Mike Emery's opening statement at Ward 4 meeting Monday night, Nov. 26, 2012. Opponent for Ward 4 council seat didn't show up. Please click on headline below to go to You Tube and select full-frame view

Public meetings Fayetteville AR Nov. 26-30, 2012

City Clerk Division
113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 PH. (479) 575-8323 city_clerk@ci.fayetteville.ar.us

PUBLIC MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 26, 2012

* Meetings scheduled to be televised by the Government Channel are indicated with an asterisk *

Monday, November 26
5:30 PM 6:00 PM
Tuesday, November 27
4:30 PM
5:15 or Immediately following Agenda Session
Wednesday, November 28
Thursday, November 29
9:00 AM 2:00 PM
6:00 PM
Friday, November 30
2:00 PM

Planning Commission * Ward 4 Meeting *
City Council Agenda Session*
Equipment Committee *
No Meetings Listed
Subdivision Committee *
Bid Opening: Bid 12-78, Construction - Server Room Storm Shelter
Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods *
Bid Opening: Bid 12-79, Rear Load Solid Waste Truck

Room 219 Room 111
Room 326
Room 326
Room 326 Room 326
Room 326 Room 326 

Nov. 25-30, 2012, takes on Fayetteville, Arkansas, public television recorded 19 Nov. 2012: Stop the Killing now in Syria

Please click on headline below to go to You Tube and switch to full-frame view.

How do you define necessity?

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2 p.m. at the Town Center today! Sample video added later

Arkansas' Stand for the Children of Syria in Fayetteville

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Mohja Kahf Say hello these beautiful people tomorrow--they've been working tirelessly to put on this event--the Arkansas Stand for the Children of Syria, taking place Saturday Nov 17. And a grateful shout-out to ALL who've volunteered to help in tons of ways! (We are SO gonna beat the Dallas Walk, everyone--they think we're small; they just don't know how much heart and spirit we've got going here. Whoops--back to the focus: the children. The children.) See you at the Town Center plaza on Mountain Street in Fayetteville at 2pm! Unlike ·  ·  · 11 hours ago You, Robert A. Jordan, Jodi Nimmo, Mark R. Prime and 11 others like this. Aubrey James Shepherd Need to get up on the square and promote this event to the crowd to get them to come back at 2 p.m. or just stay on the square in the perfect sunshine morning. a few seconds ago · Like

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Environmental Action Committee advises city council on projects on sensitive sites

Professor emeritus Gerald Klingaman to address Flower, Garden and Nature Society in Springdale on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012

Environmental Action Committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012: See video of October meeting below

Hello EAC! Please plan to attend the EAC meeting Thursday November 15, 2012 at 5:30pm in room 111 of City Hall. We'll discuss the following topics. 1. Update on Brookberry and other council agenda items 2. Community Wildlife Habitat 3. EAC notification process 4. 2012 achievements 5. December meeting topics 6. Certificates for new members Looking forward to seeing you! Sarah -- Sarah E. Lewis, Ph.D. Food, Beverage, and Agriculture Sector Manager The Sustainability Consortium Fayetteville, AR City Council Member Adjunct Professor, UALR www.sustainabilityconsortium.org www.accesssfayetteville.org (479) 575-4296 office (479) 263-2087 mobile

Citizens First Congress' Northwest Arkansas Caucus meeting 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012, includes members of Arkansas chapter of Sierra Club; and anyone else interested is invited to attend

CFC NWA Caucus

Nov 13, 20125:00 - 9:00 pm
OMNI Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology
3274 No. Lee Ave, Fayetteville.

Thanks!
The Arkansas Citizens First Congress

Aubrey James Shepherd's two short takes on Fayetteville Public Access television Sunday through Friday, 12-16 Nov. 2012

Mayor Lioneld Jordan praised for great leadership: Council members agree

Mayor Lioneld Jordan is the greatest leader Fayetteville has had, at least in my 39 years here. He’s honest, straight-forward, respectful, hard-working, and inclusive. 

Yet the NWA Times editorial board surprisingly chose to endorse Lioneld’s opponent, though their reasoning appears cloudy and conflicted. 

Quoting: "Lioneld Jordan deserves a lot of respect for maintaining city government during crises that included a dramatic economic slump and a crippling ice storm. His affable personality and focus on inclusion of citizens and city staff deserve high praise. When it comes to making people feel good, Jordan gets high marks. Jordan is visible at practically any gathering of any size in town, where he can passionately proclaim “I love this city.” And it’s clear that he means it." 

"Everybody likes Lioneld Jordan, including us." 

In contrast: "We wish Coody had the relationship skills of Jordan. He says he's mellowed a bit, and having had four years to ponder his leadership style, will work differently this time. We hope that's true." "His biggest challenge with some voters is convincing them he can be believed."

I'm befuddled. 

To paraphrase: Lioneld is genuinely nice. He's managed the city well through multiple record-breaking crises. He is inclusive and cares what citizens and city employees feel and think. He makes people feel good about themselves and our city. He’s supportive of causes and concerns important to a wide range of citizens. He’s not posturing --he loves this city!

Coody says he'll be nicer now, but he garnered resentment amongst city employees and citizens in his terms. His relationship with fellow elected officials on the Council was contentious. He's gonna have an uphill climb convincing those who remember that he’s veered more towards honesty and candor and respectfulness than he demonstrated before.

No mention of the stark differences in management of taxpayer dollars. No kudos to Lioneld for getting us through the recession without cutting services or layoffs of city employees and no tax increases. No credit to Lioneld for presenting the first balanced budget in many moons to the Council. 

No reference to Coody’s >$60 million dollar cost overrun on the sewer treatment plant, or the resulting sales tax increase to cover that debacle. No reminders of the hole in the ground with the giant crane or taxpayers in the TIF district who’ll be paying for that spectacular failure for many years. Or failed developments, Ruskin Heights and SouthPass for example, that Mr. Coody championed and from which several of his largest campaign contributors in 2008 would have been enriched greatly.

I support Lioneld Jordan's re-election with certainty he’s the superior choice for Fayetteville's future. Hundreds of citizens had our names published . Our firefighters and police officers who risk their lives every work-day and worked with both are enthusiastically supporting Lioneld. We're joined by an impressive majority of current and former councilpeople who’ve governed with both candidates. The Sierra Club endorsed Lioneld.

Consider what those endorsements say about Lioneld.

Please join us in voting for Lioneld Jordan!

Beth Presley

-----Original Message-----
From: Brenda Thiel

Subject: Re: Undecided about the Mayoral Race? Read this.

I couldn't agree more about Beth's letter. It was EXCELLENT!

Brenda Boudreaux

SOUTHPASS Sign at entry to the proposed regional park that awaits potential surrounding development to kick-start the required flow of money to pay for the list of park amenities. This magnificent wildlife habitat would long ago have been graded down and its vegetation removed if Coody's fantasy had come to fruition. The city remains responsible for the old landfill adjacent to it. The VISION didn't include recognizing the possibility of a recession that would bankrupt over-reaching borrowers and banks alike. Go back in the Government Channel archives or read the minutes of city park, planning and council meetings to see how it all came about, including the warnings from many individuals that it was risky business. Notice which council members voted against the boondoggle.

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE.

View through 36-power zoom from so-called landfill road to downtown Fayetteville. October 2012 foliage hides landfill that may be leaking many dangerous pollutants into the underground water channels and into Cato Springs Branch, the southwest-most tributary of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River, thus the region's main water supply: Beaver Lake.

Water features? A water theme park or something?  Does it say stream preservation or wetland protection or forest or prairie preservation? Mayor Jordan has supported a streamside-protection ordinance, a stronger hillside-protection ordinance and pushed for the city to qualify as an urban habitat community now certified by the National Wildlife Federation. The former administration saw only land that could be turned into a huge project to benefit developers.

Longtime public-outreach coordinator explains difference between current and former mayors

Published in the NWA Times today, beautifully written by Julie McQuade:

 

TWO KINDS OF MAYORS

In Fayetteville, we are about to choose whether to keep the current mayor, Lioneld Jordan, or bring back a past mayor, Dan Coody. I’ve had the unique opportunity to work for both men for approximately 3 years in each administration.

I want to share the lessons I learned through personal experiences in each mayor’s administration. The differences say a lot about the integrity and leadership qualities of each.

During Coody’s administration the lessons I learned were:

1. My job was more about “spin” than real communication.
2. An item that passed at City Council without any discussion was a win.
3. If an issue was mentioned in an editorial, you expected to spend many hours covering the mayor’s position and also expected a city staffer to be the fall guy, if it reflected negatively on the mayor.
4. Whatever the mayor promised in public, staff had to find a way to make it happen, regardless of legality or ethics.
5. City staff survived only through keeping their heads down and covering their rears, at all costs.
6. An expensive plan or program by outside consultants was more important than local community input. Financial feasibility or possibilities of implementation did not matter at all, as long as the mayor got impressive awards.

During Jordan’s administration the lessons I learned were:

1. My job was communication and facilitating opportunities for everyone to get involved in city decisions.
2. The mayor wanted many discussions, differing opinions, and wide-spread input on an item before developing a proposal for City Council and he encouraged continued discussion with the City Council.
3. If an issue was mentioned in an editorial, expect to spend time getting the mayor all the relevant facts on the issue. If an issue was controversial, the mayor would give the City Council the opportunity to discuss and make a decision, rather than try to sweep it under the rug, even though he knew some would be unhappy with the decision the City Council would have to make.
4. As staff, you could trust that the mayor would never compromise the legality or ethics of the city administration or city staff .
5. As staff, the mayor was your biggest supporter. He would do his best to get you the recognition and compensation deserved.
6. Several aspects were weighed before considering a project/ program/plan; financial feasibility, possibility of implementation, the long-term costs, return-on-investment, sustainability and the whole-community impact/involvement.

Admittedly I was a supporter of Coody before 2008. I did not know Jordan, and used to justify my supporting Coody by stating, “As politicians go, he isn’t too bad.” Then I got the privilege of getting to know Jordan and working with him. When I’m asked about my support of Jordan, I now say, “He is a good, honest man who happened to get elected to office.” Jordan isn’t a politician. You can trust what he says, whether you agree with him or not.

JULIE MCQUADE

Fayetteville

 

All hail and many thanks to Julie, for setting the record straight!