Where they stand: Adam Fire Cat

Over the last month or so we’ve gotten to know a little about each of the five candidates running in the Fayetteville Mayoral election this November. We know what kind of music they like, where they like to eat, even whether or not they call the Hogs.

Now, it’s time to dig a little deeper into where these gentlemen stand on what we think are some of the issues facing Fayetteville today. Just like last time, after we’ve heard from everyone, we’ll provide a separate post for you guys to discuss the interviews. Until then, the comments are turned off on candidate interviews.

Fayetteville Flyer: A lot has been made about the city’s budget in the media in recent months. Is Fayetteville in as much trouble financially as the papers and blogs would have us believe? If so, what would/could you do about it if elected?
Adam Fire Cat: The annual budget is screwed. I wished I could say this is an overstatement… I friggin’ wish… However, I’ve had the opportunity to study Fayetteville’s annual budget for the passed [sic] ten years, and I must say that even a grade school child could read over these numbers and tell you that we’re in a bad way. This is how it breaks down: Fayetteville is $201,764,041.00 in the hole. Our debt limit set by the state this year is $222,661,428.00. In other words, we can only borrow $20,897,387.00 more, and that’s it. That having been said, our annual budget for this year is only $126,851,399.00 Yes, the debt has exceeded our annual budget, and they plan to finally pay this debt off in 2026. To sum it up, our budget has never been worse in Fayetteville’s entire history. Consider this if you will: I used to live in a city called Clarksville, Tennessee. A few years back, Clarksville was hit hard by a system of tornadoes which took out half the city, including the town hall and part of the courthouse. The city was able to recover within a year and a half because they set aside funds and never borrowed over 35% of their debt limit. They were able to cover their own arse. That’s what Fayetteville needs in terms of security for the future. Do we have that? Hell no! If we were to have a natural disaster of such a nature as that, it would cripple this city. We wouldn’t be able to recover for years (many plurals of that word). Don’t think it could ever happen? Keep in mind, we’re on a major fault line, and tornadoes have kissed us hello from time to time. So would the state and federal governments bail us out if something did happen? How well did that work out for New Orleans? I’ll say this much for Fred Hanna, he kept his numbers straight back in the day. He never went over 45% of our debt limit. Our present administration? 90.61% of our debt limit. That spikes us at a historic 160.31% of debt to budget. Truth be told, I can’t wait to see Coody and the Council’s new budget for 2009. I hadn’t had a good laugh in awhile. Pure comedy hour that. How to fix it? Stop spending money we don’t have for things we can’t afford. You won’t see me pimping parks or bike trails to appease people. I’m sorry, but I’ve seen the numbers for all of that, and I find the common sense lacking. I’ve heard crap like, “We can have parks privately funded!” And then they’ll name a method of some sort that can be used to raise the money. That’s all fine and good, but what they fail to mention is that there is a bill that comes with these parks each year. That is a commitment that the city must now take on, and in this time period, that would be bad. Wilson Park alone runs us $600,000.00 a year($50,000.00 a month) in maintenance costs. Then there is the improvements that are being done that level out to be around $248,000.00 for a grand total of $848,000.00. That’s just one park. We have forty-two of them, all varying on cost. Now let’s talk about our administration’s financial priorities. We didn’t have money for park improvements, bike trails, and all this construction that’s been going on lately to “beautify” the center of town, and they bought it anyway knowing the fact. But when the fire department needed a new fire truck… DENIED. Luckily they were able to get alternate funding or they’d still be short that vehicle. Our police officers needed their education courses this year… DENIED. Their priorities are heavily skewered, and all for the sake of progress. I love that word “progress”. It can mean anything you want it to mean. My ultimate plan is to not spend our money on any new programs or extras and concentrate on our city’s upkeep for at least two year. [sic] After we’re caught back up, then and only then do we look at the added extras we all enjoy. Fayetteville is striving for great things, and we rightfully should. But we need to let our finances catch up to our aspirations and exercise economic discipline. God, that was a lot of writing for one question…

FF: There is a giant mud pit on the corner of College and Mountain. From reading the papers, it would seem as though we as a city are at the mercy of some developers who don’t seem to care about what the delays are doing to our downtown area. Are our hands really tied in situations like these? If not, what gives?
AFC: Oh, yes. Who could forget that pond where once sat a restorable building? I don’t blame the developers on that, rather this is another excess ordinance problem which cost the city dearly. The initial plan was the city would go in halves with this hotel to set it up o’proper.[sic] So what happened then? Some people moved to have the size of all buildings in Fayetteville restricted to four stories only, contrary to the agreed upon plan. The ordinance passed, and then the real trouble began. They tell the hotel company that they can no longer build over four stories. But the company disagreed, citing the fact that they were already approved before the new ordinance took effect. This
essentially grandfathered them in… right? Wrong. The council then worked to make the ordinance retroactive, and the company had a major problem with that. Their figures were simplistic. They said they needed X amount of floors to make this endeavour [sic] profitable. The city argued that point, and the company broke out the numbers for them. “This is what we do for a living. We gather data, and assess the feasibility of how much a profit we can make based off those numbers. Where are you guys getting your numbers from?” After some unsuccessful efforts from architects to find a happy medium, and the poor choice by the city of a contractor to build this new building that the hotel company didn’t really want to use, the company pulled out and prayed while the city drilled away. Did I mention how broke the city is right now? We should be thankful we didn’t try to build it on our own, because we can’t afford to pay for the damnable thing. Of course, all the money we blew to put that HITG (hole in the ground) could have been used to restore the original Mountain Inn, but who’s counting right? So congratulate the administration for catering to special interest groups with more ordinances we didn’t need at a critical point in the planning phase. They got exactly what they wanted. It isn’t above four floors. In fact, it’s waaaaaaayyyyy below that level. By the by, did anyone notice how tall the Underwood Building is now?

FF: Speaking of development, we’re hearing a lot of arguments about whether Fayetteville should grow upwards or outwards. It seems that when tall buildings are proposed, some people freak out and others rejoice. What’s the best direction for Fayetteville, up or out?
AFC:Do you want to preserve our open spaces? Then it’s got to be upwards to consolidate space. Otherwise you’re going to have to move those trees out of the way. And by move those trees, I mean completely decimate them. You can’t have it both ways. Situations like this always remind me of the Aesobe’s [sic] Fable of the old man, the young boy, and the donkey. They were travelling to the market to sale [sic] their only remaining donkey. So the boy is riding on the donkey while the old man leads it onwards. They pass a crowd of people who criticize them saying, “Hey you, look at that old man having to lead you around! He’s getting on in the years! You’re a healthy young lad. You should be pulling the donkey and he should be resting his weary bones!” So the two switch places thinking that would end that, and sure enough they come across another crowd of people. The people start ragging them saying, “What’s wrong with you, old man? That poor boy has to walk two steps for every one you take! You’re an adult, and you’re making a child do your work! You should be ashamed!” So this time they both get on the donkey and hoped that would be the end of that. And of course they come upon another group of people and they yell at them saying, “What’s wrong with the two of you? You’re riding that animal to death with the weight of the two of you? The poor beast…!” So the old man and the young boy get off and pick up the donkey instead, thinking that would end it. But as they were crossing a bridge, the old man found himself aching and the young boy found himself too weak. They slipped and dropped the donkey off the side where it died leaving them with nothing. The moral? You’ll lose your ass trying to please everyone. Pros and cons laid out, up beats out. That’s my stance, whether it please ye or not.

FF: What do you think about public transportation in Fayetteville? Do we need it right now or is there even enough demand for such a thing in a city our size?
AFC: There is enough demand. There isn’t enough money to continually pay for it, at least not in a way that we can make a commitment to do so. It’s all back to that debt we’re still in. Our bargaining posture for such things is highly dubious.

FF: Condos, condos, condos. Everybody wants to build condos in Fayetteville. Doesn’t that sound kinda weird to you? It does to us but then again, we’re not running for mayor. Are condos really that cool?
AFC: I live more bare minimal. I’m happy with four walls and a roof. Electricity and water are a bonus. But where people want to live…well if there actually is a call for it, who am I to say they can’t live in a condo? Helps with the property tax collected if nothing else.

FF: Fayetteville High School: Should it stay or should it go?
AFC: I think when the time comes, we open a second campus to accommodate the population growth, keeping the building we already have. What is the fascination with brand new buildings anyway?

FF: Our music scene has gone from incredibly awesome to horribly embarrassing in the past 5 years or so. Some folks would disagree but most would second us in a heartbeat. From the closings of JR’s Lightbulb Club and The Dart Room to the end of a decade-long run that the Music Hall put forth, it seems like live music venues are dropping like flies. Now we’re even hearing that the police are cracking down on the noise on Dickson Street. Is there something that can be done or are we just experiencing some bad luck?
AFC: I remember doing a stand-up rant routine at the Dart Room. Good times that. But I do agree we don’t have the music scene we used to, or any scene we used to for that matter. Fayetteville just isn’t as fun as I remember it years back. I recall our Mardi Gras used to rock down here… they had to block off Dickson street every year. Except this previous year. No need to block it off that time. It was business as usual with the exception of those excellent performers who have made it fun time after time. This year is the result of a continued assault on that fun. The titty laws became the main theme, because you might sprain someone’s optics making them stare at an eyeful of chest. With the constant what-you-can-and-cannot-do-in-our-little-city-mister mentality, we’ve made other places look more appealing. Hell, we should be cashing out on Mardi Gras as well as every other holiday. Lord only knows we need the money. Noise ordinances take away the rights of those who would otherwise be playing away into the great hours of the night. Music can only be so loud, and then none after hour X. Our race track, gone… “Too loud…” said a member of the City Counsel after moving right next to it knowing full well it was there. She knew it, understood it, comprehended it, and moved there knowing the fact. Then she had the nerve to act surprised there was racing noises emanating from it. No one fought for the track owners, after all its’ not your problem, right? I mean really, it’s like we don’t really want the fun we used to have. You’re lucky they didn’t do away with skating around town, and it wasn’t for a lack of trying on the present mayor’s behalf. If you want to have this scene back, then I suggest fighting tooth and nail for it. I’m going to do what I can on this end, the rest is up to the citizens.

FF: The fact that Fayetteville is being called “The Green Valley” was news to some of us. How is living in a sustainability capital good for us as citizens or are we currently focusing too much on being a Green model?
AFC: I never use that word “sustainability” except to reference the fact that I don’t use the word. It’s a meaningless, overused buzzword that carries with it the same properties as “progress”. It means what you want it to. It’s not a bad thing to “Go Green”, it’s just that we’re forcing it. That’s what’s putting us in that financial bind in the first place. Alternate methods to do things which save the earth and such are fine, but they don’t always pay the bills. This at least needs to be acknowledged if nothing else.

FF: Many folks seem to think the Walton Arts Center is leaving town. Others say at worst we’ll be sharing it with Benton County. Where did we go wrong or is this all just a bunch of hooey?
AFC: It’s not leaving us, but when it came up that it might, I took a hardball stance on the issue. I loved attending all sorts of shows which have been put on in the years. My favourite was when I was able to purchase front row, center seat tickets to see Bill Cosby do a stand-up. He was able to do this after a long pause in his family based humour upon the violent loss of his son Ennis. And he was great. He shook my hand from the stage. It was clammy. I specifically remember that. Then he ripped on my pseudo-date for five straight minutes over Father’s Day gifts. The best time I’d ever had there. Even then, there’s no way I was going to give in to this idea that we had to make it stay. They said they wanted a new building which would run the city $180,000,000.00. Just for one building?! That would pay for our city works for over a year, and the city was expected to foot
the bill. But again, we can legally only borrow around $20,897,387.00 more. So where was the money supposed to come from again? My stance was simple. If they want to leave, if the birdy has become too big for its’ nest, then fly birdy fly. The great part is that there is this building on Dickson Street that’s not going to uproot itself and walk away. It even comes complete with a theatre and everything. I suggested that we take the building for our own and do our own thing with it. We could easily have gotten it back up and running properly with a well motivated managing team. I hated to see that $180,000,000.00 expansion dangled over our heads like a carrot to a horse. I say “Nay.” We should never be at the mercy of others for our local arts scene. But we didn’t take the carrot, and all is fine. For now.

FF: There is no doubt that Fayetteville is in much better shape than it was 8 years ago. Is there anything that has been established that you wouldn’t dare change about our city?
AFC: I’m diggin’ the Bikers, Blues, and BBQ. This year, it’s being held earlier. That’s good because it was uncomfortable for them in the colder weather later in the year.

FF: This one goes to 11) We can’t cover everything in just 10 questions. What is one thing you’re just biting your nails over that we missed?
AFC: Oh, I’ll mention that later. Heh, heh…