This blog is dedicated to exposing and documenting misdeeds and misadventures of departments and employees of the city of Little Rock, Arkansas. [news@snarkymedia.com/ 501-487-1699]
A Snarky Media Group publication
LRPD OFFICERS FALLS & WATSON - Photos courtesy of the Bordeaux/Racop Transparency Project
At approximately 3:53 a.m. on Sunday December 16th, two LRPD SUV's were observed drifting in the parking lot of 10 Fitness at University and Col. Glenn. Their hijinks was caught on video by a Little Rock citizen.
LRPD has identified the two officers as Quinton Falls and Brooke Watson.
We posted back on November 9th that last term mayor Mark Stodola was seeking a bump in salary during his last weeks in office to reap higher retirement benefits. You can read that post by clicking here.
Thanks to the Arkansas Times and Max Brantley's Arkansas blog, we learned late yesterday that a proposed ordinance is to be voted on at tonight's reconvened board meeting that would do just what we said and more.
In addition to the salary bump during Stodola's last weeks in office, if he kicks the bucket before his ailing wife, she will get widows benefits.
We have sent a request for records about the proposed ordinance and which board members have proposed it.
You do not want to miss watching the live stream of the reconvened board meeting on the city's YouTube channel tonight. It should prove painful for last term mayor Stodola.
By the way, chicken-shit last term mayor Stodola never followed up on that email request for all the times our publisher has been wrong.
Maybe he should use that city paid health insurance and get a testosterone booster to help his vanishing balls issue. ***UPDATE 12/11/18 10:23AM***
Human Resources Director Stacey Witherell has provided the smoking gun that proves last term mayor Mark Stolda is a lying piece of shit and needs to be run out of town on a rail after the public tars and feathers him.
The two shill candidates in the mayor's race run-off are trying to convince voters of why they should be elected. We are going to give you some reasons why you should stay home and not waste your time voting for either of them as a protest against bad government. In spite of what both candidates have said, the city is run by the City Manager and the Board of Directors. It will take a vote of the people to change that. The mayor can make proclamations, break tie votes and cut ribbons at openings, but real power lies with the city manager who has control of city funds and the ability to hire and fire employees, with the consent of the board which can fire the city manager. Howard Kurrus (yes, his real name is Howard) is supported by the Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police, a group headed by a piece of shit that has no business wearing a badge.
JOHN "SMACKMYBITCHUP" GILCHRIST - LRFOP PRESIDENT
The LRFOP president has a documented history of domestic violence and was once fired from LRPD in part for untruthfulness.
Gilchrest got his job back via the stacked Civil Service Commission.
Glichrist donated $500.00 to Kurrus.
Gilchrist used his position with LRFOP to try and smear Frank Scott, Jr. Howard did little to protest until after the damage was done.
Fine folks backing Kurrus and remember most all LRPD officers and FOP members don't even reside or vote in Little Rock.
They support him because he thinks LRPD can investigate itself and a citizens review committee is not needed.
Kurrus see no problems with at large members, in spite of a scholarly study by Hendrix College that points out that at-large positions put white males in office as opposed to ward elections that put females and minorities in office. You can read that study by clicking here. Kurrus came into the race after Stodola dropped out. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that he got in as Stodola's replacement at the urging of business leaders and the Chamber of Commerce. Kurrus took campaign contributions from the Chamber of Commerce fronted political action committee. The CoC gets $300k from the city with no stings attached as to how it is spent and there is no accounting of how the funds are used.
Kurrus also accepted funds from the Arkansas Realtors PAC , a group that fights against laws for tenant rights.
That's not a surprise as Kurrus is an owner of a property company and has more in common with shitty landlords than the tenants that fall prey to them. Kurrus also accepted illegal campaign contributions from two business entities a violation of Arkansas laws. This was documented on a Campaign Contribution and Expenditure report he filed on October 30th.
KURRUS SIGNED HIS CCE HIMSELF
Kurrus is an attorney and officer of the court and should know better. His CCE lists that he has no campaign treasurer to blame.
Kurrus filed an amended CCE on November 1st, but the violation still stands as the fund were accepted in the first place.
We have filed a complaint with the Arkansas Ethics Commission concerning Kurrus' acceptance of the illegal funds.
We filed one earlier in the year against a judicial candidate for the same thing, the funds in that case were also returned but the Ethics Commission found he violated the law and imposes sanctions. You can read about that case by clicking here. Kurrus touts his experience on the Little Rock School Board, the one that was in charge of the district when it failed and went under state control. He touts that he is a leader because he was appointed by Johnny Key, the unqualified head of the Arkansas Department of Education. Key could only obtain that position after the law was changed to permit his unqualified ass to hold it. Guess what? The same thing had to be done for lawyer Kurrus. He was not qualified to hold the position of a school district superintendent and a waiver was made by the unqualified Director of the Department of Education.
Kurrus often states he was fired as LRSD superintendent by Key. Nope. Read this and then watch the press conference where his departure is discussed. Don't laugh at the single person clapping.
Reverend Frank Scott, Jr. (by the way, we could not find that associate pastor Rev. Scott has any ministerial credentials filed in Pulaski County)is just as bad as Kurrus, maybe worse.
Lets start off with a bang.
Scott has a secret that he does not want anyone to know about and he had the records from his criminal case sealed to keep folks from knowing about his dirty secret.
We had a tip that Scott was pulled over by the Arkansas State Police for a possible driving while intoxicated offense. A video of the traffic stop allegedly shows Scott acting in a belligerent manner dropping the race and and then the commission card (He was a Highway Commission at the time according to our source). Nothing like a public official trying to use their position to influence another public official, in this instance a law enforcement officer.
So we fired off a Freedom of information request to the Arkansas State Police:
We got a rapid fire response back:
What the State Police said speaks volumes - records responsive to our request are EXEMPT. Exempt under a section of the Arkansas Code, the CRIMINAL CODE more specifically.
We cannot say for certain what the criminal charges were against Scott and the disposition of the case. UPDATE: a confidential source that has access to the sealed records told us that the charges involved DWI & prostitution. "Rev." Scott continues to ignore our requests for comments. To clear this matter up all he has to do is come clean. #ItsTime. Rev. Scott isn't saying either. He refused to respond to a request for a comment or explanation. Rev. Scott also took that dirty money for the Arkansas Realtors PAC. He justified his taking the dirty money from a group that fights against tenant rights by saying he could take campaign funds from folks he didn't agree with - no problems there.
We will remind Rev. Scott of this verse:
Can the church say amen? Rev. Scott also used campaign funds to pay for a lot of airline tickets.
Wonder if he used that expensive piece of luggage he got from fellow highway commissioners when he was booted off?
CITIZENS WONDER ABOUT THE AGED DIRECTOR'S MENTAL FACULTIES
At the November 13th agenda meeting,
at-large director Kumpuris bitched and moaned about an article that appeared in
the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on November 11, 2018.
Kumpuris incorrectly stated that the article was about a
rise in drive-by shooting in 2018, when in fact as you can see by the attached
copy of the article it clearly stated that it was about 2017.
Kumpuris futher stated at least two businesses were not coming
to the city based on that article, so he says the Chamber of Commerce told him.
We wonder how many others will decide to not consider our city with the five homicides that occurred over the weekend.
The data in the article is accurate and facts are
facts.
Police Department
data indicate that about 150 drive-by shootings are reported in Little
Rock each year but that there were 239 drive-by shootings in 2017 alone.
The Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette reported that there have been more than 1,200 drive-by
shootings in Arkansas' largest city since 2011 and almost 147 through
Oct. 16, 2018.
The Little Rock Police Department says apartment
complexes often have a concentration of drive-by shootings. Of the 12
addresses where drive-by shootings occurred more than four times since
2011, 10 were apartment complexes and two were houses.
Just ask all the LRPD officers about these facts Director Kumpuris disputes. More than half of all LRPD officers that refuse to live in the city state crime and schools are the main reasons.
Look at the numbers for yourself:
Apparently Kumpuris is experiencing problems with reading
comprehension and he should consider stepping down before he further
embarrasses himself and the city.
Those illegal no-knock warrants that the Washington Post
and others have exposed along with 40 other ones that did not result in an
arrest or charges (this information has not been revealed to the media yet)
have done more damage to the sullied reputation of the city than anything else
and the board refuses to talk about them.
