More on the Files/Webb/Fort Smith city debacle which could have criminal implications. April 12, 2017

Since well before March 2014 (contract date) I have written numerous articles (at least 16) and two emails directed specifically to the City Manager, the Mayor & the Board of Directors asking the question, why was this potentially lucrative contract for the River Valley Sports Complex awarded to two elected politicians by elected politicians? At the very least impropriety emanated from all participants. No response, with the exception of one Director.

All the above articles appear on the website arkansasfreedom.net and all have my permission to forward.

Now comes the printed words of the T.R. that Fort Smith City Director Larry Lau has also done business with State Senator Jake Files (two elected officials) which further magnifies the possibilities of using political positions—to advance a host of illegal, unconstitutional, and/or unseemly projects, e.g. cronyism, collusion, the stifling of commercial competition, inside trading, ad infinitum.

The fact of the matter is the whole of the elected Fort Smith Government and the other three aforementioned electives doing business in one form or another with each other has cast a dark shadow (lack of transparency) over the city of Fort Smith. Is there more to come?

Their professional conduct is not to be tolerated under any condition. Resignation by all is the remedy.

Incumbency is a toxic weed.

In the minds of politicians, incumbency confers ownership of the public office which they occupy.

Joe McCutchen
arkansasfreedom.net

The question still goes unanswered. April 11, 2017

Why was the softball complex contract awarded to Senator Files & Lee Webb? It certainly was not awarded for their contractual & financial accomplishments!

By the same token, the F.S. City government is equally guilty in this charade. Incompetency notwithstanding, but what entity would be foolish enough to drop $2 million or more into the hands of the two aforementioned politicians, absent any oversight and still funding when the project was on its death bed, i.e. the collusion between the FS city government & the WAPDD, which amounts to outright public theft.
What is the relationship between CEO WAPDD Sasha Grist (what qualifies her as CEO), the city government of Ft. Smith & Frontier MPO’s Dianne Morrison?

In view of the city’s miserable financial record, that is if they are not outright lying, streets & sewers, pensions, the Civic Center, taxpayer’s money being spent for downtown enterprises, the nascent Marshal’s Museum, ad infinitum something is really smelly, particularly the Softball Complex deal which gives an absolute appearance of either a payoff, a quid pro quo, cronyism, malfeasance, misfeasance, etc. None of which are admirable traits, coupling this with their outright refusal to come clean and illuminate the citizens as to why this contract was delivered to Files & Webb.

Money is flowing much too loosely not only in the city but in these NGO’s, wholly funded by taxpayers and run by self-serving government incompetents.

Joe McCutchen

P.S. Trails taking precedence over the aforementioned failures.

Fort Smith, AR is another DC Swamp—32 years & no results from the 1% street/sewer tax, and the tax meter is running rampantly. January 23, 2017

Another Shell Game about to be foisted on Fort Smith citizens by new City Manager (phantom/has never been introduced publicly) Carl Gefkin, the Mayor and the City Directors.

Shell Games are also known as Short-Cons because they are easy & quick to pull off. Case in point, Fort Smith City Manager & Directors.
A brief background pertaining to Fort Smith citizen’s addiction to taxes (shell games & the highest in Arkansas) must be constructed so as to understand the magnitude of the City Manager’s proposed extension of the already 32 year old Shell Game that Fort Smith has experienced, which if left up to the phantom City Manager & Directors will result in a 57 year Shell Game.

September, 1985 a 1% city street & sewer tax was passed because of an Environmental Protection Act (EPA) decree (sewers), precisely the same EPA demands that were placed a second time (Dec. 2, 2014) on the city of Fort Smith that resulted in a $300,000 fine and a $400 million sewer edict to be completed in 12 years. Of course, the $400 million, due to interest, etc. will balloon to over $500 million during the 12 year mandate.

The 1% street & sewer tax that was specifically dedicated for street and sewer improvements have generated well over $600 million in the first 25 years of its existence, and the sewer tax meter is now into its 32nd year. Where did the $600+ million go? Certainly not on streets & sewers as demanded. With the $600 million spent & abused, coupled to the 2nd $400 million EPA demand will result in far more than double taxation and will be close if not surpassing $ 3/4 billion in taxes.

At the first 10 year sunset, voted on and passed, why was the word sewer and/or “drainage improvement” removed from the official tax title & now referred to simply as the 1% street tax.

Enter new City Manager, Carl Gefkin, the Shell Game “conjurer” and his 3 peas—the Mayor, the City Directors & the City Attorney.
Let the Shell Game continue—Fort Smith citizens are always ready for another tax plucking measure.

Here is their game plan. As with all City Managers, Gefkin is trained to carry out all federal mandates, acts, laws, etc. while posing as a servant of the citizens who pay his salary.

Recall, if the original 1 cent street/sewer redemption tax had been legally & appropriately used, in all likelihood the sewers would have been refurbished in first 5 years…1990. Instead, 32 years later most streets & sewers are still in a state of disrepair. (All the while the PC crowd clamors for mismanaged, ill-conceived trails, ball complexes, museums, Avenue businesses (new-age Urban Renewal) & other non-essentials. These are all being subsidized with taxpayer dollars to cronies, property owners, contractors, regionalism, 501c3’s & 4’s with no transparency in the bid process if one exists.)

Fort Smith City Manager Gefkin stated January 19, 2017, “Trying to do it in that short period (12 years) of time we’re finding out now, is not realistic. We need more time to do it”. (Is 32 years not long enough??)

I would suggest to government man Gefkin two things: Tighten the financial belt & run the city government as a business (which you may know nothing about)…cut funding for ALL non-essentials until this mandate is completed as agreed to by the current city government. Mr. Gefkin, you were well aware of the 2nd EPA mandate when you accepted the job. Furthermore, you knew that this was the same Board that negotiated the 12 year deal for reclaiming sewers and these Board Members are waist deep in incompetency, waste, & corruption in this Shell Game.

Now the bombshell! Jan. 19, 2017 introduced to the public his short time Shell Game: “Gefkin said, ‘possibly extending the decree (EPA) to 25 years or so “a shot in the dark”. This is the most dangerous & outrageous proposal entertained by City Directors that has ever come before the F.S. City Board. This would be a mandate to turn sewer improvement into a 57 year project, no end in sight and getting this Board & future Boards hundreds of millions of dollars to carry out ill-advised projects.

WHERE DID THE $600 MILLION GO AND WHERE & TO WHOM WILL THE FUTURE MONEY GO? QUI BONO???

A quotation by Robert Yates, one of our Founders…”I can scarcely contemplate a greater calamity that could befall this country than be loaded with a debt exceeding their ability to ever discharge. If this be a just remark, it is unwise and improvident to vest in the general government a power to borrow at discretion, without any limitation or restriction”.

Joe McCutchen
arkansasfreedom.net