{"id":1388,"date":"2017-02-26T21:59:32","date_gmt":"2017-02-26T21:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=1388"},"modified":"2017-02-26T21:59:32","modified_gmt":"2017-02-26T21:59:32","slug":"pinning-the-tails-on-the-donkeys-the-elephants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=1388","title":{"rendered":"Pinning the tails on the Donkeys & the Elephants!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deep City Fort Smith\u2014related to the DC Deep State\u2014 the unelected always control the process. <\/strong> February 26, 2017<\/p>\n

The primary question remains unanswered: Why were State Senator Jake Files (R) Chairman of the Ark. Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee and Lee Webb (D) member of the Board of Election Commissioners & also the chairman of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission awarded the political, potentially lucrative contract\/agreement for the construction and ownership of the River Valley Sports Complex located at Chaffee Crossing?<\/p>\n

The above question alone is evidence that there were\/are substantive numbers of economic & political conflicts embedded in this odoriferous deal! Arrows also point to a possible complicity of some sort by the former City Administrator, the present City\u2019s Mayor and one or more of the Board of Directors for allowing this travesty to be created & continued to exist for 5 years. Omitted from the equation are recently appointed City Administrator Carl Geffken & newly seated Director Tracy Pennartz. <\/p>\n

Both Files & Webb have shown themselves to be in positions of influence peddling pertaining to government money pits, i.e. Files position as Chairman & Webb\u2019s position with the AEDC. The conflicts, minus details, explanations, lack of transparency should have been investigated by city government & reported to the taxpaying citizens. A partial list of taxpayer concerns: contractual obligations, no apparent oversight during the 5 year project, no information regarding insurance, accounting practices, ownership, liability concerns, 501c3\u2019s & their officers & salaries, lucrative venues related to the project, e.g. concessions, parking, multiple other entertainment venues, Files & Webb\u2019s fiduciary obligations & other responsibilities, and in case of failure (which is the status) what restitution is due, if any? <\/p>\n

Obviously the project was erected on sinking sand.<\/p>\n

Since November 26, 2011 (\u201cSticking pins in the eyes\u201d), I have written at least 16 articles asking the questions posed above and many more specifically directed to the former City Manager, the Mayor and the Board of Directors and may be found on arkansasfreedom.net.<\/p>\n

Furthermore; one such article titled \u201cHold your horses\u201d was posted on April 17, 2012 regarding the Times Record front page story \u201cDevelopers take stand on sports complex\u201d, another article titled \u201cIs this political patronage\u201d dated Aug. 29, 2012 detailed multiple questions, legal, ethical & financial. Another was devoted to an FOIA sent to Mayor Sandy Sanders by certified mail\/receipt requested. The U.S. Postal Service informed me that Sanders refused to sign for delivery which lay on his desk unopened for 1 month at which time it was returned to the sender. <\/p>\n

The city of Fort Smith has dumped $1.6 million in cash, plus other in-kind taxpayer services, e.g. the National Guard, the regular Army & Army reserves which if, (as previously stated) the city had employed accepted accounting practices & monitoring, they would have known Files & Webb have spent over $2 million on this nefarious project\u2026and nothing to show for it. Question: did some of these funds pay for any of Files & Webb\u2019s personal expenses and are there still unpaid bills? Then of course there is the matter of some bids that appear to be fraudulent. (Was the disappearing Hispanic contractor an illegal?) <\/p>\n

An editorial that appeared in the DemGaz Sunday February 19, 2017 excoriated Files for his manipulation of the General Improvement Fund for $46,500 that the city government obediently applied for & received to help with the Park project. Why? This is in addition to the $1.6 million the city paid Files & Webb for work allegedly completed since 2014. The GIF is a slush fund for politicians, in this case, Senator Jake Files, to buy votes, incur other favors and enrich themselves. Senator Files has a roadmap of business failures and unsavory dealings and some appear to be outright illegal. <\/p>\n

That the Fort Smith city government could be this incompetent & dysfunctional is hard to swallow. It is my belief that a maelstrom now exists in the Deep City, e.g. the $400 million EPA mandate the $300,000 EPA fine, the demand for an EPA 12 year completion\u2026followed by Geffken\u2019s request for a 25<\/strong> more year extension, the shortfall in the police & fireman retirement fund, the huge amount of taxpayer money being spent on private property in Downtown Fort Smith (1960\u2019s Urban Renewal), large subsidies to the proposed Marshal\u2019s Museum (billed as a private endeavor & who owns?), the bankrupt City Civic Center (costing the taxpayers $700,000 per year), and the shell games go on.<\/p>\n

In a recent TV-5 interview with Manager Geffken, he made some brief remarks, e.g. \u201cwe need to move on\u201d which to me is indicative that he & the Board want to scrub the River Valley Sports Complex, if not true, then where did Geffken want \u201cto move on\u201d to? What is needed here is that Geffken call for an official, independent investigation, criminal & otherwise, into the actions of all parties since November 2011 involving the softball complex. Soon we will find out where Geffken stands on accountability & transparency.<\/p>\n

Why is Senator Files allowed to remain a functionary in state government in view of his sordid political & economic adventures using hard earned taxpayer dollars, and same for the Mayor & City Directors? Do contractual obligations\/responsibilities no longer exist?<\/p>\n

Joe McCutchen
\narkansasfreedom.net <\/p>\n

P.S. One has to wonder if double government dipper, Rep. Matt Pitsch, Arkansas Speaker of the House & Regional (government Change Agent) Czar for RITA is anxiously waiting in the wings for Senator Files to fall on his sword. (Regional government=non-elected officials appointed by elected city officials to plan and hold control over large swaths of land, water, & people, and are the \u201cPLANNERS\u201d & those plans always come with a huge price, not only of money but of loss of freedoms.)<\/p>\n

I direct your attention to both Files & Pitsch who are both lead dogs in the proposed legislation SJR8 (tort reform) that leads to the abolishment of our Founding Fathers\u2019 Bill of Rights, Amendment 7 guaranteeing citizen rights to trial by a jury of our peers. Files, Pitsch and other traitorous Republicans in the Ark. General Assembly are bribed by nursing homes, insurance companies, and many corporate interests. They have totally abandoned their constituencies, as well as their ethics, morality & history of our republic. <\/p>\n

What Constitutional Amendment will these Republicans attack next?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deep City Fort Smith\u2014related to the DC Deep State\u2014 the unelected always control the process. February 26, 2017 The primary question remains unanswered: Why were State Senator Jake Files (R) Chairman of the Ark. Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee and Lee Webb (D) member of the Board of Election Commissioners & also the chairman of … Continue reading Pinning the tails on the Donkeys & the Elephants!<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,9,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-city-government-offenses","category-forced-redistribution","category-u-s-constitution"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1388"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1389,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388\/revisions\/1389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}