Seven hard questions in Little Rock’s "secret" election to expand the mayor’s power

1. What will be the exact dollar amount of salary paid to the mayor under the new arrangement? Please list fringe benefits and non-cash compensation separately. Be specific.

2. Please list the duties of the mayor in the new method of operation. Be specific. Include supporting legislative documentation.

3. Please state the exact dollar amount of compensation for the city manager in the proposed organization. Please list fringe benefits and non-cash compensation separately. Be specific.

4. Please list the duties of the city manager under the new method of operation. Be specific. Include supporting legislative documentation.

5. Please explain why a city manager is needed in this new proposed arrangement.

6. If the measures should pass, will the city manager be accountable to the mayor, or the city board of directors

7. It has been reported in the Democrat-Gazette that the City of Little Rock may be facing a $3 million budget shortfall. In view of the substantial increase in compensation for Little Rock’s mayor ($120,000? It’s just a guess, and absolutely low end.) which employees or services will be cut to pay for this new expenditure?

It is also noteworthy that, under this novel proposed reorganization, the city attorney loses all independence, since he can be fired by the mayor. Yes, I know there is the appearance of needing board approval, but the mayor, as you have seen in earlier posts, always has the six voted needed to do anything in his hip pocket. In a true mayor-council form of government, such as in North Little Rock, the City Attorney is an elected position.

Scroll down for several good essays on why this measure makes things worse for neighborhoods and regular folks.

VOTE “NO” TWICE ON AUGUST 14, and in early voting too!

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Tuesday Stuff

Home sales were down almost 14 percent in Arkansas in June, the biggest decline this year, according to the Arkansas Realtors Association. It was the 18th straight month that home sales have been off in Arkansas, following a national trend of declining new- and existing-home sales.

An elderly Central Arkansas resident became the second heat-related fatality of the year, the state Health Department reports.

Negotiations between the Little Rock School District and the Joshua intervenors on the district’s unitary status – set for 9 a.m. Thursday – were abruptly canceled Monday by a federal appeals court settlement director. John H. Martin, settlement director for the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis, announced the cancellation ina letter to attorneys in which he gave only a vague explanation.

After Gov. Mike Beebe met for about 80 minutes with supporters and foes of the state’s new history standards, Beebe’s options include recommending that the state Board of Education delay implementing them for a year to consider possible changes or proceed with implementing them for a one-year trial.

Contractors who’ve won state building projects without submitting competitive bids will become defendants in a lawsuit over whether the practice violates the state constitution.

MBC Holdings LLC has entered into a contract to purchase the Indian Mall in Jonesboro, which could result in development of a $50 million upscale open-air shopping center.

Boaters and water-sports enthusiasts won’t be allowed to use kite tubes on Arkansas waters anymore, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Little Rock District said Monday. The district made permanent a temporary ban imposed last summer on the inflatable raftlike devices that are designed to go airborne when towed behind boats.

U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, renewed his support Saturday for legislation that would require doctors to tell women seeking abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy that fetuses may feel pain.

Little Rock is raising the prospect of seeking a federal court order to force Pulaski County jailers to hold more of the city’s criminal suspects. The city’s Board of Directors is scheduled to consider measures on Aug. 14 to take the county to court and tie the more than $1.2 million the city sends to the county’s jail fund to a requirement that inmates no longer get private-hospital health care.

The former finance director of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra admits to stealing $160,000 from the group, in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence and paying $24,000 in restitution. Robert David Lee, wearing the uniform of a Waffle House manager, pleaded guilty to theft by deception, a Class B felony, after prosecutors agreed to drop five lesser charges of filing fraudulent income tax returns from 2002 through 2006, each a Class D felony.

The Arkansas Municipal League will pay $25,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit over an illegal search by Rogers police. David Robbins and Debra Steenblock sued several Rogers police officers in October in U.S. District Court after the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled a late-night, warrantless search of their home was illegal.

Darren McFadden scored touchdowns for Arkansas as a runner, receiver, passer and kickoff returner last season. McFadden, a junior All-American tailback from Little Rock, may add returning punts to his resume this season.

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Another hard question about Little Rock’s "secret" election to give the mayor more power

Since city hall and local media have declared an information blackout, I will raise this matter as strictly a rhetorical question. Of course, the swells who have dreamed up the latest power grab never have to answer questions from mere taxpayers, but here gores anyway.

It has been reported in the Democrat-Gazette that the City of Little Rock may be facing a $3 million budget shortfall. In view of the substantial increase in compensation for Little Rock’s mayor ($120,000? It’s just a guess, and absolutely low end. Nobody knows the correct answer.), which employees or services will be cut to pay for this new expenditure?

Scroll down for more hard questions on the “secret” election. Tell all your friends, and VOTE “NO” TWICE on August 14 (and in early voting).

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