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. . .
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Saturday, November 11, 2006
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)
Friday, August 25, 2006
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. . .
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. . .
Saturday, August 19, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, July 07, 2006
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Public Hearing for a Sign Ordinance
The City of Conway's Planning Department issued the following press release:
Visit the Conway Community Forum to read more about this.
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.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
The Death of a City – Part one
We received this letter today from an anonymous source, we thought we’d share it with you.
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.
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".
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".
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