The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Ken Richardson, the Ward 2 City Director has missed 40 percent of all voting meetings of the city board since January 2016, making him the most frequently missing or absent board member.
Richardson has missed the past four voting meetings of the Board of
Directors, making it to only one so far this year.
Since January 2016,
he has missed 13 of 33 voting board meetings. The next-highest number of
meetings missed by a city director during that time was four.
Richardson has also has the distinction while also racking of having the highest amount of expense reimbursements for trips.
Since January 2016, the city has reimbursed his costs for three trips, totaling $7,702.76 , again more than any other city board member.
Richardson is also the most frequent board member to be arrested.
Watch the LRPD traffic stop of an incoherent Ken Richardson on September 2, 2015.
Officers didn't see or
smell alcohol and didn't perform a sobriety test. They also didn't run a
license check. Had they run a license check, they would have discovered
that Richardson's license had been suspended. He told officer that he was meeting with the police union the next day and claimed a relative lived in the home where his car was stopped in the middle of the street (if you watch the video, you will find the homeowner was question by LRPD and did not know who Richardson was).
In fact, Richardson was driving with a suspended license back in January 2015 when he was involved in a DWI arrest (not his first one either).
Patrol officer Zachary Hardman's report said he began attempting to stop Richardson, 48, in the 4100 block of South University. He said he had to drive 65 mph to stop the northbound vehicle he was following. It changed lanes without signaling and was swerving, he said. It swerved further in making a turn into a Wendy's parking lot in the 3900 block of University and ran into a shrub before stopping.
A field breath alcohol test gave a .174 reading. A test at the Pulaski
County jail gave a .187 reading. He was ticketed and released to his
mother on his own recognizance. The 2002 Honda Accord car he was
driving, listed as being owned by Carlton McClinton, was impounded.
You might wonder what happened to that DWI case?
**CORRECTION**
Our initial response from the Pulaski County District Court by phone was that the 2015 DWI charge against Richardson was dismissed. That information was partly true, the charges filed in Little Rock District Court - Traffic Division were dropped, but the case was transferred to Pulaski County District Court and we received documents from them on March 22nd.
Richardson only had to post a $100 bond and was fined $1,125. Shenanigans.
