Un-American? Better Blamed than Bought

Senator Blanche Lincoln is even more pathetic than I imagined. This week she blurted out that the ranting right-wing rabble rousers who are organizing shouting matches with Democratic members of Congress were Un-American. "“It’s so sad, because it’s diminishing to the process, it’s diminishing to our outcome,” Lincoln said in a conference call with reporters. “I think it’s sad that they choose to do that. I think it’s un-American and disrespectful.” Then she flip-flopped and said she shouldn't have used the term "Un-American," but they were still disrespectful. News flash, Blanche, the people aren't your bitch.

Yes, Blanche, this group of organized assholes has a plan to disrupt any rational discussion of the issues. Yes, they are being used by corporate interests, and they are ill-informed, rude, and dishonest. Yes, they are using it as an excuse to spew hatred against immigrants. Yes, they would rather have media attention than a democratic dialogue. Yes, the moon-howling, teabagging queen Laurie Taylor Masterson is against everything and is driving the paranoid nuttiness of her p'whipped husband to start making shit up. They might have an excuse, a mental disorder resulting from relative status deprivation. We have a black President, a woman Speaker of the House, and a Hispanic woman Supreme Court Justice, instead of the white guy gang like George Bush, Newt Gingrich, and John Roberts. They can't bear the thought that "those people" have some power.

The real question, Blanche, is why you have thrown over the average working families in Arkansas and started whoring for the corporate special interests? Did you not inherit and marry enough money to make you happy? How much money do you want? Why do you have to sacrifice the interests of your constituents to every polluter, banker, plutocrat, union buster, agribusiness subsidysucker, and insurance conglomerate with a checkbook for members of the Senate Finance Committee? That might be Un-American, or at least it was until you and your colleagues made it the essence of the American Way.

A Dirty Deed

I think I have heard it all now. The SouthPass developers tried to stiff the city by giving a quit claim deed for the park land in the middle of their property and near the leaking landfill. Kit Williams, our elected City Attorney who is paid more than $100,000 a year, says he is "fine-tuning" the deed and "working on details of the deed with developers" to make sure it reflects promises both sides made in the sweetheart contract he approved and Dan Coody and John Nock signed in 2004.

Williams goes on in an article in today's Northwest Arkansas Times to lament what a difficult time this is for SouthPass developers. "But, once we begin developing the park, the land around it is going to be extremely desirable, and it won’t be so difficult for SouthPass to sell to people who want to live there and have businesses there,” he said, adding “The first major development is going to be building soccer fields.” That probably explains why the City Parks and Recreation capital development plan for the next five years gives almost all of its budget to SouthPass and ignores the community parks and the needs of low income neighborhoods.

Drafting a warranty deed is not a difficult process, Kit. You can download the form online and paste in the legal description from the survey that the City has already paid for. Quit making excuses for the developers, and do your job for the taxpayers. Better still, go back to private practice and let the developers start paying you for looking after their interests.

Bank Pulls Dirk Van Veen's PUD

Let me say right off that I have always supported the Ruskin Heights plan and its "new urbanism" infill design, and I really hope that the eventual outcome will work out better for this Planned Unit Development (PUD) than the morphing of the Aspen Ridge into Hill Place student apartments. That said, I feel little sadness at the news that Metropolitan National Bank filed a foreclosure action against Ruskin Heights, Dirk Van Veen, and several other investors, seeking judgment for past due principal and interest of more than $8.7 million. The Springdale News says the developers did not return calls, and calls to the Ruskin Heights' sales office were "unsuccessful."

As the Northwest Arkansas Times noted, former Mayor Dan Coody touted the project as just what he was looking for, much as he bragged on Aspen Ridge for campaign supporter Hank Broyles as the silver bullet to save south Fayetteville, and he pushed it forcefully through the city's planning department. That earned him the support of developer Dirk Van Veen, who was one of the largest single contributors to the unsuccessful Coody reelection campaign, giving Dan checks and printing hundreds of campaign signs for free.

After the losing campaign and mired in a failing real estate deal, Dirk Van Veen and two of his deadbeat partners filed a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, charging that Don Conner, a neighborhood opponent of the development, had defamed the developers in a speech to the City Council. Such lawsuits should be immediately dismissed under the new Arkansas SLAPP statute, but it is assigned to Republican Judge Mark Lindsey who has allowed the developers to run up Conner's attorney's fees and legal expenses defending himself. That financial drain is why more people don't have the courage to speak their mind about public policy issues.

So, for those reasons, I am once again convinced that what goes around comes around. I am not sorry that it did.

Connie Continues the Con

The Jordan Administration doesn't seem much different from the Coody Administration when it comes to parks for the people. At this week's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, Jordan's parks director Connie Edmonston laid out a capital improvement plan that looks like it could have been drawn up on the back of a napkin by Dan Coody, John Nock, and Kit Williams. It is all about SouthPass and a few crumbs for everyone else.

A somewhat misleading headline in the Northwest Arkansas Times says on page one, "City Gets Deed for Southpass Park." The article states that the deed "was handed over to the city of Fayetteville in late July." Maybe so, but it had not been filed at the Washington County Courthouse by 4:30 today. If the City has a warranty deed for the 200 acres, why is Kit Williams sitting on it? There was no mention of whether the developers have paid the city the $1 million for park development as required by the sweetheart contract, so I think it is safe to assume they have not performed.

Anyway, the Parks and Recreation Empire has an annual budget of over well $5 million. The operating budget of $3.7 million comes mostly from the city's general revenues, and about $2.9 million a year from the HMR tax that goes for capital projects. Edmonston says that development of the regional park remains a top priority for the Parks Department, more important than community and neighborhood parks. That's not what I remember Jordan telling us back during the campaign, but nothing has changed.

For 2010, the Parks capital budget is less than $1.5 million, but more than two-thirds of that goes to the Southpass Regional Park, allocated $941,000 and ranked the Number One priority. By comparison, Wilson Park will get $110,000, Davis Park is allocated $50,000, Gulley Park will get $15,000, and Walker Park in the low income area of the city gets a big goose egg.

The 5-Year Capital Plan is equally disappointing. Walker Park gets nothing, and SouthPass Park swims in $4.9 million. Wilson Park gets $110,000, Lake Fayetteville gets $125,000, and Gulley Park in trendy Ward Three gets $735,000. No mention of those Heritage Parks that Jordan mentioned in his State of the City Address. You get the picture.

Nothing has changed, and nothing will change as long as Jordan abdicates responsibility to Connie Edmonston. Mayor Jordan should either get control of this department and put things right, or he should stop pretending.

No Bid Bully Exposed Again

I can't get too excited about Washington County Judge Marilyn Edwards, because she doesn't seem to do much or have the political courage necessary to provide any real leadership. That is still a vast improvement over the arrogance and bad judgment of former County Judge Jerry Hunton. Forcing him to retire is the greatest accomplishment of Judge Edwards thus far, and that might be enough.

One only need to examine the ambulance service fiasco to realize that we are still suffering the bad effects of Jerry Hunton's self-dealing and political bullying by threatening to break every contract for cooperation with the City of Fayetteville if it didn't support and subsidize the no-bid service for rural areas in the county. Or threatening eminent domain to condemn and tear down older homes to make a parking lot. Then there was the no-bid contract to build a private road in Benton County for a well-connected smiley-face group that could well afford to pay for their own driveway.

Now, even the Northwest Arkansas Times understands what was perhaps the biggest blunder of Hunton's entire career in government -- cutting deals for unconstitutional no-bid deals to buy a new building from Tom Terminello, demolish and rebuild a parking deck at the courthouse, and restore the interior of the historic 1907 courthouse. It was too late to stop the building purchase, but local attorney Jim Rose filed and settled a lawsuit against the county and saved the taxpayers at least $2.6 million. The education of County Attorney George Butler, who couldn't read the plain language of the Arkansas Constitution, and the reminder of why we're lucky to be rid of bully boy Jerry Hunton, priceless.

The Cowbird Campaign Convention

I thought I was at a Chamber of Commerce convention from 35 years ago, but it was just yesterday. Minding my own business and shopping for some squash at the Farmers Market, I heard an awful racket coming from the Town Center Plaza. It was a flock of septuagenarian Cowbirds trying to lay one of their own in a district of quite a different breed. Retired head Cowbird Bill Ramsey, 75, was announcing as a candidate to represent Dickson Street and the UA campus in the state legislature.

There was Fred Vorsanger. There was Don Moore. There was David McClinton. Cowbirds all, but not a one of them a resident of House District 92 where they were plotting to install their bird of a feather, Bill Ramsey. For his part, Ramsey gave a fair speech with all the smooth platitudes he has honed as the back-slapping head cowbird and as a paid lobbyist for special interests.

Doug Thompson reported that Ramsey wanted "to talk to constituents before giving final details on his policy stands." That's fine, but Ramsey's campaign website doesn't have any details (or even glib generalities) about any policy position. There is plenty of information about how you can do things for Bill Ramsey and how to send him money, but nothing about what he wants to do for the people of Fayetteville.

Ramsey and his Cowbird Campaign Committee made a big deal about his legislative experience and record during nine terms in the House some three decades ago. That might be a bigger mistake than running on his poor record at the Chamber and his constant complaining about the Fayetteville sign ordinance as a "job killer" for Cracker Barrel and Fuddrucker's. I will have more later about Ramsey's shameful voting record in the legislature.

National Defense and Food Safety

The Peanut Corporation of America has been accused of shipping peanut butter lathered with salmonella, a bacteria that caused at least eight deaths, from a plant where corporate managers knew about the contamination but never reported those findings to the Food and Drug Administration. Spinach coated with animal feces spread by feral swine and contaminated with deadly E.coli 0157 bacteria, killing at least three people, came from a California ranch that wasn't following the agricultural practices promulgated by the FDA.

Even less regulated than U.S. corporate food production facilities are foreign sources such as the Xuzhou Anying Biological Technology Development in China where the toxic chemical melamine was intentionally mixed into the wheat gluten to bolster the apparent protein content of pet food, killing pet dogs and cats in America. What an excellent scheme for terrorists seeking to attack our nations food supply and kill millions of innocent citizens -- just poison foodstuffs to be imported and distributed in the United States.

The U.S. House of Representatives acted on Thursday to pass the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. It authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration to require country of origin labeling on food and annual registration of importers, to require implementation of a food safety plan, to establish a corps of inspectors dedicated to inspections of foreign food facilities, and to order an immediate cessation of distribution, or a recall, of food.

You won't read it in the local newspapers, but Congressman John Boozman (R-AR3) voted against it. Who does thus guy really represent? Who can we get to represent us for a change?

Boozman the Banker Bailout Buddy

Yesterday the US House of Representatives passed the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act of 2009 by a vote of 237-185. It would amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide for a separate shareholder vote to approve executive compensation packages and to set forth procedures for disclosure and shareholder approval of "golden parachute" compensation.

More importantly, it would inhibit these outrageous bonuses being paid to officers of failing banks and require federal regulations that prohibit any compensation structure or incentive-based payment arrangement that encourages inappropriate risks by financial institutions or their officers or employees that could: (1) threaten the safety and soundness of covered financial institutions; or (2) present serious adverse effects on economic conditions or financial stability.

Who could be against that, beside the shady bankers and greedy corporate officers that brought the country to the brink of a depression? John Boozman, that's who. Our Congressman did a little legislative lap dance for his corporate backers who screwed the stockholders and have looted the treasury. Yep, Boozman voted against it.

I plan to return the favor next November.

The Past as Prologue

"I can tell you that if I don't win this election, the progress we've made in Fayetteville -- the sustainability coordinator, biofuels, LEED certified government buildings, the all, I mean, a long list of environmental issues, green issues, will come to a halt. I know this. I'm not just threatening this, I know this." -- Mayor Dan Coody, November 10, 2008.

Duplicitous and Divisive

It was like a bad acid flashback last week. Dan Coody and his camp followers showed up at a Ward Two meeting called by Alderman Matthew Petty to discuss the plans for improvements to Garland Avenue from North Street to Janice Street. Dan Coody lives on Mt. Sequoyah in Ward One, and his wingman Rob Sharp lives in Ward Four, but they both had plenty to complain about regarding the proposed plans.

Back in 2006, the Coody-backed street bond plan called for a five lane swath including a continuous 12' center turn lane, and that was the plan that Coody proposed to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department in June, 2008. Then Coody got beat in November 2008, and on March 31, 2009, the new City Council Street Committee unanimously approved a revised plan that included a continuous tree-lined median and 5' bike lanes on either side.

On April 30, 2009, AHTD responded that it would not recommend the continuous raised median and instead said the 5-lane slab was "most appropriate." The City began trying to negotiate with the AHTD, which had pledged $1.5 million toward the project and has considerable control over state highways, which Garland Avenue is as a segment of Arkansas Highway 112, to get approval for as much of a tree-lined median as possible and for two separate bicycle lanes. It appears that they were having some success, because now the state is saying it didn't outright veto the median proposal, and Mayor Jordan is planning on meeting again with state highway officials in Little Rock.

So, now comes Coody to the ward meeting on July 16 and starts saying that the City was selling us out and should demand the plan with the median or nothing at all, the false dilemma proposed by retired Physics Professor Art Hobson who regularly complains about the car culture. Rob Sharp, architectural drawer of the John Nock Renaissance Marriott Hotel, said any compromise was just plain foolish. Marie Riley, a UA Computer Services employee, and Mike Johnson, a UA Associate Vice Chancellor over the Physical Plant, both of whom live in the eastern Washington-Willow area near Mission Boulevard, chimed in on cue calling anything except a continuous raised median "a sell-out."

Dan Coody and his little band of supporters staged a big show at Alderman Petty's meeting. I agree with them that the raised median is the best proposal for Garland Avenue, but I am appalled by their total lack of honesty. When Dan Coody was in office, he proposed that the section be five lanes of asphalt with a suicide turn lane, much like the one that his administration had backed for the sterile string of strip malls and fast food franchies on Martin Luther King Boulevard back when it was still Sixth Street. That was the Dan Coody plan for Garland, too, and the good thing is that he fiddleflopped around for two entire years from 2006-2008 without accomplishing anything.

Had Dan Coody originally supported a raised median and bike lanes back in 2006, we would now be in the construction phase instead of the obstruction phase. Coody's change to support the new administration's plans for the tree-lined median came only after resistance from the state, because he saw a chance for some media attention by trying to create a controversy to complicate the City's efforts to carefully work through the bureaucratic roadblocks.

Divisive Dan needs to come clean and admit that he was the one that proposed the treeless five-lane disaster. He had a good opportunity to do so at the meeting when he told the crowd that the section of Garland was destined to become a commercial strip, but he couldn't reach deep enough to confess the errors of his past. Instead, as always, he tried to find someone else to blame for the problem that he created.

Duplicitous and divisive, Dan Coody will continue to create controversy in hope for the media attention which he craves. Can nothing rid us of this turbulent politician?