NWA Mall Owners Face Foreclosure

Macerich Co. of Santa Monica, California, purchased the Northwest Arkansas Mall from Tri State Joint Venture of Maryland in December 1998 for $94 million. Macerich sold it two years ago as part of a three mall package to Midwest Mall Properties, a partnership among Doyle Rogers and John Flake of Little Rock and Sam Mathias of Springdale. It was hailed by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal as the Best Investment of the year in 2007.

Now, Crossroads Mall in Oklahoma City, the largest of the three malls owned by Midwest Mall Properties, is in foreclosure by Maiden Lane Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities Trust, and it could go on the block within 60 days. The closing of the Dillard's anchor and nine other stores in December was the fatal blow, following the exit of Penney's and Macy's since Midwest bought the property.

Why is this of concern to us here in Northwest Arkansas? Well, the company that is now operating the Crossroads Mall would not comment to Arkansas Business, and John Flake was "out of the country" and unavailable for comment. Neither of the three daily newspapers nor the bi-weekly Northwest Arkansas Business Journal have mentioned the foreclosure, and there is no indication they have asked partner Sam Mathias of Springdale what's up.

Dillard's, Inc. closed 13 stores in 2008, and retail analysts and investment bankers are questioning whether it can survive another five years. Dillard's Store Closings even has its own Yahoo Group discussion, and the corporation continues to lose money even after announcing 21 store closings. Will the Dillard's Store in Fayetteville survive the next round of closings? Will the Northwest Arkansas Mall join Crossroads in foreclosure? What impact would this have on local employment and city revenues?

Why are we the only ones asking these silly questions? I mean, we wouldn't be losing Dillard's advertising revenue, but someone might care enough to check it out. Oh, I forgot, the Northwest Arkansas Times says there is no connection between advertising revenue and the news coverage or editorial commentary. The Times also says that The Morning News is a Springdale newspaper, but, even if that were true, TMN should cover local businessman Mathias and the NWA Mall that pays property taxes in the Springdale School District.

Here's to Our Health

Governor Mike Beebe has proposed in his State of the State address an $88 million-a-year health plan that includes the Fayetteville Satellite Campus of the UAMS Medical School train health care professional, a system of regional Trauma Centers to deal quickly with major injuries, funding for Community Health Clinics like St. Francis House, home health care, ARKids First, and other important health-related funding with leveraged matching federal funds. Mayor Lioneld Jordan said in his State of the City Address that securing the UAMS Satellite Campus was his number one priority for local economic development. Chamber President Steve Clark says health care is a key to our economic development.

Yesterday, State Senator Sue Madison (D-Fayetteville), State Rep. Jim House (D-Fayetteville), and State Rep. Uvalde Lindsey (D-Fayetteville) indicated that they would support the health care package. Only State Senator Bill Pritchard (R-Elkins) told the local Cowbirds that he was not committed to supporting the tobacco taxes to fund the programs, because he didn't get what he wanted for drug courts. And even if he did, he added, he would rather tax booze than smokes.

WTF? What's wrong with Prickard? Does he need attention? Is it a mental health issue? Does he think we don't need the med center and the community health clinics? Does he think he has more political moxie than Beebe? Smarter than the local advisory board? Is he flipping the bird to the local donors who provided the $3 million match for the satellite med school? Is he a tool for the out of state lobbyists for Big Tobacco?

Give him a call this weekend and check on him. 442-8611. You can also send Pritchard an email at pritchardb@arkleg.state.ar.us, although we hear he brags that he is not influenced by messages from constituents.

Hard Times in the Promised Land

Springdale bit the big one in November. The latest sales tax collection reports show the city revenue down 20.2%, taking in only $689,356 compared with $863,970 last November. Part of that is because Jesus Jim Holt, Jim Bob Diddler, and the local liquor cartel ran Sam's Club out of town, part of it is the crash in the housing and construction market, and part of it is because Springdale sucks in general.

But times is tough all over. November sales tax collections were down 12.5% in Bentonville, and today came word that they might not get to have a new golf course in a city park. Fayetteville was down less than $5,000 (.004%) but still below projections. The city will make that up from Mayor Jordan turning back the $5,000 car allowance that Coody took last year. Only Rogers saw an increase in sales tax collections, up more than $70,000 (7.5%).

We can only hope that the embarassing Northwest Arkansas voting results in the last election and the neutered Congressman John Boozman have not screwed the pooch on our getting some public works projects from that jobs bill being proposed by President Obama and the Democratic Congress. It cannot come too soon.

FDP and the Fuzzy Math Festival

We have contacted two different former board members of the now defunct Fayetteville Downtown Partners, Inc., and neither of them can or will tell us what happened to the $20,000 that was supposed to be reserved for supporting the 2009 Fayetteville Arts Festival. It is high time that the City demand an accounting of the money unanimously appropriated for the 2008 contract with FDP to organize and promote the festival. Was that Kit Williams-drafted contract just another no strings gift to nonperforming partners?

This may all be moot, if the Internal Revenue Service comes asking about unpaid taxes. The latest IRS Form 990, filed by the FDP in August 2008, lists Daniel Keeley as President and custodian of the corporate records. It is also interesting that FDP reported net assets of -$23,962 at the end of 2007, then Mr. Keeley was quoted in the newspaper in September as saying that FDP had banked $20,000. We still have no clue where this money went, and no one is talking.

What we do know is that the Arkansas Secretary of State reports that the Fayetteville Downtown Partners, Inc. has been dissolved. We also know that the FDP website still claims that the group is a nonprofit organization (we assume they mean legally as well as in obvious fact), and they are still soliciting online donations.

We are not accusing anyone of fraud, but we think Mr. Keeley and his former board owe the public answers and an accounting of the public funds. If there is a legitimate explanation, let's have it. We don't have subpoena powers to get the answers, but we know who does.

Mayor Jordan Having Another Good Week

Lioneld Jordan, Fayetteville's new Mayor, started out the month by reorganizing his staff, getting rid of the deadwood, and saving on salaries. Last week, he represented the city at the Arkansas Municipal League meeting in Little Rock, networking with mayors and legislators from around the state, and received the rather impressive final report from his Transition Team.

Mayor Jordan began this week marching to remember Martin Luther King, Jr., and on Tuesday he delivered his first State of the City Address. Today, the Fayetteville Free Weekly named him Person of the Year. It must be disappointing for those who last fall predicted the end of the city and civilization if Lioneld Jordan were elected, but most people seem to be giving him the benefit of the doubt or to be downright pleased. So far.

Lest anyone think that we're going to give him a free ride, we'll take the hide off of him as soon as he gives us good reason. For now, the comments section is open to both fans and foes. What's your reaction to his big speech? Anything you think good or bad in the plans he has proposed? What about the accolades from the Free Weekly? Is Jordan "the real deal" as they suggest, or a real hayseed bumpkin as portrayed by the editorial crowd at the Northwest Arkansas Times?

Take your best shot.

Soul-Saving School Superintendent Search

Fayetteville School District's born again national search for a new superintendent has drawn 42 applications this time around. One of them is Dr. Paul Dee Human, Ed.D., who lists his occupation as a consultant and his residence as Greer's Ferry. One insight to his educational priorities might be found in his 1994 doctoral dissertation that studied the causes of stress for school superintendents, which he found to be related to funding issues and following laws and regulations. It was completed only a few years after he violated the constitution, blowing two years and thousands of dollars in school funds unsuccessfully defending himself for having church volunteers teach Bible lessons during school hours when he was Superintendent at Gravette. Doe v. Human, 725 F.Supp. 1523 (1989); cert. denied, Human v. Doe, 499 U.S. 922 (1991).

More recently, Paul Human was Superintendent at Texarkana. There he instituted a Bible class based on the curriculum pushed by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, and tried unsuccessfully to set up a Charter School in partnership with the Mount Grove Baptist Church of Texarkana. Last year the Texarkana School Board forced his resignation amid allegations of mismanagement and ethical conflict of interest related to the school system’s technology network plan, causing it to miss out on $500,000 in federal funds. The District asked the Prosecuting Attorney to investigate and bought out Human's contract for $150,000.

We pray that the Fayetteville School Board will save us from such an experience here.

Terry the Tow Truck Bandit Busted - UPDATE

Prominent local businessman Terry Hays was arrested yet again this week. The owner of Terry's Towing was booked on criminal charges of aggravated assault on a family member, terroristic threatening, first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, and possession of a firearm by certain persons, then immediately released from the Washington County Detention Center after posting a $7,500 bail bond. Before this arrest, Terry previously has been charged at various times with terroristic threatening, aggravated assault, kidnapping, theft by receiving, first degree sexual abuse, failure to register as a convicted sex offender, second-degree assault, and criminal mischief, and he has a criminal history dating back to 1991 that includes seven felonies.

As far as we can determine, Terry has never been arrested for predatory towing, something he is well-known for in Fayetteville. One former victim said, "Deal with anyone else if you possibly can.: I have had to work with this schiesty company on several occasions, and I cannot be more displeased with them. I wish I could put zero stars, because "awful" does not even begin to describe my disgust. Here is why:

"I believe that Terry's Towing operates on a cash-only basis to intentionally bypass their tax obligations. In addition, every individual in their organization that I've dealt with has been a piss-poor representation of a human being. I would rather be stripped naked and beaten with a thorn bush than deal with the horrible, ungodly, Cro-Magnon rednecks at Terry's Towing. Other long-time residents of the NWA area have verified that my experience is not an isolated event, but typical behavior of the scummy, low-life, lying cheats that comprise this God-forsaken company. Even my insurance agent said he was surprised that, to date, no one has SHOT Terry (a man who apparently has had numerous legal troubles for "inappropriately" disciplining his children). Try them, and you'll hate them too."

The city was able to get state statutes amended to put additional regulations on non-consensual tow truck operations a few years ago. It looks like they need to seek additional legislation to prohibit assholes and felons from being licensed to operate tow truck businesses.

UPDATE: Terry the Towing Bandit's bond was revoked Thursday after he immediately tried to contact the alleged victim of his assault, a direct violation of the conditions of his bail. A warrant has been issued for his arrest, but he had not been seen or taken into custody as of 6 p.m. Anyone with information regarding Hayes' whereabouts can contact the Washington County Sheriff's Office at (479) 444-5700. You might consider him armed and dangerous, despite the comments his friends posted on this thread to tell us what a swell fellow he is.

Two-Tons of Dirty Laundry

The Benton/Washington County Regional Public Water Authority (Two-Ton) supplies water to 17 cities and water districts, including Siloam Springs, Bella Vista, Lincoln, and Prairie Grove. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality issued a consent administrative order in December, 2008, fining the Authority $13,100 for illegal discharge of sediment and sludge and for altering lagoons without proper authorization. In 2007, the agency cited the Authority for improper sediment storage and not reporting treated water flows as required.

Scott Borman, Director of the Authority, says he's not sure whether his Board will agree to pay the fine, even after it was negotiated down to $9,100. Larry Oelrich of Prairie Grove, Chairman of the Board, is hopping mad and thinks the solution is to remove Dr. Walter Kreeger, one of the Board members who communicated with an AEDQ enforcement officer regarding the violations that resulted in the fine. Oelrich has been after Kreeger since last summer, shortly after the AEDQ inspection that documented the violations last May.

Kreeger had sent several emails to AEDQ, in one saying that he could provide a former Two-Ton employee who could verify violations occurred and that sludge material was put under piles of dirt on the authority's property. Oelrich didn't like that one bit and said, "He's working in the worst interest of the authority." He contends that Kreeger has the unpleasant knack for disagreeing with the majority of the board and "makes a habit of seeking out disgruntled ex-employees to try to get dirt on Mr. Borman."

Like many of these regional boards in Northwest Arkansas, the Benton/Washington County Regional Public Water Authority is packed with good ol' boys who don't like to be questioned. Instead of trying to fix the environmental problems or firing the paid director, their solution is to can the board member who squealed on them and get back to business as usual. Where the sun don't shine.

Oh Happy Day

Getting to Know You

Fayetteville has a new mayor and two new members of the city council, all of whom will be making decisions that affect local residents. Perhaps you have heard their names, maybe you even visited their self-created campaign websites last fall, or you could have had a brief opportunity to talk personally with them about their plans when elected. For those of us who don't know them personally and well, there's now a chance to find out more about the new faces filling those chairs in the Council Chamber at City Hall on the first and third Tuesday evenings.

The Fayetteville Flyer has continued the fine public service provided during the mayoral campaign by recently posting of interviews with our new Aldermen, Matthew Petty representing Ward Two and Sarah Lewis elected from Ward Four. Both profiles are interesting and should be helpful to anyone wanting a program to know the players in the game of local politics.

You'll also find an insightful interview with our new mayor, Lioneld Jordan, in the current issue of Cityscapes Metro Monthly, the slick local magazine for those who live in the upscale neighborhoods of Ward One and Ward Three. The four-page spread is not linked from their site, but you can read page-by-page on another enterprising local blog.