud against the City of Fayetteville, and no one at city hall seems to have been paying attention to business. The corporation was supposed to build affordable housing for four families in south Fayetteville. It appears that they only built two houses then sold them to people with incomes that were not low to moderate range. As a result, the owners paid off city liens of $15,000 and $16,000.

The City of Fayetteville gave the development corporation a block grant of $80,000 in 2000, then the city of Fayetteville's Community Development Office purchased a lot at 19 East 4th St with federal Community Development Block Grant funds and transferred ownership of the lot to the corporation for use in building a home for a low- to medium-income resident. In September 2001, the City Council transferred additional property at 1035 S. Washington Avenue to South Fayetteville Community Development Corporation. In October 2005, the City Council also waived the Building Permit Fee and other development fees for the development corporation.

Who bought the two houses? Who sold them in violation of the grant purposes? What was the selling price? Where is Manuel Jones? Who is Donnie Jones? How can the taxpayers get their money back from this corporation that made off with city funds, city property, and special fee waivers? Who was supposed to be keeping up with how our money was spent? Who let it slide when the development corporation did not file the required monthly reports? Who is supposed to be in charge at City Hall? Tim Conklin, Yolanda Fields, and Dan Coody have some explaining to do.

Quote of the Day

"Putting the new high school at the edge of town is a mistake that will have a lasting negative affect on Fayetteville for generations to come. This disposable mentality toward the old high school is what destroys the environment and the social structure of cities throughout this country. The support from the Chamber of Commerce for this option is not surprising; they only seem to support new development, and abandoning established businesses in the center of town."

--Marie Riley, "One Huge Mega-Disaster," Letter in the Northwest Arkansas Times

The Business of NWA Is Business

"Last week came big news that the region is continuing its long, slow march toward earning that metroplex moniker that only a decade ago sounded so foreign, so fake. A lobbyist for the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce recently filed paperwork necessary to establish something called the Northwest Arkansas Political Action Committee. . . .

"The idea would appear to be the brainchild of the region’s business community. As such, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that’s the same family that means to benefit the most from the trouble of establishing a PAC. . . .

"Everyone should remain mindful that a PAC, even one with a uniting name like Northwest Arkansas PAC, really only represents a particular perspective about what (and who ) is best for the region."

--Editorial, "A Regional Influence," Northwest Arkansas Times

If It's Not Impact Fees, It's Something Else

If it's not one thing, it's another. You'll remember that a couple of months ago the local real estate developers were proclaiming the impending burden of impact fees to require them to pay for the sprawl they created would stop all development in Fayetteville. Bill Ramsey of the Fayetteville Chamber and Steve Rust of the Fayetteville Economic Development Council chimed in and claimed it would make Fayetteville even more "unfriendly" to developers. Someone sat on a UA report they commissioned that concluded otherwise. We have reached a point where we expect nothing else from the business booster brigade.

Well, it turns out that developers are having other problems besides the boogeyman of road impact fees, and it's not just in Fayetteville. Bigtime real estate developer Tom Terminella is fighting foreclosure proceedings against one of his developments in Springdale. It's not a result of impact fees, and it's not because of Fayetteville's reputation for being "unfriendly" to business. Sorry guys, that's not the problem here, but you can go ahead and pretend it is. No one believes you anymore anyway.

Metropolitan National Bank has filed a foreclosure petition seeking $6.9 million loaned for Terminella's Grand Valley Ridge Subdivision in Springdale. The petition also seeks back interest and late charges. Terminella and his attorney Robert Ginnevan III have filed a counterclaim alleging fraud, negligence and breach of contract by the bank. Maybe those interest fees and late charges show that the bank is "unfriendly" to business and against growing the tax base.

Where is the Chamber of Commerce with a big press release? What do Bill Ramsey and Steve Rust have to say about this? Why haven't the real estate interests raised a $40,000 defense fund. Can't someone come up with a way to blame this on the Fayetteville Planning Commission and the City Council? It almost worked before.

Laughing at Lowell

Lowell Alderman Ted Morrall resigned from the Ward 1, Position 2 seat in April. Now, Alderman Shawn Ingram has resigned from Lowell's Ward 4, Position 2 council seat to take a very well-paid position with the city as director of engineering and parks projects. The remaining City Council members will choose a replacement for Ingram next week, and it is sure to be a laugh riot or a familiar tragedy.

With incumbents bailing at such a rate, it is surprising that the seats are in such demand. Six people have indicated they want to be anointed--Paula Allred, Ronnie Breland, Eric Haussermann, Betty Pritchett, Guy Schumaker and Curtis Waggoner. Here's the good part. Breland, Haussermann, Schumaker, and Waggoner have all run for the office before and have been rejected by the voters at the polls. Pritchett's husband is a city employee, which presents a conflict of interest. Allred is a Vice President of ANB Financial who claims to be "representative of the average Lowell resident."

Maybe it doesn't matter who is on the Lowell City Council. Remember, this is the town that buys stagecoaches and rents heavy equipment with taxpayer dollars then uses neither.

Kudos to Fayetteville City Council

The Fayetteville City Council stood firm for a sustainable city and a sensible transportation plan. Despite opposition from a group from the exclusive Candlewood Estates development, the Council voted 7-1 to support bike lanes and a landscaped median on the Crossover Road project from Mission Boulevard north to the city limits. Only Alderman Bobby Ferrell voted in opposition.

The proposal for bike lanes and a center median were backed by the City Street Committee, the Trails and Sidewalks Task Force, the Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks, the Ozark Headwaters Group of the Sierra Club, the Northwest Arkansas regional Planning Council, and almost everyone else except Alderman Ferrell and the defenders of entrance landscaping at the upscale Candlewood Estates. The City Council resolution of support must first survive the possible veto by Mayor Coody, then the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department will make the final decision. It is not a done deal.

At Least It's Not Gambling

Jerry Cox, executive director of the Arkansas Family Council who is better known for trying to prevent gay couples from adopting or getting married, said his reactionary group is also worried that the state may not have enough resources to monitor the growing number of Bingo games that will be licensed in Arkansas on July 31st. "The situation, I believe, is ripe for abuse,” he warned.

A constitutional amendment sponsored by former Rep. Shirley Borhauer (R-Bella Vista) allowing established charities to run raffles and bingo won overwhelming public support with 69 % of the vote last year. License applications are being filed at a fast pace by groups such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Knights of Columbus, Arkansas Right to Life, and the Dallas County Museum in Fordyce. The Tontitown Grape Festival is the first applicant from Northwest Arkansas to join the Arkansas Family Council's list of sinful suspects to watch.

Northwest Arkansas residents should brace themselves for the evils of those who choose the bingo lifestyle and contact the Arkansas Family Council if you suspect a situation “ripe for abuse.” Arkansas Family Council Board Members include Vickey Boozman of Rogers and Robin Lundstrum of Springdale, who recently chaired the Washington County Republican Committee dinner featuring Karl Rove

Pounding Sand down a Rat Hole

Fayetteville Downtown Partners was formed in 2005 as a nonprofit organization to help implement the Downtown Master Plan. It has been funded by the City with $280,000 cash from Mayor Coody’s ill-advised sell-off of the fragile ecosystem at Wilson Springs Park to developers. It now looks like one bad deal has led to another.

I’m all about the Downtown Master Plan, but I cannot figure what we got for the $280,000 in public funds pounded down this particular rat hole. Besides getting involved in local politics surrounding the impact fee election, what has this nonprofit group done that could not have been done by our tax paid city employees or the tax-funded Advertising and Promotion Commission? No one seems to have a good answer to that question, and I am glad that Aldermen Bobby Ferrell and Kyle Cook seem to be pressing the issue. It better be more than the “banner” program for our $280,000 in public funds.

It is time to pull the plug on this particular waste of our tax dollars. Then we should take a hard look at how much tax money the A&P Commission is wasting on buying commercial real estate or supporting such things as the energy-sucking Lights of the Ozarks fiasco sold to Fayetteville by some newspaper editor several years ago.

Developer Demands More Tax Subsidies

Attention Shoppers! Van Asche Drive will soon connect with Howard Nickel Road, providing shoppers with quick access to the NWA Mall area and Joyce Boulevard, according to Karen Minkel, a long-range planner with the City of Fayetteville after meeting with developers last week

The Fayetteville Planning Commission will consider the changes on July 9, but final approval must come from the City Council. The proposed alterations allegedly will put the plan in line with Fayetteville's City Plan 2025, which encourages pedestrian and bicycle access, as well as creating a rational vision of how Fayetteville will grow.

Developer Ben Israel, who led the fight against road impact fees and has not even examined the street plan, said it needs to give developers incentive to build new commercial developments. Ben is a member of the Free Lunch Club that wants Fayetteville residents to provide more corporate welfare and to pay more taxes to subsidize the sprawl created by developers.

It will be interesting to see how anyone can justify taxpayer incentives to promote sprawl and increased traffic in view of the City Plan 2025, assuming anyone still takes it seriously.

Take a look at the proposed Master Street Plan, and let the city planners know if you support subsidies for sprawl at the mall. Online comments can be made from the comments link here.

Buying Influence

Lobbyists affiliated with local chambers of commerce and other business interests have established a Northwest Arkansas Political Action Committee in an effort to “build relationships” through campaign contributions to political candidates statewide.

Martine Downs, lobbyist for the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, recently filed paperwork to establish the PAC to influence political campaigns, which she admitted was “another tool for us to work on issues, promoting the business interests of the region.”

Although the Northwest Arkansas PAC isn’t legally connected with any chamber of commerce or with the Northwest Arkansas Council, Scott Van Laningham, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and Bill Ramsey, CEO of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce are prominent members listed. Mike Malone, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Council, said the idea behind the PAC is “to better coordinate our efforts in support of a business agenda.”

As if a majority of Arkansas legislators are not already toadies for business interests and corporate welfare, this additional effort to give them money up front should make them even more obedient.