MODERN TIMES
Art Hobson
ahobson@uark.edu
NWA Times 13 Sep 2008
City and school
elections
Two
important city elections are coming up, for school board this Tuesday and for
mayor-council in November.
Fayetteville is blessed with an abundance of community activists,
political views, and candidates.
We should thank all the candidates for having the passion and guts to
run. Without people like these,
our country wouldn't work.
Please
base your votes on principles and policies, not personalities. An election is
not a popularity contest. Vote for
people who will enact the best policies for Fayetteville.
We're
lucky to have at least three excellent mayoral candidates: Dan Coody, Walt Eilers, and Lioneld
Jordan; I know little about the other three. Although I'd be happy with Eilers or Jordan, my clear
favorite is Dan Coody.
For
the past eight years Fayetteville has enjoyed its best city government since I
moved here in 1964. Dan's leadership is at the center of this good
government. As his lawn signs put
it, let's keep this good thing going.
Some
folks are unhappy that Dan announced he wouldn't run and later decided to run
after all. But there's nothing
dishonorable about changing one's mind.
Surely all of us have announced an important decision and then
reconsidered it.
Seminal
Fayetteville events occurred during Dan's watch in 2004 and 2006 when hundreds
of thoughtful citizens gathered in a series of open-attendance "planning
charrettes" to draw up the city's Downtown Master Plan and City Plan
2025. These plans can guide
Fayetteville to a less sprawling, less car-oriented, less polluted, more
equitable future. Strong support
for these two plans should be an essential qualification for city office. It's not surprising that Dan is indeed
a passionate supporter of both plans; after all, he initiated the discussions
that led to them. In another
example of good city planning, the city is developing a master plan for
southwest Fayetteville's Fayette Junction region.
Dan
has hired top notch staff such as Planning Director Jeremy Pate, Long-Range
Planner Karen Minkel, and Trails Director Matt Mihalevich. He recently added the new position of
Sustainability Officer and hired John Coleman, who formerly worked for the City
of Austin and developed their climate protection plan. Coleman has more than paid back his own
salary, by fixing inefficiencies and thus saving the city $180,000 in
2007.
If
the planet is to prosper, or even to survive, sustainability must be this
century's watchword. Under Dan's
leadership, the city's sustainability accomplishments have been legion: a "pay-as-you-throw" trash
recycling program, partnering with the university and Wal-Mart to raise
awareness of sustainability, the pursuit of hybrid and biofuels vehicle technology,
a city conservation policy, green purchasing, elimination of city-purchased
bottled water, support for green buildings, a new sewer plant that received an
award from Oklahoma for phosphorous reduction in the Illinois River, creation
of a sustainability team from all city departments, a search for a sustainable
solution to the recent bio-sludge problem, and much more.
As
a bicycler I'm doubtless prejudiced, but the development of trails under Dan's
leadership has been one of Fayetteville's healthiest changes. Trails are already so popular that I'm
confident they'll prosper no matter who is mayor, but Dan started trails and is
most likely to keep them moving forward.
Regarding other transportation, Dan knows the value of public
transit. He states that the city
must fully fund Ozark Regional Transit and that "We talk about Éhighway
and interstate projects [but] light rail is an infinitely better choice for
moving people around." He
believes in walkable neighborhoods, and has added several miles of sidewalk
improvements every year. Indeed
the first principle of the Downtown Master Plan is "a superbly walkable
environment."
There
are three contested city council seats.
Ward 1 incumbent Brenda Thiel is running against Don Conner. Brenda deserves to retain her council
seat, especially against Conner who was an outspoken opponent of the Ruskin
Heights development. Ruskin
Heights, which Brenda voted for, is a perfect example of the infill development
called for in City Plan 2025.
I've
gotten to know Ward 2 candidate Matt Petty pretty well. He's extremely bright, has an amazing
knowledge of city and sustainability issues, is active nationally and locally
on energy and environment issues, and has a deep commitment to preserving the
planet and to Fayetteville's quality of life. He supports bus and light rail regional transportation. He has interesting ideas about the
important issue of affordable housing, including a possible requirement that
large developments include some affordable housing, and encouragement for small
affordable condos.
Another
of my favorite Fayetteville people, Sarah Lewis, is running in Ward 4. She's a doctoral student in
environmental dynamics at the university, and highly knowledgeable and active
on sustainability. She's a member
of Fayetteville Downtown Partners and chairs the city's Council of
Neighborhoods. She's a strong
supporter of mass transit, trails, affordable housing, the Downtown Master
Plan, and City Plan 2025. With
people like Matt and Sarah on the city council, Fayetteville will take giant
steps toward sustainability.
All
Fayetteville residents can vote for both positions in the two school board
races. If you've been following my
columns, you won't be surprised to hear that I support candidates who will
re-open the decision, which was all about football, for a single huge new high
school rather than two smaller schools.
I'm happy to report that, of the eight candidates for the two open
seats, several support reconsidering the one-school decision. My favorites are James McGinty, who is
running against incumbent Susan Heil (she supports the one-school decision),
and Jim Halsell, who is running against five other non-incumbents.
Please
vote!