Where they stand: Steve Clark

Over the last month or so we’ve gotten to know a little about each of the 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 folks stand on what we all 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.

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?
Steve Clark: Fayetteville is experiencing what the entire nation is facing. The city has seen a slowing in the real estate market, rising prices for fuel and food, fewer funds available for business development, a tightening of the available credit for consumers and personal households carefully monitoring their finances.

All that being said, I believe our city is in better shape financially than most cities in Arkansas and America.

However, our city would be in even better financial shape, if the current city leadership had made better decisions regarding the newly dedicated waste water treatment plant. Our city would be in even better shape, if those 1200 technology jobs headed to Conway, had been attracted to Fayetteville because we were prepared to embrace economic growth of knowledge based jobs. Our city would have been in even better shape, if its downtown hotel project had been completed as promoted and promised.

I believe the city has the financial resources to assure we have the essentials - police, fire, streets, sewer, library, parks and economic development. The city will have to decide about what aesthetics need to be funded with any additional funds remaining after the essentials are funded.

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?
SC: I believe the city’s idea to get a first class major hotel in downtown was a correct one. It is still a correct idea. It is now the city’s responsibility to make certain that the hotel envisioned is built either on the site originally noted or create a new site for a new developer to build and complete by 2010.

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?
SC: Fayetteville must limit high rise condos, especially around the downtown, Dickson Street and the historic areas in and around Lafayette Street and Wilson Park. One of the great things about our city is the ability each of us has to see Old Main, the historic Washington County Courthouse and the Ozarks from most any vantage point. These views are the symbols that most Fayetteville people young and old recognize and cherish. We must always have these views to remind us all who we are in this city.

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?
SC: I believe in and support public transportation. I believe it needs to be an integral park of our planning for our city and our region for the next decade. That planning has to include a change in the narrative about how we address transportation. Rather than having our discussions focus primarily on traffic counts and traffic delays it should also include discussion of permanent funding for Ozark Regional Transit and the development of light rail. To have public transportation that the masses will truly use, we must first have areas along the pickup/drop off zones where people want to walk, eat, shop and work. Our city needs to identify those areas and then make certain we have public transportation options to cater to those areas.

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?
SC: I am aware of numerous people who attended the university that have bought condos to use when they come back to town for games, visits or getaways. Virtually, all have said to me that if Fayetteville had “a” major downtown hotel or couple of downtown hotels from which they could walk to Dickson, the university, the Square they might not have purchased a condo. It seems obvious to me that 2 or 3 nice hotels downtown providing 700 plus rooms for nightly rental and with easy walking access to enjoy shopping, food and entertainment is far superior to condos, condos, condos.

FF: Fayetteville High School: Should it stay or should it go?
SC: Fayetteville High School has produced and does produce some of the best students in the nation. These students are being forced to excel in inadequate facilities. Our high school cannot accommodate a play or even its entire high school band in the same room because lack of adequate facilities. This is sad. Whether the decision is for Fayetteville to build one new high school, remodel and continue to use the existing school while building a second new high school or simply build two new high schools, the focus of this decision should only be what is best for the students of Fayetteville High not the parents nor the alumni.

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?
SC: Having lived in Austin, Texas, the live music capital of the world, I know and appreciate the value of live music to a community. I personally believe that we are in a cycle of decline regarding live music and that the demand for live music will return. I am aware that even in Austin several long standing music venues have closed. Keep in mind we are expanding large scale events in our city from what we used to have to events like the Dickson Street Music Festival, Bikes and Blues, the Gulley Park Concert Series and the live music at the AMP. My opinion is more live music venues will return. I likewise believe it is responsibility of the city to recognize the benefits gained from having this music. Thus the city needs to promote and encourage music. A thriving music scene would help make Fayetteville the “Downtown of Northwest Arkansas”.

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?
SC: The Green Model is here to stay. Green is the new color for gold. Gold is what makes the world go round. Green technology, green business, green government all mean best practices, economic efficiency and an enhanced opportunity for each of us to live better. With global companies like CaseStack relocating their businesses to NWA and calling our area the future center of Green in the country this is no joke. Green is real in the 21st century. Its effect on economics and lifestyle will in some ways be similar to effects that the industrial revolution had on this country when it commenced. Green will change the way we live, act and think. Fayetteville and NWA want to embrace the mantel, title, and challenge of being the “The Green Valley” for our nation and the world.

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?
SC: First, we did not go wrong as a community. Fayetteville supports the Walton Art Center hook, line and sinker! Second, Fayetteville has been sharing the WAC with Benton, Madison, Carroll, Crawford, Sebastian counties, Southwest Missouri and Eastern Oklahoma since the WAC opened. If we made a mistake, it was our vision was not large enough to anticipate the demand and support the WAC would generate. So, our current facility is too small. Although a number of our NWA communities have centers for the arts and those will continue to grow, which is good for NWA. I believe that our focus needs to be on enlarging the existing facility or building an additional facility to compliment the one we already have. Then Fayetteville can continue to serve all of NWA, Southwest Missouri and Eastern Oklahoma.

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?
SC: One thing that I would not want to change about Fayetteville is the passion the citizens in this city have for Fayetteville. That passion was not created by the current Mayor nor will it be changed by the new one. The Blair library, the retail upgrades to the Joyce Street and Mall area, the Arkansas Music Pavilion, the new Washington Regional Medical Center, the new public schools all occurred because of the passion of Fayetteville citizens. It was the people not politicians that did these things. Our citizens were both the source of the ideas defining these goals and the source of the energy and financing to execute of these ideas.

The minimal road improvements, the lack of resolution of continuing traffic congestion, a decline in the number of small businesses, the lack of preparation so the city could focus on creating new jobs and a general feeling of mismanagement over the sewer treatment plant make me question the statement – “There is no doubt that Fayetteville is in much better shape than it was 8 years ago.” I believe we could have had a better 8 years. Because our city did rise to its potential, the next Mayor will have to address a number of difficult challenges many of which you highlighted with your proposed questions – disappearing businesses supporting live music; lack of a first class downtown hotel, public transportation needs, a giant mud pit, whether the city should grow up or out, the Walton Arts Center, and the city budget. The last 8 years could have been better.

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?
SC: You did not ask about economic development. Economic development only occurs when preparation meets opportunity. The city of Fayetteville has done little to prepare for economic development. We have waited for economic development to come to us rather than seeking out the development we want.

I believe the city needs to needs to develop two programs. First, Fayetteville must realize that the best jobs in Fayetteville are the ones that are here now. The city needs to promote and assist those businesses that make Fayetteville, Fayetteville. Some of those are Colliers Drug, George’s Majestic Lounge, Town and Country Shop, Underwood’s, Lindsey Realty, Dennis Home Furnishing, Perry’s Jewelry, Bedford Camera and Video, Faucette Realty, McGoodwin Williams and Yates engineers and the law firms of Bassett, Odom, Niblock, Pearson, Davis Wright and Butt. All of these businesses have been contributing to Fayetteville for more than 25 years and several for more than 50 years and a couple for more than three quarters of a century. The city needs to step up to assist those businesses remain competitive in an ever changing world.

Second, the city needs to develop a 300 acres office technology campus to recruit and attract knowledge based jobs. The city must prepare to achieve. The city must also act. Nothing changes if nothing changes. The time for study is over. The city should spend its $75,000.00 on creating that technology campus not asking out of state consultants to review what we have done. You asked.