Hypocrisy averted at the Faulkner County Election Committee

We have heard rumors that the Faulkner County Election Committee had considered closing the polling place at the McGee Center for the runoff election because there was only 118 votes cast there and it will cost less money to consolidating those voters with the Don Owen voters rather than paying poll workers in both places. However the polling place at Hendrix, which received even fewer voters, would remain open.

When asked why the polling place at Hendrix was not being considered for closure by Candidate Mark Vaught, Faulkner County Election Commission Chairman Bruce Haggard stated that he thought Alderman and runoff opponent Adam Weeks would have a problem with that.

Candidate Vaught then replied, "I'm sure he would, [but] if you're proposing to close the McGee for the reasons of saving money and because it had a low Ward 2 turnout, then I think you'll need to close Hendrix as well, and have all Ward 2 voters go to Don Owens." Vaught added he thought they needed to close both of them or neither of them.

We have been told that the election committee has decided to keep both polling places open. Kind of funny how this turned out, score one for Candidate Mark Vaught for pointing out their hypocrisy. . .

Can you help

With the ink barely dry in the outcome of the city’s election we have a plea from a resident in Old Conway. Barbara Stroope who lives on Davis Street near Hendrix College says a Little Rock developer wants to build an apartment complex on Ash Street and she needs our help in preventing it. She writes, [link]

Currently, these developers CANNOT build high-density apartment complexes because of our neighborhood zoning (currently R-2A which allows single family homes or duplexes). They need the recommendation of the Conway Planning Commission and the approval of the City Council to change the zoning to an MF-2 and a conditional MF-3 (the highest-density multi-family housing).

Personally, I am not opposed to all rentals and apartments. I lived in apartments for 10 years before I moved to Davis St., and I understand the need for rental housing. However, our neighborhood already contains several apartment complexes. If Civil Designs builds more high-density apartments it will be a tipping point, and our neighborhood will begin to suffer. We would then have many more renters than owners and the unique balance of our neighborhood would be destroyed.

What can you do to help?

Call, call, call! Email, email, email!
Call and email the Planning Commission, City Council Members and the Mayor. The more calls and emails, the better chance we have!

Voice your opinion at the public hearing!
Most importantly, we need lots and lots of people to attend Planning Commission public hearing. Bring your families, and let the commission know how important this issue is to you.
When: Monday, November 20th, 7:00 p.m.
Where: District Court Building, 810 Parkway
Transportation: Call me if you need a ride!

Also, please join us for a pre-hearing planning session at Something Brewing Coffeehouse, Saturday, November 18th at 7:00 p.m. At this time, we will coordinate our talking points so we can provide a united front at the hearing.

Together, we can save this unique neighborhood!

Thanks, and please feel free to contact me at any time,
Barbara Stroope
1220 Davis St.
Barbara.Stroope@acxiom.com
342-3105 (w) or 908-8691 (h)

Hendrix's Village, the next best thing since sliced bread

A new "urban lifestyle" for the city of Conway or a lack of space for Hendrix College is the question we need to be asking. Hendrix College has been steadily increasing its enrollment and is running out of space. This isn't a new issue but it is the impetus for the new village. Just like many other colleges across the state Hendrix's enrollment is quickly growing, so much so that the need to expand is a must for the college. But what kind of expansion will they need? One that offers the most efficient use of the land they own. Hence the Village, the new urban lifestyle.

The designers of this project have come up with a plan that emphases pedestrian traffic thereby reducing the need for parking. The idea here is to have shops, living space, and the college campus all within walking distance of each other. This way students have access to everything they could need while at school. The designers have done a masterful job with the village concept but have a slight problem, Hwy 64 better know as Harkrider.

Harkrider, the great divide, separates the campus from its visionary village concept. With traffic speeding by it will make it difficult to integrate the campus with its village via the one lone footbridge. So designers had an idea, why not make the highway part of the village, this way it would create a nearly seamless transition from campus to village. But how do you sell that idea to a city? Why you overload their senses with highly graphical presentations and tantalize them with visions of prosperity. Let's add a roundabout and sell this as an integral part of the design. Not only will it effectively take over Harkrider, it also will make it great focal point and draw much attention to our changing campus.

This all sounds great, if you are on the board of directors of Hendrix College, but for the average citizens of Conway who live, work, or travel by the campus it stinks. Now we cannot fault Hendrix for wanting to make the best of its property, the village sure does that, but the integration of Harkrider into the plan and passing it off as needed for the plan to succeed goes beyond being good neighbors to its city. What I fail to understand is why the Mayor would cast the deciding vote that allowed Hendrix to proceed without seeing the final plan. It was a very irresponsible decision on his part, he obviously was swayed by all the pretty details and could not see past the dollar signs swimming in his eyes.

Does Hendrix need this Village? Absolutely. Will the city benefit from Hendrix's Village? Again the answer is yes. Does the city and state have to sacrifice Harkrider for this Village? Absolutely Not. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Hendrix College is the only one who will benefit from a roundabout on Harkrider, not the city, not the state, and not the taxpayer. So people call your state representatives and have the roundabout idea rejected. We do not need to spend any of our tax dollars to fund a private venture. . .

RHTO Neighborhood Association’s Event

The Rolling Hills and Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association recently invited the candidates who are running for Alderman, Ward 2 to their regular scheduled meeting. Log Cabin reporter Jessica Bauer also received an invitation and wrote this story, [link]

At this meeting the would-be alderman discussed topics that ranged from the much debated sign ordinance to how much work and research there is involved in being an alderman to making public information more readily available, yawn…

While these are all good topics it seems to us that these pale in comparison to the real challenges that face the city. Challenges like the increasing population that brings with it increased criminal activity, increased traffic, and decreased green space with new construction.

Over the next 10 years Ward 2 will see some dramatic changes in the construction Hendrix’s Village project. This project, for example, will be another of the many challenges the city will face. It will be up to these potential aldermen to guide the city through this time of transition while ensuring that the city’s police, fire, and infrastructure departments have enough money and manpower to accommodate ventures such as these. It is this project that has already caused controversy when Mayor Tab Townsell’s vote approved the inevitable destruction of traffic flow on Harkrider by allowing Hendrix College to pursue the planned roundabout construction. This approval was given with very little research and without a finalized plan.

It would appear that these candidates have failed thus far to consider these challenges and are destined to repeat the mistakes of the current city council. Let us all hope that these candidates step up to the plate and talk about the more important issues facing the future of Conway in their next little soiree.

On a side note: Score one for Candidate Mark Vaught, he drew first blood so to speak. You see Mark Vaught was the president of the RHTO Neighborhood Association until this year when he stepped down. However he remains involved with the group serving as secretary for the association. Way to go Candidate Vaught that was a good move getting your opponents on your turf and essentially agreeing with their views. That should win you some votes from your neighbors. After all who wouldn’t want an alderman as a neighbor.

Signs, spike strips, and ‘minor’ details

The city council voted to cancel the sign moratorium it imposed at its last meeting and table the proposed changes to the existing sign ordinance after hearing from local business owners at Wednesday's public meeting.

This issue is not dead, a second public hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 11 at 6:30 pm, the regular council meeting time. However Mayor Townsell tells the Log Cabin no action will be taken then either because of Alderman Jack 'rubber stamp' Bell's scheduled absence. Will the outcome really be any different with or without Bell's presence?

Recently we read that a high speed chase on I-40 was ended by a K-9 officer of the Conway PD. It seems Conway resident Harvey Battle, 32, pointed a gun at Morrilton police officers before speeding away from a traffic stop. Spike strips were used in an attempt to stop Battle but were avoided by the fleeing man.

The spike strips did however stop two cars unrelated to the chase, KTHV reports one of those individuals is an employee of the TV station. KTHV backpack journalist Mike Duncan was one of the cars that hit the spike strips and the Conway Police Department will be replacing two of his tires.

Controversy is beginning to brew in the Ward 3 city council race. There seems to be some discrepancies in the papers filed by both the incumbent candidates in this race.

According to information we received incumbent candidate Jack Bell failed to list his name on a petition form as required by law and incumbent candidate Mary Smith circled and checked that she is running for Non-Partisan Judicial Candidate on her political practice pledge.

To further compound these ‘minor' details, neither of these two incumbent candidates have ever had their Statements of Financial Interests notarized, which puts them both in violation of the Arkansas Ethics Commission. Some citizens and opposing candidates now question the validity of their candidacies for re-election.

Candidate Tom Jones issued the following comments on this issue.

According to the Running for Public Office handbook, Alderman Bell failed to meet the prima fascia requirements for submitting a valid petition and Mary Smith has announced her candidacy to be a judge.

I shared this with Melinda Reynolds, our county clerk, yesterday. Her official position on Jack Bell's Petition of Nomination was that it was stapled to another piece of paper that did have Jack Bell's name on it. Her exact quote was "It came together." Regarding Mary Smith's Political Practice Pledge, Ms. Reynolds' official position was "She can always come back in and redo this."

This has a bad appearance, knowing that two non-incumbent candidates (Larry Rathjen and George Carroll) had their Petition of Nominations rejected by Melinda Reynolds on similar technicalities. Luckily for both of those candidates, they got their first Petitions in before the deadline, so they had time to go out and collect another 30 signatures after Ms. Reynolds rejected it. Larry Rathjen actually got Melinda Reynolds to approve, in writing, his first Petition BEFORE he collected his signatures, only to have the Petition rejected once it was turned in.

No official complaint has been issued at this time and both candidates remain on the ballot. We will post more information about this controversy when it becomes available.

Public Hearing for a Sign Ordinance

The City of Conway's Planning Department issued the following press release:

Press Release:

PUBLIC HEARING

Proposed New Sign Ordinance

A public hearing is being held at 5:30pm on July 5th at the District Court Building at 810 Parkway concerning the adoption of a new sign ordinance. This proposed ordinance will set new standards for signs in Conway. This proposed ordinance would require new signs to be ground mounted monument signs with heights of no more than 12 feet. A reduction in allowed wall sign areas, tighter control of banners, and downtown signage is also proposed.

The public is encouraged to attend.

Visit the Conway Community Forum to read more about this.

The Death of a City – Part one

We received this letter today from an anonymous source, we thought we’d share it with you.

The Death of a City
Who’s Killing Conway?
Part I

I’m killing Conway, one decision at a time, and I don’t care. I’m untouchable. I am the city’s CEO. My family and friends benefit from the decisions I make. The City Council works for me. The Planning Commission works for me. Conway Corporation works for me. The Police Chief works for me. I control the local media. I am the Alpha and the Omega. Do you know who I am?

I am the one that allows a select few to build massive amounts of generational wealth at the expense of my town’s future. I control the decisions that come out of City Council. I distribute the wealth. I cannot be stopped. I do not care about the future. I can spend $650,000 of your money to buy 2 more years in office and secure my pension and you can’t stop me.

One of my City Councilmen beats his wife, repeatedly violates Orders of Protection issued by Judge Reynolds, is charged with a felony burglary charge and I stand by and let it all happen without consequence. It’s all public record. I have this Councilmen’s support with his voting and he has my support with my political influence. The Prosecuting Attorney works for me also and he knows I do not want to prosecute, nor do I want my Police Officers to investigate any further. I leave this case open to keep people off my back. I will not let the City Attorney get involved, for I am your Ruler.

I am the one that closed the streets downtown in November and December so the merchants couldn’t conduct business during the Holiday Season. Although I apologized later, my damage was done. As long as the construction wasn’t in front of Mike’s Place, I didn’t care.

Speaking of, I am the one that is making Conway wet one restaurant at a time by hand-picking who I will let get a liquor license and who I will not. Make no mistake; I am the one that controls these decisions. I want 40 liquor licenses in town before I retire. The package goods stores and strip clubs will come after I am no longer in office, but I won’t care. I allowed my friends at Rush/Hal to sell their Cadron Valley liquor license to Stefano’s. I don’t care what you think. I want yet another downtown restaurant with a liquor license. And I will get it, and it shall be called - Michelangelo’s.

When my friends at the Seayco Group needed some extra money to restore the Halter building, I gave them $300,000 of your federal grant money that was assigned to a downtown Conway drainage project. I don’t care what the public thinks, nor do I care what the federal government thinks.

When I want to flex my muscle, I do things like creating the Hamburger Tax, which is a 2% sales tax on the gross receipts of the sale of prepared food and beverages in the city of Conway. I instituted that tax without the approval of my constituents, because I can.

WHO AM I

If you know my identity, and don’t care about the aforementioned, you are obviously a friend and I thank you. If you need more help, look for Part II in the mail shortly. I’ll go into more detail about my relationship with UCA, my City Councilmen and a few of my wealthy developer friends. Please feel free to send this to your friends, for I want them to know my power, and I want them to bow before me.


A famous proverb reads "You are who you help".

For Sale

The City of Conway Blog is now up for grabs. Unfortunately due to our other project sites we will not be able to maintain this blog. We are currently seeking a buyer take over this blog. Please use the form on the sidebar and contact us if you are interested.

Well it's been a while

I recently got a message from a reader who asks, "Are you ever going to update this blog?" Well surprise here's a long past due update from The Black Dog.

Since our last post a few things have happened. The City Council voted to reinstate the Civil Service Commission. At the March 16th meeting of the city council passed an ordinance (O-06-24) establishing a board of Civil Service Commissioners for the fire and police departments of the City of Conway. The vote was 7-0 with Alderman Brewer not present at this meeting, it's amazing what a little press can do in an election year.

Speaking of the upcoming election it was announced that all of the City Council positions are up for consideration this year. Citywide positions (2) will be running for a 4-year term while ward only positions (1) will be 2-year terms this year and then 4-year terms in 2008.

Already we have 3 candidates making a bid for a position on the council. On Sunday Larry Rathjen, Jr. announced his candidacy for Alderman in Ward 1. In his press release Larry says,

"The biggest problem facing this city is planning," Rathjen stated. Areas of concern for Rathjen are infrastructure, specifically inadequate electrical and water supplies. Drainage and the lack of timing on traffic lights in Conway are issues that require "immediate attention," according to Rathjen.

Rathjen, who successfully led the charge to reinstate the Civil Service Commission, makes another attempt to bring fair and equal representation to the city's governing body.

Current Alderman David Grimes has also announced his run for re-election to the council in Ward 1.

"I am proud of the progress we have made, especially in regards to creating the Historic District, requiring sidewalks in new developments, and finding a way to fund parks and greenspace" Grimes said. "I would like the opportunity to continue to serve the residents of Conway as an alderman."

This first statement from Alderman Grimes seems to be an errant one when you consider the historic district has been around longer that he has. Local historian Vivian Hogue writes,

"There must have been some gremlins of misinterpretation or something somewhere, as the historic district has been in place for several years… "

Hmmm, that must be what happen this past Christmas season when Alderman Grimes apologized to downtown merchants for the city's poor planning.

"These latest improvements have taken place at just about the absolute worst time - the Christmas shopping season. Who or what is to blame? I guess it is a combination of a lot of things and the blame can be shared (by) the Conway Downtown Partnership, the Conway Street Department, Conway Corp., the contractors, the weather and the communication/cooperation or lack thereof,"

Them darn gremlins will get you every time.

Alderman Sandy Brewer announced he will not be running for re-election because he has his eyes set for a couple of other political races coming up in 2008. In fairness to the citizens of Conway he made this announcement,

"I have an interest in a couple of political races which will occur during the 2008 election year. I don't feel it would be appropriate to currently run for a four-year council term and then, if elected to another office in 2008, have to resign from the council in mid-term. This action would violate the confidence of the citizens of Conway and further create the necessity of a costly special election to fill the vacant position."

Good luck with your future aspirations Alderman Brewer, you will be missed.

On the heels of Alderman Brewer's announcement Mark Vaught is running too, although it hasn't been list in the paper yet, I don't think. But at Mark's websites he has issued these statements,

Stating the reasons he is seeking his first term as a Conway Alderman, Vaught said: "I simply want to help the citizens of Conway shape their city in a manner that benefits all of us. We are growing, which means we must always be wisely planning for the future while still addressing the current issues facing the city today."

"I want to increase the accessibility and accountability of the local government to the people it represents. In addition to focusing on current issues and future plans for the city, I will seek ideas and suggestions from our citizens and invite the public to participate in the functions of our local government."

"I appreciate the excellent work and leadership demonstrated by Alderman Brewer, and I pledge to continue to address the issues of the city in the ‘strict, business-like manner' that he accomplished in his tenure with the Council."

Vaught will be running for the ward 2, position 2 of the city council.

It's going to be an interesting year...

In closing I'd like to issue an apology of my own and offer you the opportunity to participate at this blog. Due to my active role in other websites dedicated to the county's upcoming elections I haven't had many opportunities to write here. I would like to extend an invitation to those fellow black dogs who want to heard. This blog can be a good way to get our message out there. Send me an email at conwayblog@fcso.info and I'll make you a member.

By the way be sure and visit our 2006 county election pages at http://www.fcso.info/election.htm. There are several races that will affect the city of Conway and are just as important as the city races.

Conway’s Field of Dreams

"If you build it, they will come" would seem to be the theme of this city's administration but what are they willing to sacrifice in order to realize their dream. We have shown you Mayor Tab Townsell's email memo to Police Chief Aragon and Fire Chief Castleberry where he tells the departments he took a hard line with their budgets and gutted out new equipment and new employees from each.

Now we hear from a local activist group trying to get the Civil Service Commission reinstated, a program that had existed for 43 years before Mayor Townsell led the charge to revoke it. In November 2000 Mayor Tab Townsell said abolishing the commission would benefit the city because it would reduce lawsuits. This raised many concerns among the rank and file at the city’s police and fire departments, police officers and firefighters have insisted the commission is needed to protect their jobs from political influence.

Yet in December of that year the council voted to abolish the commission and create an appeals process that involved using the aldermen as mediators. This system does nothing to eliminate the possibility of an employee of these departments being terminated for political reasons. What it does do is bolster the possibility of political favoritism shown to the council members. A fact that was prevalent in the 2004 Alderman Adam Weeks divorce case when he escaped alleged charges of residential burglary and the repeated violation a protection order.

In a recent article by free-lance writer Vivian Hogue writes "[police chief Randall Aragon's] philosophy is "delivering law enforcement services to our customers in such a manner that positively satisfies their needs and priorities, and accomplishing that with totally committed employees." It' the Chief' priorities that needs examining, in the Weeks case was there undo political reasoning behind these inactions?

During the past 5 years since the abolishment of this commission the city has seen a 20.9% population increase with a corresponding increase in revenue, yet the mayor and city council choose not to consider the needs of its protective services. Albeit there may be a new police facility projected in the city's 10-Year Capital Plan for 2007 but what about the here and now? Mayor Townsell's claim of a poor reserve in the general fund doesn't hold water when you consider that the budgets for all departments and special projects are made by the city’s administration. It's a matter of choices and clearly the choice for further development wins out over the needs of the people.

There is every indication that this growth trend will continue. At its current rate this would mean the population of the city could top 60,000 by 2010. Shouldn't Mayor Townsell and the members of the city council consider this before they bend over backwards for ALL new development? The need for more police and fire personnel and equipment is vital to the development of a safe city.

The need for better traffic planning that gives motorist effective routes of travel throughout the city is just as vital to the further development of the city. This topic has been listed as a problem in the current comprehensive plan, dated Aug 2004, posted at the planning commission's website. But in looking at the proposed master plan for Hendrix College and its take-over of Harkrider it would seem the planning commission has ignored this philosophy.

Isn't it time our city officials realize that the city is a valued commodity and what we say goes when it comes to development. We need to use the Wal-Mart philosophy and have developers do it our way instead of the other way around. "If you build it, they will come" should be changed to "if you build it right, they will stay".

Down but not out

The City of Conway Blog has experienced a computer failure in our research, story development, and posting computer and as such we have not been able to post. We are however keeping a close eye on a couple of stories and will post more again soon.

We like to thank all of our readers for their patience in this matter and ask you to keep send us you thoughts and comments.

The push to reinstate the Civil Service Commission has begun.

In other news from the city we find a renewed effort to reinstate the Civil Service Commission that had existed for 43 years in the city. Here is the press release for this movement,

January 18,2006

(Conway, AR) – Larry Rathjen, a resident of Conway, Arkansas, is leading the initiative to reinstate the Civil Service Commission; which is an independent Board of appointed, non-partisan volunteers whose job it is to hear and decide appeals of public employees. The Commission is to ensure that employment decisions (hirings, firings, and promotions) are based on the relative ability, knowledge and skills of the public employee and that all individuals receive fair and impartial treatment.

Civil Service Commissions are designed to monitor the local government against perceived, or real, illegal political protection, intimidation, coercion or fraud. The Civil Service Commission was created in Conway in 1957 and existed for 43 years. Mayor Tab Townsell successfully led the charge to revoke the Commission in a Council meeting on December 12, 2000.

Mr. Rathjen has retained the services of local attorney Charles Finkenbinder who will defend the petition if the city challenges its validity. Mr. Finkenbinder just recently successfully defended two Conway Police Officers from wrongful termination.

Amendment 7 of the Arkansas Constitution allows the citizens of Conway to initiate laws. In this case, the signatures of 1,824 registered Conway voters must be collected on a valid petition. If the requisite numbers of signatures are collected, the city must place the initiative on the ballot at the next General Election, scheduled for November 7, 2006.

According to Mr. Rathjen, “Civil Service exists not only to protect the rights of the Police and Firefighters, but also the common citizen who can utilize the Commission to make sure complaints are investigated. The Commission protects citizens by ensuring that good Officers are not fired, or forced to resign, on the whim of the Chief or Mayor. When we lose good officers for no good reason our city becomes weaker and more vulnerable.”

When asked if he thought obtaining the requisite number of signatures would be difficult, Mr. Rathjen replied “During the December 12, 2000 City Council meeting, the courtroom was packed with Fire Fighters and Police Officers who were trying to save the Commission. They had collected over 2,000 signatures that the Mayor would not allow them to present. I’ll never forget the comments made back then by Theo Jones, a current City Councilman, who was a Civil Service Commissioner then. He said that decision was really going to hurt the employees because they need help and some recourse. I agree with Alderman Jones. They do need help and I’m confident we’ll see this issue on the ballot next November.”

Mr. Finkenbinder stated that “The current system creates an inherently intimidating environment for an employee to file a complaint. Six years ago the Police and Fire Departments fought like crazy to keep the Commission. If I’m right about the current environment, the same Police and Fire Fighters will now be too intimated to speak out in favor of the reinstatement of the Commission for fear of retaliation.”

We here at the City of Conway Blog support the effort and will keep you informed as to it’s progress.

The academic village, 10 years from now. . .

The 10-year plan for Hendrix College’s Academic Village is posted at the Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company’s website and we have to say that what is envisioned is far worse than we could have imagined. It is also not a matter of traffic / pedestrian safety as it has been touted by some of the city’s leaders; it is completely about Hendrix College’s growth and nothing more.

Have the planners and developers of Hendrix hoodwinked our city’s mayor and aldermen or are the Mayor and the supporters of this proposal the ones who are hoodwinking the people of Conway. Because clearly this plan is not how the city and the press have presented it. You can’t tell me that this plan will not cost the taxpayers any extra tax dollars or that it is being done in the interest of public safety, Jamie Gates feel free to post your comments.

Not only are they planning a roundabout at Siebenmorgen, reducing the speed to 27 MPH, and adding parallel parking along Harkrider, they also are going to divert the main northward flow of traffic into the village itself making it a traffic nightmare. Interesting enough is the lack of a roundabout at Winfield but in its place is a massive and confusing oval road that offers little in the way of traffic safety.

This 10-year vision of Hendrix to expand its campus is simply not in the best interest of the average citizen and definitely not one the taxpayers should be funding. If the college must expand the let them do it without choking off a main artery of traffic in Conway and at there own expense.

We urge you the citizens of Conway to look at these pictures and decide for yourself what is really going on. If you feel as we do then call or write your state legislators and tell them you don’t want your tax dollars spent to expand a private institution.

Plans, plans, who’s got the plans. . .

Where are the plans for the proposed academic village and roundabouts, still on the drawing board I’m told. Yet in a split decision Mayor Townsell voted in a request from Hendrix College for a roundabout along Harkrider at Winfield and Siebenmorgen Roads. This after only seeing the conceptual drawings with no idea what the finished design will look like.

What is the actual daily traffic at these intersections? All we get is old and/or estimated data. How can you know the feasibility of these roundabouts without knowing the amount of traffic and the patterns that it takes? What will be the total cost of these roundabouts? Again all we get is that it will not cost any additional money than what has already been set aside for the proposed divided highway. But how do they know this if the final plans have not been submitted.

The fact is that they are not even sure if this idea is feasible, in fact when asked what would the city do if this proposal didn’t work the reply was they’d put the traditional traffic lights back up. This would mean that the designers, the Mayor, and the alderman who voted for this idea are not even sure this plan would work.

Jamie Gates of the Mayor’s office recently commented that the roundabouts will accommodate traffic as well if not better than a signalized intersection. If this were true then why have the back up plan? He added that it would be much more attractive and safer for the rising Hendrix student population who will be going to their new Health and Wellness Facility and athletic fields. Once again we see that the main push for this project is to benefit the expansion of a private institution and not the public in general.

So why do this idea you may ask? Well the answer could be found in the remarks left by an anonymous person who commented on this blog, the poster writes,

Has anyone considered the fact that Hendrix students and alumni, while small in number, tend to be fairly affluent and have disposable income to spend in our fair city?

Maybe cutting the college a break, when it and its students and alumni spend so much money here, might not be a bad idea...

This blogger suggests that since the students and alumni of Hendrix College are affluent with a lot of disposable income to be spent in the city we should cut the college some slack, that sounds like something Alderman Adam Weeks would say. But hasn’t the city already done too much of that? Is it not time for the city to think about the needs of all its citizens and not just the wants of the higher echelon.

Drum roll please. . . And the number is...

The Arkansas Times Blog reports the city’s population at 52,262 people, a 21% growth from 2000 and doubled since 1990. This would mean that Mayor Townsell’s term as mayor will be 2 years longer as well as 4 “lucky” alderman. The Times Blog writes,

The new number means an additional $2.8 million in state turnback funds for the city between now and 2010. More significantly, a source at Conway City Hall says it will automatically extend Mayor Tab Townsell's term by two years. He was scheduled to run for re-election in 2006, but Arkansas law ties elections in cities with over 50,000 people to presidential election years.
City council terms will go from two years to four years for the same reason, but four of the eight current council members will have to run for another two-year term, and they will draw lots to determine who that will be.

I wonder who will be holding the lots…

Speaking of the Arkansas Times an anonymous poster at this blog who is disgruntled over a deleted post claims to have had lunch with Max Brantley of the Times and discussed the entertaining quality of this blog. While we’d have to say we didn’t think this was true, we did find it funny that a person would actually do something of that nature. Boy it really does get crazy in this blogspere doesn’t it. By the way Mr. Brantley says that it was news to him…

Reply from the Mayor's office

Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times Blog saw fit to include this blog's entries on the proposed roundabouts on Harkrider which sparked a discussion that included assistant to the Mayor Jamie Gates. Gates writes,

As Hendrix's plan began to evolve it was obvious that more students would be crossing Harkrider. (their Health and Wellness Facility will be on the other side as well as expanded athletic fields) The roundabout offers a safe way to cross Harkrider. It will accomodate the traffic as well if not better than a signalized intersection. It will be much more attractive. It is literally hundreds of times safer to the motorist. Finally, it's not going to cost the taxpayers of Conway, Faulkner County, or Arkansas any additional money. (The project was already funded)
The city could do these more often were right-of-way costs not often prohibitive. Where traffic counts permit and geometrics allow they are the best way to intersect traffic. Hendrix was willing to donate the right-of-way to get the preferred roadway product. I wish more "developers" would follow their lead.
[. . .]
I am aware of the existing pedestrian bridge. I am aware that it is sorely underused thanks to its design and location. I am also aware that it leads to the very fitness center that is being torn down and rebult several hundred feet south.

Gates' position is that these roundabouts will make it safer for students to cross so they will not have to use the existing pedestrian bridge is exactly what we are complaining about. This project will only benefit Hendrix by allowing them to stifle traffic so they can expand their campus. We seriously doubt that planning, feasibility studies, right-of-way acquisitions, and the building of something as big as these roundabouts will not cost any additional monies as Gates is suggesting.

In the early planning of this project is was reported that not only would Harkrider be divided as it goes through Hendrix but there would also be parallell parking along the right side of the street. From the Log Cabin last January 30th

The final master plan for Hendrix includes creating tree-lined medians on Harkrider as it goes through the college, with two-lanes on each side and parking along the street.

Architect Andr's Duany, co-founder of DPZ, said the speed would be reduced to 27 miles per hour, so cars drive closer together and it is "more efficient."

So not only will drivers have to contend with the roundabouts and a speed reduction to around 27 MPH, they will have to dodge cars pulling out of the parking lane or backing in to park.

In two articles, {1} {2}, from the Profile, the Hendrix College newspaper, it is confirmed that the only purpose for this addition of roundabouts and on-street parking will to benefit the college.

President Cloyd was reported saying "This slower traffic will make it much easier and safer for students to cross Harkrider without using the footbridge," and of the Academic Village which, according to the articles, is keyed on 'taming' Harkrider, Cloyd added. "I think it will be a great thing for students," Cloyd said. "It will have all of the amenities that are attractive to students."

So again we ask why is our tax dollars being used to fund a project that will only benefit a private institution and can only harm traffic throughout the city.

Public money to fund the expansion of a private learning institution.

Another observation we would like to point out is the purpose for the roundabouts on Harkrider. It is not to solve a problem with traffic; it is to improve the look of Hendtrix and to solve the problem of lack of space on the campus. The ultimate goal on this project is to re-route Harkrider so the college can expand. They want to use our tax dollars to fund the college's expansion while disrupting the traffic patterns throughout the city of Conway.

Is this something we want or need our tax dollars spent on? To fund the expansion of a private, undergraduate institution so they can build more housing for alumni, student, and faculty? Last January Hilary Hilliard, an Arkansas Democrat reporter and Hendrix alumni, wrote,

At the heart of it is a complex center of alumni, student and faculty residences, as well as a range of stores, restaurants, cafes and even a charter or private elementary school. "What's happening now is that urban living is back," Duany said. "What used to be cool in 1970 is now part of the college experience again. Places like Brown [University], which used to have a problem with Providence, now uses their cities as a selling point. Students associate college with an urban experience."

More tax dollars going for the development of private entities while the city is supposedly broke and can't buy new equipment or hire more personnel for its police and fire departments. The writer also comments on one of the city's alderman's position, it should come as no surprise who that would be, our favorite Alderman Adam "I'll bend over backwards for developers" Weeks,

Also involved in the project will be Conway city officials. One Conway alderman, who likes the idea of working with the college, has some reservations about destroying the green space. "Any time you cut down such a large expanse of trees like that, you're going to have concerns, but what we get in return, I think, is a good trade," said Alderman Adam Weeks. "The community Hendrix is talking about building sounds wonderful."

In addition at a public meeting about this academic village proposal the question of how it would affect the city's development and layout was raised to wit the developer replied, "We haven't been asked to stir up that dog." So it seems that the only consideration in the planning of this village has been to the benefit of Hendrix College and not the average citizen. Hendrix College President Cloyd has even speculated on the possibility of re-routing Hwy 64 to the interstate.

Duany said his team will have suggestions in later meetings to make Harkrider, a U.S. highway, "pedestrian-friendly so you can cross that street as you would in a town." Cloyd said it possibly could be re-routed to go "out by the interstate."

Duany acknowledged there will be a conflict between people who "want to get through it fast and people who want to cross it."

Student Mark Hengel asked how the suggestions would affect the development of Conway and change how the city is laid out.

Duany said, "We haven't been asked to stir up that dog."

So what we really have here is a private entity using its political influence to spend our tax dollars to fund their expansion and a mayor along with several aldermen who would do anything, even sacrifice public safety, to accommodate this endeavor. Isn't it time for the average citizen to receive the attention of its government?