The Dog Days of Blogging

Bloggers and those who leave comments seldom have anything nice to say about anyone or anything, but that's okay. No one wants to be thought the political equivalent of a sports writer and get accused of being a homer or sucking up to power, so complaining becomes an art form with criticism and sarcasm flow freely upon public institutions and public figures. Sometimes it appears to be jaundiced cynicism, and sometimes it appears deserved commentary meant to correct the errors and improve things for the polis.

There are signs that bloggers and their readers might not really care, much less be up to the real responsibility of government and public affairs. Take, for example, the two best news sources in Northwest Arkansas -- the Fayetteville Flyer and Ozarks Unbound. Both have recently provided information about openings on Fayetteville city boards and commissions, including those on Environmental Concerns and on Tree and Landscape. How many reader comments on the Flyer? None. How many reader comments on OU? Zip. What about the upcoming races for City Council? Ozarks Unbound has an informative article with zero comments, tied with nada on the Fayetteville Flyer article.

Does the dearth of reader response reflect a lack of interest in public service, or is actually getting involved not worth the time to comment? An article on chicken wings drew 23 comments on the Flyer, so that gives you some idea about their readers' relative hierarchy of interests. But it is not just the wired kids who seem disinterested in political involvement. The only contested race for county office this fall in Benton and Washington Counties is a race for Washington County Assessor, where seeking a sinecure is far more central than implementing ideology of government. Meh.

The Predator Is on the Prowl

After sucking up every available federal dollar for the stillborn Bella Vista By-Pass and the Walmart HQ Driveway to I-540, the Northwest Arkansas Council is back again stealing crumbs from the poor. Mike Malone is the front man for this unelected group of rich corporate executives that has captured the Northwest Arkansas Regional Mobility Authority. This public body would have been an excellent vehicle to apply for light rail and mass transit funding; that is, until Malone and the Economic Ephors so generously offered to staff the organization and turn it into a convenient receptacle for their own pet projects.

The Advocates for Public Transit, an advisory board to Ozark Regional Transit, has decided to seek a 2011 election date for a 1/4 cent sales tax to support the undernourished public transit system serving Washington and Benton Counties. Then the board said it wanted the transit system to work with the Northwest Arkansas Regional Mobility Authority and the Northwest Arkansas Council on a sales tax election, which was all the opening that Malone and the Millionaires needed. Get the Vaseline, because they are coming back for more.

Malone and the captive Regional Mobility Authority want to raise the sales tax to get even more money for the Bella Vista By-Pass so that a certain retailer and the truckers will not have to pay up for a toll road. They want you to pay a sales tax for their bypass. Malone said he and the group might consider including something for the transit system -- if their tax passed and there was anything left.

To scare the Advocates for Mass Transit, they brought in an advertising slick to tell them how hard it would be to pass a sales tax without the backing of the Millionaires Club. One Randy Mullikin, owner of the Mullikin Agency and frequent world traveler courtesy of Springdale taxpayers funneled through the Springdale Chamber of Cowbirds, told the public transit supporters that it would require an advertising campaign costing exactly $158,900 to win an election.

Randy didn't mention how much of that might go into his pocket for creative, production, and commissions, but it would be more than any of my friends or I make in a year. He also didn't tell them what a bullshitter he was, because that's more than twice what Asa Hutchinson charged David Bisbee to prove he was illiterate, more than twice what Marilyn Edwards spent to get elected County Judge in 2008. He just made sure that the beggars would run to Malone for his "help" and that he would get his cut from the campaign.

Ozark Regional Transit will lose $750,000 in federal funding for operating expenses after this census report, and the paltry 1/4 cent sales tax could solve that problem and allow significant expansion of services. They deserve it, but there is not a chance of it passing if the greed of Mr. Malone and the Northwest Arkansas Council overwhelms the need of those who depend on public transportation for their livelihood and their lives.

Walton Arts Center Expansion

Yesterday was the deadline for proposals related to the expansion plans for the Walton Arts Center. Here's the weak proposal from the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce, and here's the even more insulting one from the Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce. Then there is the poor one from the Springdale Chamber of Commerce that brags about the availability of billboards, but at least they tried, unlike the smug drivel submitted by Bentonville and Rogers. There were also numerous suggestions from people wanting to sell their real estate.

The joint proposal from the City of Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas is awesome. Totally awesome. It presents a thoughtful and detailed narrative instead of the glib representations from the other applicants. It addresses each issue and provides both specific plans and helpful designs. It includes funding mechanisms for parking decks and theaters. It throws in bigtime concerts in Bud Walton Arena and Razorback Stadium. No other proposal can touch it, and the others should slink away in shame. However, if you want to hear the opinions of local residents who don't like anything about the current Walton Arts Center or the joint proposal for expansion in Fayetteville, drop by to read the comments on the Fayetteville Flyer, here and here.

Will the Fayetteville-University proposal be accepted, or will the Walton Arts Center Board decide to build the huge theater expansion project in what one local leader dubbed "a big field in a dry county"? We will soon know. We will know soon whether Peter Lane and the WAC Board were seriously seeking strong proposals or running a charade as cover for decisions already made elsewhere. We will know whether it is called the Walton Arts Center because it honored the role of Helen and Sam Walton among the founding forces of the Fayetteville institution, or whether it is called that because the Walton Family Foundation can wield its checkbook and demand that it be built in Benton County.

Either way, the Fayetteville-University proposal smokes them all on merit. Congratulations to Mayor Jordan and Chancellor Gearhart on an excellent proposal.

Quote of the Day

"We hope the council votes against something the chamber wants soon — just to show they still can."

- Editorial, Northwest Arkansas Times, July 23, 2010

Plush Perks for Politicians and Public Employees

These are tough times for local government, because they are tough times for the economy. People without jobs cannot buy products and services, and the over-reliance on sales tax revenues to fund local government is generating less revenue than in past years. Much has been done to reduce expenses and attempt to maintain services, and most elected officials and public employees have been willing to continue with frozen salaries and reduced overtime pay. However, a few bad apples continue to draw deep from the public purse for their own convenience and act as if they are entitled to special treatment from the lowly taxpayers.

Some of our state's highrollers have been pinched lately when it became known that they were driving high-dollar vehicles for personal business at taxpayer expense. Some have since given up their state car, and others have started paying income tax on the benefit. House Speaker Robbie Wills told everyone to kiss his ass, that he was keeping the Tahoe and not paying back anything. In addition to state elected officials, more than 400 state employees have been paying taxes on the use of a state-owned vehicle to commute to and from work, get groceries, take the kids to school, and hundreds of other personal uses at taxpayer expense. How many state employees have personal vehicles provided by the taxpayers is unknown, but a lawsuit filed last week seeks to put an end to this practice.

The local media have shown little interest and devoted almost no effort to check on how many county and city officials and employees are getting these personal vehicles at taxpayer expense. It was reported last year that Washington County Judge Marilyn Edwards and her chief flunky, Dan Short, got brand new Dodge Durango SUVs as a $50,000 gift from county taxpayers. How many other county officials and county employees have personal use of county vehicles, and do they pay income tax on this freebie?

Neither Mayor Jordan nor Don Marr get city vehicles for personal use. One of Jordan's first moves was to decline the $500 a month car allowance that the former mayor got from taxpayers. None of the other elected officials -- City Clerk, City Attorney, or City Council -- have cars provided by the taxpayers. The question that remains unanswered is how many passenger vehicles does the city own, and how many of these are assigned to employees for their personal use? Let's have some answers. Let's have some open government disclosure about who the taxpayers are buying cars for and which employees are paying income tax on this luxury service in hard times. Do you think Ray Boudreaux has a car at the executive jetport that he used for courting the Councilwoman? Parking these little perks would be better than furloughing employees so the big shots can continue to cruise in style.

What about the other cities and counties? What do Steve Womack and David Bisbee drive? What about school district employees? What about the University of Arkansas and its holding company, the Athletic Department? How many administrators are getting the free ride whiles faculty and staff salaries are frozen for two years? Is David Gearhart's rig as nice as Jeff Long's or whoever is supposed to be the basketball coach? It's not like they couldn't afford to buy a car with those inflated salaries.

I don't get paid enough to ask these questions, which would require the effort of making a few phone calls and the patience to endure the everlasting run-around, and I have given up waiting on the Northwest Arkansas Times to act like a real newspaper. The Fayetteville Flyer and Ozarks Unbound have a clear field if they want it.

Gall and Greed of the Greasy

Disgraced Republican Benton County Judge David Bisbee is once again trying to slop at the public trough and throw some taxpayer funds to defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson. You'll recall that Bisbee was charged with feathering his own nest by rejecting a low bid for county work and hiring his own firm. An all-Republican Benton County jury acquitted him of three charges after he and his lawyer put on a defense claiming that Bisbee couldn't read or write, so he was ignorant of the ethics law that he voted for in the legislature and later ignored. The jury was hung on whether he was guilty of using his public office to advance the economic interest of Gary Wierman, his longtime associate at Valley Homes.

Now comes Bisbee asking the judge to order taxpayers to pay his lawyer fees! His main man, Asa Hutchinson, filed a sworn statement that his normal fee was $660 an hour, which is not bad for a man who voted against raising the minimum wage for common folks. Hutchinson says he gave Bisbee a cut rate of only $400 an hour for himself and $200 an hour for his son. The Arkansas Public Defender Commission pays private attorneys $90-$110 an hour when they are appointed to represent people facing the death penalty, but the Hutchinson defense team was billing at $775 an hour for misdemeanors. The bill came to $73,044.85, and Dave and Asa think that you should pay them.

If David Bisbee really thought that all defendants deserved equal justice in Benton County, he would have presented a county budget with funds to pay $400 an hour to the lawyers of all defendants who were acquitted or had charges dropped. It could be called the Doug Norwood Retirement Fund or something, but Bisbee didn't recommend a nickel for anyone else's legal fees. He just wants special treatment for himself, and he wants taxpayers to come up with $73,044.85 so he can pay his pal Asa for the illiteracy defense.

If Asa Hutchinson really thought that all defendants deserved to have their legal fees paid if they were not convicted or charged, he would have introduced an appropriation bill in Congress to pay millions to the lawyers who defended the Clintons during the six-year Whitewater witch hunt conducted by Kenneth Starr and the unsuccessful impeachment trial led my none other than Asa Hutchinson. But, he didn't. He just wants special treatment for himself, and he wants taxpayers to come up with $73,044.85 to pay him for the Bisbee illiteracy defense.

These Benton County Republicans are against spending public funds for an HIV Clinic, wastewater treatment, public health care, or unemployment benefits for those who have lost their jobs. They have no problem with spending your tax dollars to line their own pockets at $400 an hour or to pay their personal bills of more than $73,000. Shame has left the building. The local Teabaggers don't seem to have any problem with this, so maybe the relatively sane few in Benton County shouldn't either.

Boozman, Wall Street, and Main Street

Congressman John Boozman (R-Rogers) voted two years ago for using taxpayer money to bailout of the Big Banks that had made foolish decisions and lost billions of dollars. Boozman supported this George Bush scheme to help Wall Street CEOs keep their bonuses and estates in the Hamptons. He didn't raise taxes to cover the cost, he just loaded it on the national debt for our grandchildren to pay. Now he says the nation shouldn't extend unemployment benefits to 16,000 Arkansas citizens who lost their jobs and can't find work, because that would increase the deficit he created for the bank bailout.

On June 30, Boozman again stood up for the Wall Street bankers, fighting all additional financial regulation of shady banking practices and trying to kill any consumer protection measures when he voted against the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that was signed into law today. Under this legislation, about 650 former customers of Arkansas National Bank Financial at Rogers will receive checks from the FDIC, retroactively covering the loss of their personal savings up to $250,000 due to poor management decisions by ANB officers and board members that led to huge losses and closing of the bank.

Boozman opposed protection for the life savings of small depositors in Arkansas, but he was all for bailing out the Wall Street bankers. Why is that? Take a look at his campaign contributors for the last ten years, and you'll see who he represents. Unless you coughed up big bucks, it is not you. If there's another explanation, I'd love to hear it.

Tim is Waiting for You in the Cyber Crib

Dear Sheriff Fife,

Time and again, you have convinced us that your presence in office will continue to interfere with workplace harmony and public dignity. One way to eliminate a public disruption/distraction problem is to replace the person or persons who have caused the problem. One way to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization is to elect people who will be able to do a better job or will be able to do the same job without making our county look like a bunch of repressed hillbillies living in 17th century Salem. These are political decisions. We will have other choices for the Sheriff’s position in two years. We have decided to replace you with an employee who will not ignore the harassment complaints of female employees, fire female employees for non-workplace activities, and generally make our top county law enforcement officer look like the love child of Barney Fife and the Church Lady. We are choosing to elect a person who we believe will better our ability to get our legitimate government work done -- in a manner that is both effective and efficient -- without any more harmful national publicity like you brought to our county last year when a female defendant was locked in a closet and forgotten for four days

PS. Get off the computer. Stop checking and rechecking Jessi's pictures.

Rogers Among the Chosen Few

Rogers has been named to the CNN.Money Top Ten Best Small Towns, just behind Fishers, Indiana, and Ames, Iowa. They say that being located next door to Walmartville gives it a relatively cosmopolitan feel. The article, however, warns, "Not all is picture perfect: Rogers does contain some rundown areas. Though Wal-Mart has had layoffs in recent years, the jobless rate here remains low."

Rogers is the only Arkansas town in the Top 100 this year. For the last two years, Bloomberg Businessweek has named Springdale as the best small town in which to raise your kids. Local real estate agent Judy Luna says that will teach the snobs in Fayetteville.

Nothing yet posted on the Rogers Blog, but keep checking.

What Boozman Did to Us Last Week

It undermines one's faith in the republic when a Congressman openly ignores his constituents to blindly follow John Boner down the economic rabbit hole. Last week, Congressman John Boozman (R-Walmart Puppet) did just that on two major bills in the House. His disregard for both the welfare and wishes of Northwest Arkansas voters cannot be dismissed as ignorance. It has come to be a harmful mixture of hubris and malice that leads him to flip off even those who voted for him.

Exhibit A. In 2008, John Boozman voted for billions on Bush's bailout of the huge Wall Street Ponzi Banks that plunged the nation's economy into crisis. On Wednesday, he voted against any additional federal regulations of those same financial bandits. The bill, which passed over his opposition, created a federal consumer protection agency, allows oversight of the speculative commodities market, gives stockholders an advisory role on those sweet executive compensation packages, and providing greater transparency of financial shenanigans. Funding comes from ending the Troubled Assets Relief Program bank bailout corporate welfare program that Boozman supports.

Exhibit B. On Thursday, Boozman voted against H.R. 4899, a supplemental appropriation bill that will provide $13 billion in mandatory funding for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange, $162 million for the Gulf Coast oil spill disaster, $10 billion for an Education Jobs Fund to help save 140,000 education jobs for the next school year, funding for Pell Grants, summer youth jobs, border security, innovative technology energy loans, and emergency food assistance. It is funded by $23.5 billion in offsets, including $11.7 billion in rescissions from other programs that no longer require the funding.

Boozman believes his own polls showing him with a landslide 30% lead over Blanche Lincoln and knows that voters don't care enough to check his horrendous voting record. However, when you have an opportunity, ask our local Congressional nominees Steve Womack (R-Rogers) and David Whitaker (D-Fayetteville) how they would have voted on these two bills. I'd like to know if we will continue to have a 3rd District representative who votes repeatedly against our interests, or if we might get our country back from the bankers and boners who have owned the bozo.