"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".
