Recent political events have brought a number of hugely expensive government-expanding, mostly non-essentials to the political table.

The United States of America has a $16.4 TRILLION national debt, so says the GAO and $75 TRILLION or so in unfunded mandates.

Let the Fort Smith economic tragedy continue:

I.    The proposed riverfront Hope Campus received a $400,000 federal grant. Recall a $5,000 per day consultant named Dr. Robert Marbut speaking of a 167,000 sq. ft. facility with an initial cost of $2 million, to be funded by “Grant Sponsors” and “Funding Partners” (all taxpayers). Other government jargon that Marbut laid on the City Board,  Richard Griffin and his enablers were the following: “Governance Models, Homeless Campuses, Hybrid Model, Lead Agency, Very Exclusive, Equalness, Top Tenants,” ad infinitum.  Marbut’s central theme, as he stated on many occasions “always leaving room for growth”.  “We help communities to dramatically reduce homelessness”—by dumping the parasites onto taxpayers’ backs and into giant magnets for more deadbeats. This operation, if allowed to reach fruition, will forever be a growing lodestone around the necks of Fort Smith citizens.  $500,000 will not be enough for a startup fund and certainly not a drop in the bucket to what this socialist endeavor will become.

II.     The discontinuance of TV ($25,000 per year) coverage of city Board meetings…all in the name of city economic belt-tightening.  Scandalous & arrogant behavior on the part of the city government by resting on a corrupt statement such as the above.  The City Manager, the City Directors, and allied personnel will spend more than that $25,000 on a single weekend retreat, or study groups, or focus groups, or task force, trips to D.C.  etc. where they all assimilate and absorb what the D.C. power groups want them to advocate.  Case in point, Director Don Hutchings who echoed, with a degree of disdain, why the city would even entertain allowing private citizens, in this case a very generous Jerry Hamel, to fund or help fund the means to reinstitute TV coverage of city government meetings.   Apparently Director Hutchings does not realize that patriotic producing citizens like Hamel are the very same citizens who provide the funding to sustain all governments and their spending frenzies. It is obvious Dir. Hutchings has never created nor sustained a job, i.e. he is a taker not a maker and certainly does not appreciate the importance of transparency in government.

III.    The city exclaims austerity.  It is said former mayor Ray Baker received $250,000 per year during his 20 year tenure.  Accounting?  It has not been calculated as of yet how many tons of rose petals and bales of greeting cards the 20 yr accumulation of $5 million would purchase. The practice is ongoing and Mayor Sanders is receiving the aforementioned amount. Accounting? Awarding this much money to any government employee is obscene! I If Sanders had any moral substance he would reject this taxpayer thievery. This is another gross example of lazy, reticent behavior of citizens to allow this type of economic carnage and certainly the beat will continue. How many taxpayer checks do Sanders and his wife receive each month?  As John Conley’s old song says, they’re “Just in it for the love”.

IV.    Coupled to the spending frenzy is $2.7 million in new trails (Agenda 21), $650,000 for neighborhood parks (Agenda 21), $800,000 for new soccer fields (Agenda 21, to keep the illegals off the streets)—this little bit of inside trading is to be installed near or on riverfront drive.  Throw in $1.55 million for parks (Agenda 21) operation & maintenance, and $229,531 for Aquatic Center operations (no mention of maintenance costs).  Then there is the matter of a new fire station for Chafee Crossing, somewhere around $9 million, and a statement attributed to Fire Chief Mike Richards that the station is a “bare bones” installation. $9 million is “bare bones”???  Richards was quoted at the ballot returns that he “was just speechless”.  Even the chief didn’t expect the citizens to be such simpletons. The $9 million cost must be rethought and rebid. Also fused into the city’s grand theft is the highly dubious $50 million Marshall’s Museum, an Entrepreneurial School, Ferris Wheel, a baseball field, an “Excellence Academy” for delinquents, and the moribund Convention Center.

V.    It is said the proposed Marshal’s Museum, the proposed Homeless Shelter, the proposed baseball stadium, the proposed soccer fields are to be constructed on or near the riverfront.  Who benefits from this peculiar assortment?

Finally, the editor of the Times Record concluded in Sunday’s editorial “it’s time to dream of big things for Fort Smith”.   Big things in this case are merciless poundings of taxpaying citizens. There was a time when the Times Record qualified as a real newspaper, but since the Stephen’s Group has purchased the paper, meaningful editorials are practically non-exist and most are mere mush, and investigative reporting is a thing of the past. The Times Record a mere shell of its past and qualifies solely as a mouthpiece for the city insiders.

The city’s 1% sales tax has been in place for a number of years:  if the renewal of the 1 % tax is as claimed, will ensure a better future, why hasn’t the tax already provided that rosy future and since this is not the case, how and where was the money spent? 

Joe McCutchen