Coody doesn't want residents to mention problems developments will cause or bring up problems later

 The differences between Lioneld Jordan and Dan Coody are obvious when the subject of proposed developments comes up in debate.
Coody lets developers speak for hours about the "good things" about their projects but tries to cut off discussion of potential problems.
Coody wants the council and the public to accept all the developers' claims and tolerate whatever goes wrong.
Lioneld Jordan listens to both sides and tries to work out the problems before site-grading begins. Even with all the bare ground allowing mud to flow to our streams already and flooding problems increasing annually as poorly planned developments remove trees and other vegetation from steep hills and the moist-soil prairie land is dredged and filled, Coody wants to push through another big project southwest of Fayettevville although the city doesn't have enough inspectors to check the progress of ongoing projects.
Coody calls people who want the work done right and the state and federal water-quality rules followed extremists. What is extreme about trying to do the right thing?


Back and forth : Jordan denies claims he is a ‘union man first’
BY DUSTIN TRACY Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/71229

At a mayoral debate Monday, Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody claimed that his rival, Alderman Lioneld Jordan, said at a City Council meeting that if Jordan had the chance he’d “ unionize this city so fast your head would spin. ” Coody added that he once asked Jordan to support him on an issue Coody planned to veto and Jordan said he planned to check with the union before voting on the issue, stating he was a “ union man first. ”
Jordan adamantly denied both allegations, stating that if either statement was said by him, it was done as a joke. He added that he had no plans to unionize any city department.
“ If I did want to (unionize the city ) it would have to pass the City Council, ” Jordan said. He added that any rumors that he was offering cost-of-living adjustments in return for the endorsements of the Fraternal Order of Police and the Fayetteville Fire Fighters Association are just not true. He said if elected he’d fight for costof-living adjustments for all employees.
Coody also gave his view on cost-of-living adjustments for uniformed personnel. He said that Fayetteville’s police officers were among the top paid in the region and also received solid benefits packages. He added that officers would receive raises this year, just like all city employees, just not cost-of-living adjustments.
“ There’s no reason to lay off divisions of people to give (cost-of-living adjustments ), ” he said.
This exchange was one of only a few punches pulled at the debate, when the Fayetteville mayoral candidates met for the second time in seven days to debate the issues they would face if elected.
The event, sponsored by the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, gave the candidates a different way to discuss the issues than they’ve experienced in past forums. Coody and Jordan got to make their statements and then face criticism and rebuttals from each other.
Both candidates spoke to how they would encourage economic development in the city. The issue of streamlining the planning process for developers was brought up. Coody stated that he planned on working with the Planning Division to create a simplified process for developers that want to bring unique, cuttingedge projects to Fayetteville. He feels that with the city’s current setup, developers are discouraged to simply build the “ same old stuff” because they’re afraid to bring a creative project in front of the City Council.
“ It goes to council, and a couple people complain, then the council throws a monkey wrench into the works, ” Coody said.
He added that planning staff tell developers that if they have a project going into Ward 4, Jordan’s ward for the past eight years, they should be prepared to add a couple months to their project because that’s how long it will get dragged out by Jordan trying to please everyone. He said that’s not the case for the other wards.
Jordan said he just tries to bring developers and the people together on the front end of a project so they can work out a project that’s in everyone’s favor. That’s what he’s done in Ward 4 by having ward meetings with developers over the past eight years.
“ The more you do up front, the less problems you have on the back end (of the project ), ” he said.
A little predictability and uniformity for developers throughout the approval process is what Jordan wants. He said he’d issue pamphlets to developers when they first apply for a project. The pamphlets would explain everything involved in the process and tell the developers the locations of the different city divisions and how long each step could take.
Each of them had a different method for creating an economic strategic development plan within the city. Coody said the city brought in economic consultants Eva Klein & Associates a month ago to help city officials and concerned citizens develop such a plan. The city partnered with the University of Arkansas on that workshop.
“ If we adopt it and stick to it, we will achieve the goal of a vibrant economy, ” Coody said.
Jordan introduced his 90-day plan. He gave himself three months, upon election, to bring UA, business, community and city leaders together to create an economic strategic development plan.
Coody said the 90-day plan was unrealistic. Jordan said all it would take was attitude and dedication.
The construction process of the city’s wastewater system improvement project came up at the debate. Jordan stated that the project was mismanaged because the $ 186. 5 million project was about $ 60 million over budget and it took longer than expected to complete. He said the Water and Sewer Committee, which Jordan served on at the time, was never informed that the plant would cost more.
“ The biggest mistake that I made was trusting the people in charge of (the wastewater system improvement project ), ” Jordan said.
Coody defended himself stating that he was lied to by consultants and as soon as he found out about the budget overrun, he told the committee and took responsibility for the situation. He said the city’s changed the way it handles such projects now by not putting outside consultants in charge of major projects. He said the city’s current street bond project is run that way, and all but two of its projects were completed under budget and early.
Jordan said he doesn’t believe that it took very long for Coody to find out about the wastewater system improvement project problems and he doesn’t believe the consultants are completely to blame.
“ Maybe the chief executive officer put in charge of one of the city’s largest projects simply fell asleep at the wheel, ” Jordan said.
Jordan and Coody both said they did not plan on raising city property taxes to pre-empt a request by the Fayetteville School District for a millage increase to pay for a new high school.
In regard to creating a balanced budget, Jordan stated that he would do so not by dipping into the city’s reserve funds like Coody suggested with the 2009 budget, but by managing the taxpayers ’ money.
“ We need to squeeze the dollar as tight as we can before we levy anymore taxes on people, ” Jordan said.
Coody said the council balanced the budget by cutting out four miles from the road overlay funds, which he felt was a bad decision. He said the city can’t afford to lose funding for its streets while it looks to pay for aesthetic things.
“ We say we want a balanced budget but then we open up the checkbook and expend for things we say we don’t want, ” Coody said.
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