Mayor Coody Bitch Slaps Bobby Ferrell

Mayor Dan Coody took on Ward Three Alderman Bobby Ferrell at the Council Agenda Session last night and made it clear that he would ignore Ferrell's Resolution asking the Mayor to submit a balanced budget. Coody told Ferrell that he was The Decider and had no intention of submitting a balanced budget, despite the Council Resolution passed last month. "I think I made it perfectly clear I’m going to bring forward the budget that I think is best for the city regardless of resolution or policy," he said.

Mayor Coody's preliminary 2009 budget of $35,919,400, which includes no cost-of-living increases for city employees, represents an increase of $896,400 over 2008 expenses and will create a deficit of more than half a million dollars -- about $535,400. Take that Bobby Ferrell.

Revenues are expected to increase by $361,000 next year, so Coody wants to cover his deficit spending by raiding the city's reserve funds for $535,400. That is his idea of good management and executive leadership. Otherwise, Coody would have to cut back on his travels to foreign countries, spend less time in Amsterdam and France, attend fewer high profile conferences with important people, reduce the number of no bid consulting contracts, and hold fewer press conferences and send fewer invitations to mutiple sewer plant Grand Openings to take credit for everything that happens in Fayetteville.

Fayetteville Students Rule

A total of 142 Arkansas high school seniors are being named today as Semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, making them eligible to receive one of the prestigious college scholarships next spring. Eighteen of these outstanding young scholars, roughly 13% of the state total, are from Washington County. Ten of those are from Fayetteville High School, which is the same total for all of Benton County.

The ten Fayetteville students recognized include Emily DeLong, Kyle Erf, Jordan Janawitz, Kaley Jarrett, Rebecca Lindsey, Savannah Mills, Jacob Purcell, Katherine Soerens, Daniel Tchakhalian, and Belgie Wang. Other Washington County scholars were Hannah Coffey and Grace Smith of Prairie Grove; Erin Plum of Elkins; West Fork homeschooler Anna Stitt; Graham Atherton, Kaila Pianalto, and Erin Wright of Springdale Har-Ber; and Stephanie Johnson of Springdale, bringing the county total to 18 National Merit Semifinalists this year.

Up in the shallow end of the gene pool, the Republican stronghold of Benton County had 10 National Merit Semifinalists. As expected, Siloam Springs had zero, the same number as Decatur and Gentry. Pea Ridge and Gravette had one each. Rogers had thee, and Bentonville had five.

Mark Your Calendar for Photo Op

As he began his eighth year in office and before he flip-flopped and decided to run for another term, Dan Coody admitted that the city had no economic development plan. So, in February, he proposed spending $150,000 for a consultant to define an economic development policy for the city. Finally, just last month, Coody signed a no bid contract with his chosen out-of-state consultant, Eva Klein and Associates, from somewhere in Virginia to come here and do a study for $150,000.

What do we have to show for this? No new economic development. Not a single new business. Not even an economic development plan. But Mayor Coody will have a big press conference, a Kick Off Event, on Tuesday, October 14th, 6-8 p.m. to celebrate the consultants coming to Fayetteville to ask us some questions that they can't answer. It will not be another ribbon cutting, but it will be an opportunity for the mayor to get some free publicity -- and to appear that he has done something about economic development besides developing the bank accounts of outside consultants with our tax dollars.

The big event is exactly three weeks before the November election.

For more information, contact Dr, Susan Thomas, Ph.D., Public Relations Advisor, at 575-8330, or the Coody Campaign Headquarters at 442-3644.

Nick Masullo (1952-2008), in Memoriam

It’s about all that you can do
with everything you’ve got
and not the things that hold you back
or anything you’re not

Nick Masullo, "Everything You've Got"

Jim McGinty for School Board (Position 2)

None of us here have ever met James McGinty, but we were impressed with his platform and unanimous in our decision to endorse him in the September 16th election for Fayetteville School Board, At-Large Position 2. Facing the question of building a new high school, McGinty's education as an architect and his past career as an electrical contractor and licensed master electrician give him the knowledge and experience to have an informed and much needed judgment about that process.

McGinty favors utilizing the current campus and creating a plan to build a world-class high school there, and he has signed the Build Smart petition to support that position. He is an advocate of neighborhood schools, and he questions the advisability of adding the 9th grade to the high school. He listed 15 qualities he believes the next superintendent should have, including excellent communication skills, inspiring trust, having an ability to build consensus and commitment among individuals and groups, having the ability to develop and maintain relationships with the business community and having experience as a teacher and principal. In other words, not Bobbynu.

His opponent, Susan Heil, has been a loyal supporter of Bobbynu and a big part of the problem with the current school board. She supported the flawed decision to add the 9th grade to the high school and insisted on a single huge high school. Now she bristles whenever anyone wants to revisit that decision and declares it has already been decided. She pushed for building the mega-school on the Deane Solomon site out on the far northwest edge of the city. Moreover, Heil was the swing vote that ignored the recommendation of the Materials Evaluation Committee and went along with Bobbynu's proposal to restrict student access to books targeted by Laurie Taylor's crusade in 2005.

As McGinty's campaign website says, "Change is good; change makes good schools great." Exchanging the incumbent bullheaded book-banner Heil for James McGinty would be a very good change.

Citizen Wisdom of the Day

"I applaud the Sept. 1 editorial supporting the need for designating additional scooter and motorcycle parking in the city and on campus. . . . However, I respectfully disagree with your notion that 'Nobody wants the diminutive size of scooters to give their drivers a free pass... to taking up car-sized spaces needed for bigger vehicles.' Why do my rights to park depend on whether I choose to drive my pickup truck or my scooter or my motorcycle? ... The average motorcycle on Dickson Street carries more than one paying customer to their destination. I doubt that the average SUV carries a much higher average number of passengers.

"... I certainly know Fayetteville residents love to take the time to conduct 'some study to determine how to best accommodate scooters.' However, it seems that the European models of designating oddly-shaped areas in parking lots, alleys and between buildings for scooter and bike parking would be an easy one to emulate and cost less than the study itself."

--Tim Kring, "Parking on Two Wheels," Northwest Arkansas Times

Columnist Observation of the Day

"Now, some of the same developers who brought Fudville the multi-million hole wants the city to partner with them to build a community called ... I dunno ... South Park or something like that, down by Cato Springs Road. By “partner” that essentially means the developers want the city to put in infrastructure and in return, the developers will give the city land for a park. What nobody seems willing to point out is that the land for the park appears to be land used as the old Fudville city dump....

"And the people running the city of Fudville — who are in a close race with Sprangdale (Springdale) for the most inept city government in Northwest Arkansas — are considering the deal.... You know, if someone leaves me holding the bag for more than a million dollars for a hole in the ground, I’m going to remember that failure, no matter how much good they’ve done me in the past....

"That’s just what the city needs. Infrastructure running to what’s liable to be nothing more than another big hole in the ground if they wind up hitting that old dumpsite. I’m not really sure if there are dummies associated with these two projects, the Big Dig and SouthPass, but it’s becoming obvious there are some puppets involved."

--Bob Caudle, "Deal Seems to Have Holes," The Morning News

Readers' Poll: Who Was Minding the Sewer?

There has been much blathering and blaming about who is really responsible for the $66 million sewer plant debacle. Mayor Dan Coody has said it wasn't really a cost overrun, that it was only a hiccup, that he didn't know there was a problem, and that it actually came in on time and under budget. Really, he said that.

We asked our readers to vote on which of Coody's excuses for the disaster they believed. Eighty-one (81) readers participated in the survey, but not many of them bought Coody's tales of who was to blame. Twenty people did. Nine (9) agreed that it was the fault of Chairman Kyle Cook and the Water and Sewer Committee.; five (5) agreed that it was the fault of former Mayor Fred Hanna; two (2) agreed that it could be blamed on Burns and McDonnell, the consulting firm that Coody hired; two (2) agreed that it could be blamed on Greg Boettcher, Coody's water and sewer director; one (1) said it was the fault of Bob Davis, another of Coody's water and sewer directors; and one (1) bought Coody's claim that it was Hurricane Katrina's fault.

The bad news for Coody's credibility is that nine (9) said it was just as likely that the Tooth Fairy was to blame as Coody's attempt to blame Kyle Cook's Committee. Seven said "stuff happens," but 45 (55%) said that the fault laid elsewhere, with "someone else." Someone else being Dan Coody.

Fayetteville Mayor's Race

For anyone interested in the mayor's race, we recommend a visit to the Fayetteville Flyer. Our pals over there have conducted and posted two interviews with five of the six candidates. One interview is a getting-to-know-you series of questions that surprisingly give you some insight to the personalities of the candidates, and the second round is about positions and views on local issues, including some interesting responses about the TIF Mudhole at College Avenue and Mountain Street.

We will have something to say about the campaign and the candidates after their first "debate" this Thursday evening. It will be sponsored by the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods and held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Until then, if you are so inclined, you can use the "comments" section here to share your views.

Last Call for Desperate Measures

Fayetteville Police officers responded to a robbery at Jose’s Mexican Restaurant and Cantina on Dickson Street at 11:49 p.m. Wednesday night. A masked man wearing an orange ski mask over his head reportedly sprayed a bartender with mace and stole a 12-pack of beer from a cooler before fleeing on foot with the goods tucked under his arm.

Responding quickly, Fayetteville police immediately set up a perimeter and searched for the suspect in the area of Dickson Street, St. Charles Avenue, and Lafayette Street. K-9 units were also called to the scene to search for the suspect, but they came up more than half empty.

Anyone who saw a thirsty man with a ski mask drinking beer or with any other information regarding this half case can contact Fayetteville police at 587-3555.