Dan Coody
Courtesy
Mayor Lioneld Jordan has his first official competitor in the November 2012 mayoral election.
Former Mayor Dan Coody, who lost the 2008 runoff election to Jordan after eight years in office, will once again run for mayor of Fayetteville.
Coody has said on several occasions that he was considering another run at the mayor’s seat, but that his mind was not yet made up.
A public Facebook event created last week invited supporters to attend a campaign kickoff event this week at his property on the east side of Mount Sequoyah.
From the event listing:
We are making it official! Hope you can come and support the campaign. We want you to give us your input, listen to a short speech and have a good time.
When reached by phone Monday afternoon, Coody confirmed his plans to run and said a more formal announcement for the event would likely come on Tuesday.
A recent automated phone poll commissioned by a group of Coody’s supporters asked residents for their opinion of four possible candidates in the upcoming election: Jordan; Coody; Walt Eilers; and Steve Clark.
Eilers and Clark, who each ran in the 2008 election, said they have no plans to run for Fayetteville mayor this year.
Jordan launched his re-election bid on the downtown square in late March.
Filing for the November election beings July 27.
Good news.
This is great news. Dan Coody was a GREAT mayor. I like Jordan, he’s definitely a nice guy, but I don’t think he’s quite the politician that Coody is.
Coody’s number one priority was always himself. That’s what lead to his loss the last time he ran and it’s why he’ll lose again.
Actually, my wife is my first priority. Everything else seems tied for second place. Not sure how to sort it all out, but a good sense of humor helps.
Well, that was definitely a politician’s reply.
I would say that was a wise husbands reply!
O.K. Here ya go! Number one priority is to develop a publicly-driven vision and plan for the immediate area around the Walton Arts Center (around 10 acres). It’s number one because of the short time frame involved before the City sells bonds and locks in the current and inconvenient paid-parking program for 20 years. A revenue bond does not require a vote of the public. Also, after selling the bonds there is a relatively short time frame to start construction so there would be no real time for fully discussing more creative ideas. There are several concepts floating around that are not being discussed by the City. Instead of just having an enormous parking garage erected in the heart of downtown, we could design an artistic civic space that could include room for the local arts community, some truly public green space, some new commercial space, a convenient parking facility that is completely hidden from view, public event space, etc. We could have a downtown unique to Fayetteville that fulfills many needs, instead of having just another parking garage. And it could be paid for without having to rely only on the fees and fines of the current parking program.
Mr. Coody has a swell idea here, but I hope he will share his plan for paying for all this without parking fees or a tax increase. Surely he’s not considering another risky TIF district that left us with an ugly treeless parking lot now in private hands. I look forward to a realistic financing plan with more details than wishing and promising.
Innarested in candidate Coody’s stance on the biker fest and the A&P Commission.
We went to the first couple of them. Since then we either stay home or go out to the Buffalo area. I don’t care for the noise of so many straight pipes. It’s so large now that every community is filling their hotel rooms for several days. Bikers are all over the 4 county area sightseeing and spending money. Fayetteville isn’t the only one making some money from the event, but there is no real way to know how much money is being made. It is nearly impossible to determine the total economic impact for Fayetteville because the city is not privy to all the tax numbers. Apparently there isn’t any tax being charged on the beer garden, so the only hard fact with which to do a study would be incomplete. The city does know how much it costs for extra security and whatever clean-up isn’t done by the volunteers. The festival may chip in for security, I don’t know. You have to take into account that there is always at least one football game in that month along with the War Eagle fair and there is no way to separate out their impact from the monthly totals.
I really would like to see us get behind other festivals, such as bluegrass, jazz, film, art, etc. that would draw a broad range of people too our town and experience more than just bikes. The Roots and Seedling festivals are very good starts.
Thanks you for your reply.
Dan Coody showed a vision for growing Fayetteville’s cultural scene, economic base, recreational amenities.
The trails wouldn’t exist without Dan’s leadership, going waaaaay back. Sure, many played a part in their eventual planning and construction, but Dan Coody pushed his vision for trails back in 1991, kept it in the public consciousness and spearheaded the framework and property acquisition that led to our present day trail system.
He’s well-spoken, intelligent, and presents a progressive face and voice for our fair city. I have always been proud when he represented Fayetteville to the outside world. I can’t say that about present leadership.
I don’t believe the city has been better the last four years without Dan’s leadership. I see a city that is stagnating, an administration that is bogged down in answering to a few loud voices, while not having a coherent vision of what Fayetteville can be in the future. Hell, the current administration can’t even seem to remain consistent on a few key issues from one week to the next.
In short, Fayetteville seems leaderless.
glute, since you’re wrong about almost everything, maybe candidate Coody would prefer you didn’t back him. I’m certainly less inclined to back him now.
I’m sure Dan is just crestfallen at your lack of support.
I’m sure he’s equally convinced his re-election is a sure thing with that important glutenfree endorsement.
Yes, Mr. Coody is smooth. I read in the paper about a poll that was conducted asking whether people thought Jordan was sophisticated enough to be mayor, so there must be some people who agree with your sentiment that Mr. Coody is “well-spoken, intelligent, and presents a progressive face and voice for our fair city. I have always been proud when he represented Fayetteville to the outside world. I can’t say that about present leadership.” Your point is clear, and the election could prove you right if you can make it a campaign issue without appearing to be elitist or mean spirited and enough people agree with you. I remember those newspaper cartoons that showed Jordan with a piece of straw hanging out of his mouth and wearing overalls, but you’ll need to be more subtle than that.
Wow, glutenfree, I remember the 2008 Coody campaign and you’ve given those who don’t a fairly good synopsis of the talking points from that election cycle. Think it’ll work as well this time as it did back then?
Good Lord! That’s all we need. Coody’s ego got him beat last time, and I can only pray for the same result. I’m not totally in Jordan’s camp, but no way do we need a return to Coody.
Hold that thought while I go make some popcorn…
Mr. Coody has my vote. I’ve endured firsthand the high school clique that is the current administration, and I’m over it. Jordan turns professional disagreements into personal grudge matches, and wields influence where he rightfully should not. Welcome back, Dan.
Well said and I have and am experiencing those grudge matches in regards to reforming the animal shelter.
I hope someone else, besides these two, runs for mayor. And I am not talking about someone like Fire Cat.
Someone should step up and offer a fresh alternative. Just can’t stomach the two who have announced. Isn’t there a good woman that can break this cycle of egomaniacal men ? The Marr/Smith administration has not lived up to expectations and Coody is a smoothe talker but we need a smart well spoken mayor that is not the same old crowd.
yes, lets vote strictly on gender because it translates to political leadership!
Let’s get this done America!!!!
I feel strongly about this, so rather than get bogged down in sniping with those who enjoy it, I’ll post here:
Dan Coody would not know me personally if he saw me, but I have enough respect for the man to say this about him. Dan Coody is intelligent, articulate, optimistic, driven, and has a positive vision. People who have all of the aforementioned qualities I generally just refer to as being “bright”. There are a lot of bright people in Fayetteville, which is really what makes it such a good town to call home. Most of the musicians and artists I admire locally are what I would simply call “bright”. The kid at the gas station who is obviously intelligent and witty, who you later find out is a classical studies major and fluent in Greek is bright.
A lot of times, “bright” people are widely perceived as being “arrogant”. Bill Clinton is a good example. In spite of any disagreements I might personally have with some of his beliefs, I will never consider Bill Clinton to be anything other than a very “bright” person. I know people who consider Bill to be an arrogant a-hole. I have nothing but respect for the guy.
Our nation is better off having had him as our president. I would have voted for him or Hillary in the past election cycle, because I perceive them to be intelligent, positive people, motivated by a desire to do good. W, on the other hand, I perceived to be genuinely arrogant, not “bright”, condescending and petty.
In my experience, its generally people who themselves aren’t “bright” who interpret the mannerisms and actions of “bright” individuals as “arrogant” or “haughty”.
I’ll vote for Coody not because I expect him to serve every last little NIMBYism I have floating around in my head. I’ll vote for him because I know he is intelligent, and I know he has a good and positive vision for the city, because every time he speaks he has intelligent, coherent, and visionary things to say about the direction Fayetteville should go.
I’ll vote for him because, in spite of his short-comings, Fayetteville is much better off as a city because Dan Coody chose to become involved in Fayetteville’s leadership many years ago. He’s smart. He’s optimistic. He has a vision for improving Fayetteville, and we’re all better for it. In short, he’s one of those bright people who make Fayetteville the city that it is.
I’m down with Coody
I have seen Coody and Jordan. I may not agree with everything that Coody did, but he is a heck of a lot better than Jordan.
Seriously? I’m glad Mr. Coody and his wife have friends they can call who will post on this and other message boards, but he’s yet to take responsibility for the many financial failures of his administration. For eight years sometimes it seemed all we’d hear from the City was about Coody’s achievements and others’ (who either reported to or preceeded him) failures. It’s not okay to claim credit for successes without accepting responsibility for the rest. When this is coupled with the secrecy of his administration and important decisions made behind closed doors without public participation it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
What specific decisions were made behind closed doors. If you’re going to make accusations the readers deserve details to back that claim.
A few that come to mind are the downtown TIF planning, Dickson St. Renaissance Tower planning and the failed Southpass development.
Throwing around accusations when your information is not correct is easy to do. May be you just missed the meetings……
TIF was vetted for several months in the public. I personally attended at least 8 meetings because I live on the border and had a personal interest in it. Many of the borders changed due to public input and Jordan voted to approve it.
Because of South Pass, the city was given, as in FREE, over 200 beautiful acres of land for a park. What was the down side of that one. Plus all this was done in public meetings as well.
The Renaissance Tower, there was months of public meetings and again Jordan voted to approve it. And as far as I can see, he has bothered to do nothing about the eye-sore in the 4 years he has been in office.
What was the downside? There are a few that come to mind. The landfill on that property. The infrastructure that the city had to agree to provide and pay for in order to get that “free” park land. The use of city parks funds to send out mailings to those involved in ongoing sports programs, promising a regional soccer park. Said park being far removed from concentrated areas of population, thus creating a huge negative carbon impact in travels to and from. The blatently misleading statements Mr. Coody made about there not being an existing agreement, much less a pre-drawn contract, and his presentation to the council requesting they merely approve negotiations and then signing the pre-existing, pre-signed by developers contract within hours. Watershed issues, hillside development issues. Need more?
Four years ago, Jordon eeked out a win after a run off election. But then we got a surprise when Jordon hired Don Marr as Chief of Staff. Don change all proceedures and made sure his signature was on everything. There were cartoons showing Marr as a puppeteer and Jordan as the puppet. Then Don had personal money problems and clouded the picture for the present administration. But did he really fade out of the decesion making process?
The only thing the current administration can brag on are items the Coody administration started.
The most noted items the current administration can put their face on is the Block Street redesign and paid parking.
“eeked out a win”?? Jordan won big in the run-off. That’s why I’m surprised Coody is making another run. It was a huge loss, especially for an incumbent. Jordan may have his issues, but a return to the Coody days is literally moving backwards. Still plenty of time before the filing deadline. His announcement may bring out a couple more candidates who also hate the idea of Coody running the show again.
I really really want paid parking gone.
Ditto for the Block Street redesign.
I’m convinced that anyone who supports the current Block St. situation is just trolling.
call me a troll if you like, but I really don’t see the problem with the Block street parking. Is it to do with reversing into a parking space? If so, do those people that see it as a problem not parallel park?
Fair enough; I doubt you are trolling, but I think the redesign has made it less convenient to visit many businesses on the street. Ability to parallel park doesn’t guarantee proficiency at angling in backwards, especially with delivery/emergency vehicles sometimes taking up a portion of a now-narrower street. I’m not a business owner, but if I were, I would want to remove as many inconveniences to visiting my shop as possible.
I’m a lousy parallel parker, but I have no problem backing into the spaces on Block when I go get my hair done at Shag.
Dan Coody sure is swell.
Only reason Jordan won is because Coody waffled about running again. He ticked off some of the other candidates and they threw their support behind Jordan even though they were closer to Coody on the issues. That is history now.
Coody has my vote even though I haven’t agreed with all his actions or positions.
This is truth. Jordan got the votes of Steve Clark’s followers after Clark publicly endorsed Jordan.
Didn’t Clark then get an appointment as Chamber of Commerce President? Who decided that appointment?
Lets not forget this gem. I have yet to decipher WTF Bradshaw is talking about in the lead-in:
http://accessfayetteville.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=1164
Yes and isn’t it interesting that Jordan is now paying Steve Clark’s Chamber $225,000.00 of our tax payer money every year!!!!!! How Conveniently coincidental!!!!!!
The Chamber Board of Directors hires the Chamber President. It is not a city appointment, it is a private organization.
Clark was selected by the Chamber. Nothing to do with any city government “appointment.” The Chamber is not a city dept., to put it extremely mildly. Duh….
I’m shocked at all the coody support. It seems to me that Fayetteville would wise up and demand that there at least be more choices than the last two stale choices. It’s not just pepsi and coke people! I’m sure there are others out there that have fresh ideas. I’ve seen coody on the streets, he wears socks with sandals for Christ’s sake! Wise up fayetteville, you don’t have to go down the same road twice. Demand more of your citizens! Coody had his chance, now lets move along.
as long as they weren’t white athletic socks, i have no problem with people wearing socks with sandals. i love a good pair of hiking socks with my chacos or birks.
warmth and toe freedom at the same time. best of both worlds.
Actually, there are Keens. If I was wearing white socks I was off to a casual event, if they were black socks it was a formal.
Socks + sandals = confidence & comfort. Approved!
What…are you sock prejudice!!!! I’ve worn socks with keens too. They are like wearing open tennis shoes….not sandals….get with the times.
Coody 2012
I like Lioneld Jordan as a person (no better than I know him). But, he has seemed devoid of original thought and vision as mayor. More like the nice, but static, guy you can’t attach anything positive or terribly negative (politically) to. How has Fayetteville advanced in the past four years? Why aren’t we having a serious, current, counterpoint conversation regarding the hated kiosks and parking deck needs/plan? I’m on Dickson a lot. Day and night (sober). For all the city’s claims that it’s working, it’s not. I don’t know one person who wouldn’t favor individual, metered spaces (similar to Block). Sell that million dollar headache to someone else and let’s move on. The city overplayed it’s hand at the perfectly wrong time economically and now, no one wants to back up on it. And if we don’t do it soon, we’re going to be locked into it forever. Personally, I think Dan does well at maintaining a balance between how the “super-local” desires Fayetteville and the reality that we’re not living in a bubble.
You now know one person who wouldn’t favor the individual meters. I think they are hideously ugly and having several remote pay stations is far more favorable.
make that 2. How lazy does someone need to be to not want to walk 1/2 a block to a remote pay station?
I stand corrected. However, I would still bet the overwhelming majority would prefer a modern single meter per space. It’s not about being lazy but rather the fact that the kiosks have had, and continue to have, a seriously negative impact on downtown business. No meter or pay station is attractive. Single meters are more convenient, easier for the general public to use and more generally accepted. A complete about face desperately needs to happen.
We can’t forget about those with small children or a disability, or inclement weather. They could have at least have installed the minimum number of kiosk recommended , 2 – 4 per block. The individual meters downtown certainly haven’t ruined my life.
I’m not against individual meters. I do like the kiosk/solar power design and the fact that they take credit cards. I can imagine individual meters that accept cards becoming expensive. There are many dedicated disabled spaces, and umbrellas are not that expensive for inclement weather. Additionally there is a pay-by-phone program for those who absolutely cannot walk to the kiosk. I just think that the criticism of kiosks is overblown (hopefully the criticism isn’t politically motivated).
It is not lazy but inconvenient, besides being ripped off for time. On a individual meter you can see if anytime is left over from the previous parker. The city doubles or triples up on collection (who knows) if someone leaves early with the way it is setup now. Also you can receive a ticket before you get to the kiosk to pay ( I did). Yeah you can have it cleared but what a pain.
The advantage of the stations is that you can go to any of them and pay for your spot, so you don’t have to walk all the way back to your car to pay if you’ve wandered further away. You can also pay by making a phone call, according to the stickers on the pay stations. I haven’t tried that, so I can’t speak to how easy or convenient it is. I do hate that you can’t see if there is time left on them from the previous person, and they don’t give change. Overall though, I think they’re better than individual meters.
When it comes to local elections I generally vote against the incumbent on the theory that small-time politics tends to lend itself to nepotism, corruption, and patronage.
I don’t want either of these guys…I hope someone else reasonable runs.
I think you just described politics of all sizes…
I really like the idea of if we have to build a deck than let us get something for it. Like removing the acres of parking on Dickson between the WAC and the railroad tracks, putting GREEN space there, taking advantage of a NATURAL creek that is there, a shared public area for events and concerts, a chance for this generation to beautify the central area of this city rather than trying to squeeze every commercial dollar possible out of that area.
With a creative plan for the public land around the WAC (about 10 acres) we could have green space, new commercial space, a flexible street design that can be used occasionally as event space, a home for the Art Underground, and a convenient, well-planned parking facility that is hidden from view, and more. It is good that the WAC is hiring a planner to help them remodel the building, but the City is jumping around in a big hurry to plop a load of concrete somewhere in the heart of our downtown and this will effect how our city looks, feels, and operates for generations. The public discussion on a broad range of possibilities is not invited into the conversation. It is our town, too, and we should be asking ourselves bigger questions than “where do you want this parking deck, lady? Hurry, it’s heavy.” This “emergency ” is self-imposed. It will effect how our downtown feels, looks, and operates for generations. If we sit back and just watch only to complain after it starts being built, it will be our own fault.
This is why the Fay. public Library is reserved for May 31, from 5:30 to 7 so everyone who has an interest, pro, con, whatever, can come express your opinion on the parking program and your ideas for how our downtown evolves. It’s our city, it’s our money, it’s our future. We should have a say as to what we want. It’s only fair.
I’ll vote for whoever will build a sidewalk on Old Wire.
Old Wire is one of the most dangerous roads in Fayetteville for bicyclist. I even saw a guy with two kids in a kid carriage(without helmets) just trucking along. Its too busy of a road for bicycles. I respect the “share the road law” but when it comes down to safety, that road is not safe for bicycles.
It looks like politician Coody is hard at work again.
Do not forget he wants to get 2 more years to get that lifetime retirement money from fville.
Do not forget he hung us out to dry with a 65 million dollar cost over run on the Sewer plant.
He left us with all kinds of debts and deals he had made.
Let us not forget he had a great time on our money and had all sorts of wonderful relationships with developers during the boon town era. (just look at your real estate taxes now!)
He does not care about the citizens, just a few buddies with lots of land to be developed and great bank contacts. (Can you spell bankruptcies?) Sure were a lot right after he left.
How about suing blind ladies instead of fixing a sewer?
Way too much crap in your past Danny.
@ C.D
Do away with paid parking. Problem solved!!!
I wish someone would tell the University this. It costs to park on campus. I prefer free stuff. Everything should be free.
Here is a link to the parking program in Columbia MO. Columbia is much more like Fayetteville than some of the other towns we have compared our parking situation to.
http://discoverthedistrict.com/parking.html#columbiacompare
These next 2 links talk about the environmental impacts that our choices create when considering how much parking is needed and how we build it. Just some light reading for those who want to know what the rest of the world is up to.
http://www.epa.gov/dced/parking.htm
http://www.usouthal.edu/geography/fearn/480page/06Pool/06Pool.htm
i’ve been wondering about Shag. anyone in particular recommended there?
There are two different stylists named Claire at Shag, both are excellent.
Dear Mayor & Citizens:
PARKING? here’s one I can’t wrap my brain around. Let’s say I’m in a wheelchair & I want to hit a bar on Dickson.
Do I
a) find my ?handicapped spot first
& then roll up to the nearest kiosk (gotta be motorized) and then roll back to the bar
OR
b) Hit the kiosk 1st & pay
nope can’t do that! What’s my space # ?
Am I missing something here?
c) get your spot, pay-by-phone, roll to bar
One of the gated lots, like in front of the Walton Arts Center or behind Kingfish. Park now, pay later. Or park at the bank after a certain time (Like 6:30 PM or something) for free or park in the faculty/staff lot on West Avenue after 5 PM for free.
Anyway you look at it we are still paying to build a structure for a structure we were passed over for. Justify that.
Money had to be raised twice for the multi-billion dollar West Side Waste water treatment plant. It was overly expensive. The city ended up paying over 10 million dollars more money than the origional bid called for. This was all because of Dan Coody’s micromanagement.
Furthermore, the city pays CH2M HILL Inc a hefty profit margin to poorly operate their waste water treatment facilities. In the end, if you really look at the numbers.. all the other facilities in the area do it cheaper. They may not break permit, but they break equipment because of their poor operation–and waste money. In fact, they have this place called the bio-solids management site that does not need to exist. What they do is dry sewage sludge and then sell it to farmers. The also have solar sludge drying houses (they look like greenhouses) to dry sludge a bit. (they drive sludge across town, put it in a greenhouse and then take it back out and ship it to a landfill and lie about saving money). A better solution would be to thermally dry sludge at each sewage plant separately… how do I know this? Rogers is going to do this. Why did they waste millions of tax payer dollars doing this? It is because a private company told fayetteville they need to make more money. How ethical is that? That’s right, Fayetteville has a for-profit waste water utility.
I don’t understand how Coody could make the cost of a project go up that much. Please explain.
Sounds like Fayetteville is reclaiming the biosolids from the wastewater treatment process. Rogers “is going to do this”, but they aren’t doing it right now, so you can’t claim they are going to do it cheaper until they do it.
That’s actually pretty forward-thinking for an Arkansas city and I’m glad Fayetteville is at least trying to do things like this.
It also sounds like you are intimately familiar with the process which leads me to doubt whether or not you are being entirely objective in your analysis of what all Fayetteville is doing wrong. I can’t say I’ve noticed an uptick in my sewer bill as a result of “Coody’s micromanagement” as you put it.
Oh, where to start…First, it was not a “multi-billion dollar plant”. The engineer’s original ESTIMATE from the late ’90′s was $120 million to build a new west side plant, upgrade the east side plant, and overhaul The network of old, undersized lines and add lift stations to solve the problem over raw sewer overflows. Fayetteville was under a direct order from the EPA to do this or face enormous daily fines and more lawsuits from Oklahoma. When hard bids were received they came in at $180 million. Just like the estimate for the new roundabout was $1.5 million but the hard bid came in at $3 million.
The waste water treatment project came in at $173 million, or $7 million under bid. That money was used to build the sludge drying operation. In 2009-2010 (after my time in office) several different companies were hired to design and build the system with yet some else left to operate it. That’s where the problem appears to lie. Lots of fingers ( the City, CDM, Crossland Heavy, Finton, Crowder, Parkson, CH2mHIll) to point at lots of other participants. I worked with state legislators to change Arkansas law to allow for a process called “design/build/operate” that would have ONE outfit be totally responsible for the operation, from start to finish. No finger pointing allowed. And it saves tons of money and time. Political will to use this process is still lacking.
The reason we ship sludge from the west to the east plan goes back to the Hanna days when promises were made not to process sludge at the west site because of of the proximity to neighborhoods. Hope this helps.
glutenfree = Dan Coody