LAST TERM MAYOR SEEKS BUMP IN SALARY TO INCREASE RETIREMENT BENEFITS

According to multiple sources inside LR City Hall, last term mayor Mark Stodola wants to have his salary increased so that he will receive more money in retirement benefits when he leaves office in  January 2019.

Stodola will walk away with a check for approximately $173,623.00 for unused vacation pay when he leaves office in January 2019.

That payment is roughly equal to 13 months pay at his salary of $160,000 a year.

Stodola also retains $78, 496.61 is funds carried over from his last campaign for office. He can keeps these funds, return them to donors or donate them.

A confidential and reputable source inside city hall told us that Stodola wants to get this salary bump to increase retirement benefits to help offset medical expenses for his ailing wife.

Our condolences and sympathy to the mayor, his wife and his family but set up a GoFundMe account for that or jump on Arkansas Works like regular folks do when hard times hit.  


***UPDATE 11/9/18 10:50 AM*** 

Other media outlets contacted us and stated sources were telling them the same thing.  Word is that the unused vacation payout will be significantly higher. Stodola is also trying to negotiate a deal to continue on the city health insurance program.

*** UPDATE 11/10/18***

The City Attorney advises that Stodola can continue on the city health insurance place after he leave office but he has to pay 100% of the premiums. Apparently  this is something that the city board approved many years ago for any former mayor over the age of 70.

DIRTY POLITICS IN THE CITY OF LITTLE ROCK

Election day is this coming Tuesday. The citizens of Little Rock will be electing a new mayor and have a chance to make changes on four seats on the board - Wards 1, 2, 6 and 7.

At least one candidate has been caught (and documented) removing other candidates signs and LR Public Works and the Arkansas Department of Transportation has removed some that were in the public right of way that candidates blamed other of taking.

Candidates or their supporters have placed push cards in mailboxes which is a violation of federal laws.

Candidates have taken contributions from organization that fight against tenant rights and equitable landlord/tenant laws.  

The Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police, most of whose membership is white and does not even reside in the city of Little Rock targeted a candidate for the city board that has exposed corruption in their ranks.

One of the most bizarre efforts to influence a city ward election has been by Miles Mcferrin Goggans, a former Clinton staffer and registered lobbyist from Star City.

LITTLE ROCK VICE MAYOR /WARD 3 DIRECTOR KATHY WEBB AND GOGGANS IN 2010

Goggans is a sketchy individual in that he was involved in a scandal back in 2010.

The scandal involved identity theft and fake letters sent to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In 2016 Goggans was involved in another controversy involving donation to the gubernatorial campaign of Asa Hutchinson.

Googans was rewarded for his helping to fill Asa's coffers by getting appointed to state boards.

Googins also reaps financial benefits from the government.

Googans is registered to vote in Star City.

So it seems extremely strange that he is sending out mailers that bring up a old issue regarding Ward 2 Director Ken Richardson missing some board meetings.

  
We posted about about that back in March 2017.  

What we know now is that Richardson was absent from meetings due to out of town conferences he was attending on behalf of the city, personal illness and heart surgery of his mother.

Why is Goggans sending these mailers out? Because someone has hired him to do it just like they did to send out the forged letters back in 2010. 

Was it an opponent of Richardson? Was it a fellow board member trying to keep him from being reelected? Was it Kenton Tremar Buckner seeking revenge against Richardson for his proposed ordinance to make arrests for possession of marijuana the lowest possible priority for LRPD, something Buckner stated that LRPD was doing anyway?

By the way, a week or so after the LRBOD rejected Richardson ordinance, the city of Jacksonville, AR adopted a similar measure much like major progressive cities have done across the United States.  

LRPD officers frequently use the pretense of smelling marijuana coming from a vehicle in a traffic stop as an excuse to search the vehicle and harass the driver, more often than not a person of color.

Several candidates for the board have missed the deadline and failed to file a required campaign contribution and expenditure report.

A couple of the directors have filed questionable reports that indicate illegal contributions.

One of them is Doris Wright, incumbent Ward 6 Director. She accepted an illegal contribution from a business resulting in a complaint to the Arkansas Ethics Commission. 
 

You can read the full complaint by clicking here.

The other candidate that has filed unbelievable reports is Valeria Tatum. 

We reported about her being an ineligible candidate in this post. 

A lawsuit will be filed tomorrow morning to have her declared an ineligibility candidate and her votes not be counted. We will post an update about it tomorrow.

The good news for many in the city is that as of November 16th,  befouled LRPD police chief Kenton Tremar Buckner will no longer be our problem. 

The new mayor and the new board of directors will need to demand that troubled city manager Bruce Moore involve citizens in the selection process.

With a new sheriff coming to Pulaski County and a new chief coming to Little Rock, we have an opportunity to make positive changes in our community and form a real partnership to address crime and reluctance of officers to live in the city that the are paid to serve and protect.

 #TimeForChange #CleanOutLRCityHall

CITY MANAGER RESPONDS TO COMPLAINT ABOUT DEPARTING CHIEF'S USE OF THE "N" WORD - HE WILL NOT DO A DAMN THING

WE GOT 99 PROBLEMS BUT BUCKNER AIN'T ONE

LITTLE ROCK BOARD OF DIRECTORS WIMPS OUT - INELIGIBLE CANDIDATE ACCEPTS ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTIBUTIONS IN EXCESS OF $17,000.00

Tonight at the LRBOD agenda meeting, at-large director Joan Adcock brought up the matter of the ineligible Ward 2 candidate Valerie Tatum.

This is a video of the limited discussion. 

Instead of doing the right thing and instructing city attorney Tom Carpenter to take legal action, they sat their on their fat asses and said nothing.

Don't fret troubled citizens, for several resident of Ward 2 are filing a lawsuit tomorrow and will do what the board is afraid to do.

Expect more details tomorrow.

If you thought things could not get any crazier, wait until you see Tatum's Campaign Contribution and Expenditure report.  

Tatum self-reports three illegal contributions that were in excess of permitted amounts to the tune of over $17,000 and failed to detail expenditures in excess of $34,000. Under Arkansas laws, individuals, political parties, county party committees, legislative caucus committees, and approved political action committees can contribute no more than $2,700 per candidate per election.

Valerie Tatum CCE 10.30.18 by on Scribd

Tatum did a lousy job of filling out the form leaving out required details like addresses and places of employment as well as not explaining how funds were spent as previously mentioned.

Tatum claims to have a doctorate, but she had great difficulty in following the directions on how to properly fill out the form.

You know a complaint is on it's way about this to the Arkansas Ethics Commission as well as one for another LRBOD member, Doris Wright.

We can't make this shit up. 

#TimeForChange #CleanOutLRCityHall

LITTLE ROCK BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND CITY HEADED TO COURT OVER FAILURE TO REPOND TO A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST - TROUBLE BREWS OVER RESIDENCY OF BOARD CANDIDATE

Records obtained from a sources connected to Little Rock City Hall have leaked emails that indicated members of the Little Rock Board of Directors conducted meetings via email and text messages in violation of Arkansas laws.

Now those board members are panicking and fighting release of those emails and text messages sought in a Freedom of Information request made by the publisher of this blog. An appeal of denial of rights under the AFOIA is being filed today and the board members will be sued as individuals and in their official capacity. They will be served notice of the action at tonight's agenda meeting. 

How many of them will skip the meeting tonight to avoid service?

The matter of the disputed candidacy of Ward 2 candidate Valerie Tatum is what was discussed in the "electronic meetings" of the board. Topic of discussion was whether the city should take legal action to have Tatum disqualified and if a special called board meeting should take place to deal with the matter.

It has been speculated that the matter will be addressed at the agenda meeting tonight, but don't count on it.

This board is filled with tired, worn-out individuals who don't really give a damn what happens in this city.

You can see that by attending board meetings or watching the meetings on public access TV or live-streaming on YouTube.

***
Background:

When Valerie Tatum submitted her affidavit of candidacy for the Ward 2 position on the Little Rock Board of Directors, the address she gave as her residence was in Ward 1. A huge problem for the city clerk as she should have taken the time to verify residency in the Ward.

We know Tatum was a Ward 1 resident from her voter registration which clearly indicated she was a resident of Ward 1 and had voted in Ward 1 back in May.

Based on a complaint made to the city attorney Tom Carpenter about Tatum's eligibility, Carpent made a review of the records and determined that Tatum was not a qualified candadte due to residency. 

This is what Tatum's attorney sent the city attorney:

2018.10.18 Letter to Thomas... by on Scribd

 This is an email exchange between City Attorney Tom Carpenter and
 Tatum's attorney Jess Askew:

Well, the mayor and members of the board did not want the city attorney to file a legal action because Tatum is backed by the Walton Foundation and Dickson Flake as Tatum is neck deep involved in a charter school.

The city had no problems suing mayoral candidates Warwick Sabin and Frank Scott but balked at doing the right thing and taking oin Tatum's illegal candidacy head-on. 

H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-C-Y!!!

Tatum has a home in Maumelle and claims a homestead exemption on it.

When an individual from another town can move into a ward in the city and then run for office in another ward, city leadership must take action.

There is a similar case that will be heard in Hot Spring this Friday involving State Representative Laurie Rushing.

All eyes are on the Little Rock Board and last term mayor Mark Stodola.

They need to do the right thing and let the city attorney take the course of action he intended to take from the start.

There are residents of Ward 2 that are prepared to step up and take action if the board wussies out tonight.

That will be a stain on the city and the legacy of its leaders.

And great blogging material too.

 


 

CITY DIRECTORS BLOCKING CITIZENS FROM COMMENTING ON SOCAL MEDIA PAGES - CONTENT DISCRIMINATION AND INVITATION TO LAWSUITS

Have you been blocked from commenting on a city director's social media? 

If so contact us as we are exploring filing a lawsuit against each director that has blocked us from posting comments.

Courts have ruled that public officials cannot block individuals from commenting on social media pages.

A public official in Arkansas has been sued this month for doing just that.

All sitting board members except Erma Hendrix, have accepted funds from  a Chamber of Commerce affiliated and fronted Political Action Committee. This seems sketchy as the board has voted time and time again to hand over around $300k a year to the CoC for the past decade for "economic development" with little or no accountability for how the funds were spent.

Many directors, including Doris Wright and B.J. Wyrick have taken contributions from organizations like the Realtors Association PAC that fights equitable landlord/tenant laws yet they claim they support tenant rights.

Does the NRA give funds to candidates that support tighter gun laws?  

Does the Realtors Association PAC expect Wright and Wyrick to have their back?

Hell yes they do. 

And when watchdog individuals like our publisher calls out city directors on their shenanigans  and sketchy actions they refuse to address the questions posed to them, turn tail and run, then block him from posting questions or comments on their social media pages.

It's an election year and it's time for change and time for some lawsuits to make these elected officials obey the law and not violate our rights.