Posted on November 12 on The Morning News Web site. Printed in The Morning News on November 16, 2008.
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/11/12/letters/111208letters.txt
The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Letters for November 12, 2008
Jordan Listens To All Citizens
Please vote for Lioneld Jordan for mayor on Nov. 25. Lioneld Jordan has been my choice for mayor of Fayetteville since election talk began.
No one can be expected to do more to protect the city's environment and people or make better decisions for the future. Lioneld was born in Fayetteville and loves Fayetteville. No one in public life since I first attended graduate school at the University of Arkansas in 1966 has more consistently earned my respect.
Lioneld listens to everyone's concerns. He understands and relates to working people in my Town Branch neighborhood in south Fayetteville and supported our effort to save a parcel of wetland prairie from development as we raised money to make the land a city nature park. The project would have wedged 48 apartments into a beautiful old single-family neighborhood with no concern for the sensitive environment.
Lioneld voted to protect the Wilson Spring property, among the rarest ecosystems this side of the Buffalo River. He earned the Sierra Club's endorsement for those votes and for supporting parks, trails and Fayetteville's steep, timbered hillsides and stream riparian zones.
He earned the endorsement of Fayetteville's firefighters and police and of the union of the staff and faculty of the University of Arkansas, where he has worked for decades. He earned the respect and endorsement of the local Green Party. Among people I know, Lioneld got votes from people whose statewide and national votes were for candidates of both Democratic and Republican parties. His record stands on its own. He is the kind of person both major parties want on their ticket. And he was endorsed by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
As a member of the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology, I am only one of many who voted for Lioneld because he is strong in all areas of OMNI's concern. I am among the members of the Carbon Caps Task Force who support Lioneld. I have friends who support the Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, Audubon Arkansas, National Audubon, Quail Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, the Game and Fish Commission's Stream Team and many unaffiliated hunters, fishermen, bird-watchers and nature lovers who voted for Lioneld.
Most important, however, are the working people who know and respect Lioneld and believe he will continue to give them a voice in city government, even as he works to create better jobs and housing for low-income residents and protect the environment while negotiating the best possible development plans as Fayetteville grows.
Lioneld respects everyone and shows no prejudice toward anyone. He listens to all and learns and strives to make decisions fair to all.
Aubrey James Shepherd
Fayetteville
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2 comments:
Aub,
You always take the high road and praise the good and ignore the bad.
But here is an anonymous item I found on another Internet list.
It deserves consideration, because you ignored the fact that the Northwest Arkansas Times endorsed Coody.
"In this endorsement, the Times has joined the mayor in derogatorily describing concerned, active and credible citizens as being dangerous "extremists" and essentially granting a continued carte blanc to the handful of developers who have had pretty much unlimited, uninterrupted, unfettered and unquestioned access to the podium, the microphone and the mayor's ear for darn near eight years.
In the course of this campaign honest hardworking protectors of the public's safety have been morphed into union thugs. Environmentalists and everyday folks who just don't want to see our town irrevocably scarred any more for the sake of enriching the few are being labeled extremists. Those on the Council and among the taxpayers who want the mayor's office to understand and demonstrate accountability painted as unreasonable, overly demanding shirkers. Taxpayers who question how the $63 million sewer plant debacle we all have to pay for actually happened derided as ignorant.
It is very disturbing that this debate which should be about reality and facts has veered into an all out attack on the intelligence and integrity of anyone who publicly disagrees with anything the mayor does.
Wasn't the mayor elected by a lot of these very same people? Didn't he seek the endorsements in this election that he now dismisses as meaningless or indicative of back room deals and secret promises? Did he not trumpet receiving some of those endorsements himself in prior races?
What has changed: Is it the job performance of the mayor, or all of the individuals and groups who once supported him who are now endorsing Lioneld Jordan?"
Anon,
I didn't ignore that endorsement. I simply had not read it until you called it to my attention.
Obviously, the comment you submitted is right on.
What you didn't ask was who convinced the Times to write about this as though the Times staff understands nothing about reality.
I am simply amazed that so many lies and distortions are given credence by a reputable newspaper.
It is clear that I must be one of the regulars who attend and sometimes speak at council meetings that that Coody or his minions have identified as extremists who would dominate the Jordan administration and frustrate the developers who dominate Coody.
What I can't figure out, however, is whether I am a right-wing or left-wing extremist.
Do you know? Coody doesn't know or surely he would have told the Times to make it simple and clear what he is talking about.
Coody doesn't know what category to place himself in, so don't expect him to accurately categorize anyone else.
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