Former Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody speaks to supporters from a tree stump near his home on Mount Sequoyah Wednesday evening.
Photo: Todd Gill, Flyer staff
Dan Coody officially announced his plans to run for mayor of Fayetteville in 2012 in front of about 100 supporters near his Mount Sequoyah home Wednesday afternoon.
The former Fayetteville mayor, who lost the 2008 runoff election to Mayor Lioneld Jordan after eight years in office, delivered a stump speech (literally) which focused mostly on problems he sees with the city’s current administration.
Coody said a lack of progress and overall vision have led to missed opportunities for a city that was once known as an innovator.
“True progress is in short supply at a time when the bar for real performance has been raised by our sister cities,” he said. “This city has been on sabbatical for long enough. It’s time for Fayetteville to get back to work.”
Coody took aim at the city’s recently implemented paid parking program calling it confusing, unwelcoming and aggressively punitive. He also criticized the city’s plans for a downtown parking deck.
Photo: Todd Gill
“The currently configured paid parking program was instituted to pay for a parking deck that was going to be needed for a new, 2,400-seat performing arts hall,” said Coody, speaking of the Walton Arts Center’s expansion plans. “As we know, that hall is now going to Bentonville. Then we were going to need this deck for a new, 600-seat performing arts hall. As we all know, that hall is going to the University of Arkansas campus.
“Even though the entire premise of the paid parking program and garage has changed, there has been no re-evaluation of this new and very different reality.”
Coody said there were some things that could’ve been done better during his time in office, acknowledging a wastewater treatment system that cost more and took longer to complete than originally estimated and the Renaissance Tower hotel that was never built at the corner of College Avenue and Mountain Street.
“I learned from all of them,” he said. “There is no doubt that my candidacy is an uphill battle, but I enter this race with a renewed passion and a humbled heart.”
Coody mentioned a handful of things he’d work towards if elected including improvements to the city’s recycling program, a flourishing downtown arts district and increased funding for local emergency services.
Coody is so far the only announced challenger to Mayor Lioneld Jordan, who launched his re-election bid in March.
Thank you to the Fayetteville Flyer for another story about Mr. Coody’s announcement that he is running for mayor.
I’m glad to hear that Mr. Coody is interested in improving our recycling program and upgrading our emergency services, I was disappointed that neither of these were priorities during his 8 years in the Mayor’s office. Maybe this increased interest in emergency services will help him regain the endorsement of our police and firefighters that he lost during his second term.
There’s no doubt that Mr. Coody has always been a supporter of the arts, he probably even attends the new-ish First Thursday events.
Glad you asked! My record on public safety during my term? Fire: Replaced old, mismatched vehicles with an entire new fleet, built three new fire stations (the first new stations since the late 70′s, none have been built since), new turnout gear, and more. Police? New technology advances, cameras in all cars, new equipment of all sorts, and we were in the planning stage of a new police station when I left office. For both? New communication tower upgrades, new radio systems, a rapid raise in pay to exceed all other pay ranges in the state. Increased some, but not all, of the retirement benefits for fire/police personnel. Ambulance system? Sole-sourced the Central EMS to hold costs down and improve service. Even though the current mayor blocked that improvement for a year, it has worked as planned and is no longer controversial.
Recycling? Initiated “pay as you throw” program where the more you send to landfill the more you pay, the more you recycle, the less you pay. This program was of interest nationally. The EPA brought me to DC to address leaders from around the US on our program. You may remember when this administration tried to reverse this for very small commercial so the more you recycle the more you pay. This would have encouraged people to send paper, glass, aluminum, cardboard to the landfill. Went from subscription yard waste program to free, using compostable paper bags for yardwaste, eliminating boatloads of plastic from our compost, added screening that produces high-quality mulch and Rodale certified organic compost, initiated greenwaste program for food waste, and on and on. I’ll have to look at the records to remember everything. There is room for continued improvement.
Yes, I believe arts and culture help drive our quality of life and our economy. Support of the arts should be community-wide. Right now the only public funding for the arts is supplied by people paying parking fees and fines. If we’re serious about the arts, we need to have a VERY public discussion about the best way to promote them.
Only 1 additional station was built and two others were replaced. One of the stations had to be closed down due to mold until the mold was removed.
As I said, we closed one, opened three. I was using a process called “arithmetic”. Doesn’t all that negativity get kinda heavy after a while?
Renaissance Tower anyone?
Great looking building design. It was a shame that Marriott pulled the plug when the economy tanked.
The real shame is that the City issued almost $4 million in bonds to acquire and clear the property then handed it over to developers who never performed.
Ah! The Renaissance Tower. Yes, yes, it has not been built as planned. However, the required improvements to the site, such as sidewalks, landscaping, trees, tree islands in the “temporary” parking lot were supposed to be completed in April of 2010. There has been no reason for us to have to look at that eyesore for the past two years except for lack of caring. My suggestion to the City was to plant tall, large caliper loblolly pines, in addition to the required improvements, paid for by the owner’s security bond that would hide that mess from College Ave. year ’round and grow quickly until someone could redevelop that lot. The second deadline passed last October, right at the perfect tree planting time. It’s one thing that the building has not been built, it’s another that this site has been allowed to remain in that state for almost 4 years. After this post I bet you start to see movement on this.
Why should people give a pass to the government for not doing anything because of the recession, but say private developers should just power on through? Sounds like a double standard.
Slick move, Mr. Coody.
As I said, we closed one, opened three. I was using a process called “arithmetic”. Doesn’t all that negativity get kinda heavy after a while?
sorry, posted in wrong spot, but thanks for the compliment..
Always liked Mr. Coody I think he’s a bit more forward thinking. Fayetteville made big strides during his administration.
Yep. I think some were afraid he was trying to “turn us into Austin”, but it seems lately like we’re turning into Springdale.
But now we have back in parking and
I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with all the hate of the new WAC going to Bentonville. It’s a better investment for the arts in NWA than to over saturate Fayetteville. It’d be better for the WAC to be its own competition and better manage the mission of enriching the NWA (don’t be selfish Fayetteville) community with the arts from around the world.
What I am sore about is the loss of the 600 seat theater. It’s something that could have been utilized in so many ways (expanding the jazz series, TheatreSquared, chamber concerts, and more). I know the UofA is in need of better facilities for music, but the money is being spent on an empty shell. Time and time again the Universtiy of Arkansas’ music department has made poor decisions in hiring and firing/letting teachers go or be poorly utilized. What’s the point in building an attractive new facility for new students when the professors barely practice? Feel entitled and whine about yearly auditions for local, professional orchestras? I have no qualms with the high quality from the drama department, but the music department’s output is very poor in a region that provides the most to Arkansas’ All State in both band and choir. It is incredibly disappointing to see and perform in University concerts and see only a handful of filled seats. But blame goes to the Music Department’s ability to excel in mediocrity.
Does the University of Arkansas need better facilities for the arts? Most definitely, and along with better instructors, let’s hope the end product is better than the decisions made in the renovations of Starr Theatre (two words: stage lighting).
I think I’m going to have problems choosing a candidate being a first time Fayetteville voter. I won’t know how to base my judgment, though I will see using the WAC “loss” as more of a political ploy to gain votes from those who are mad and uninformed.
And let’s be honest, paid parking was going to happen sooner or later. In ways, it’s nice to have something organized than the cluster—- that was the free-for-all. At the same time, I agree with the problems with economic stimulation. There are always going to be trade-offs, and the grass will always be greener on the other side. Arguments of businesses saying, “Students parking here for free and taking up all the spaces that are deterring the lunch crowd,” or “Paid parking is keeping people from coming here to spend their money at my business.” Yeah, Kosmos and Geno’s left. Now we have Wingz, Pitas, Waffle House, Legacy Blues, UARK Bowl. Would businesses do better without paid parking? Probably, but to what trade-off? And where would the funds for a parking deck come from (and what would suffer from lacking funding for such a project)? We can complain about parking all we want, but what are the solutions that bring out the best possible outcome for everyone?
Politics make people distracted of the difficulties of government office. I don’t particularly care to take part in politics but rather in reality.
Mr. Coody
The public safety advancements were items requested through department heads, is that not correct?
Planning stages for a new police station? please elaborate.
How would you have handled the recession that the current Mayor had to deal with?
Did you not support paid parking near the end of your term?
Besides the parking issue, what other topics do you disagree with the current mayor on?
Thank you Sir.
I directed the Chief, who directed his battalion chief to conduct a study to determine the areas of town with the longest response times. The study is available if you want it. From there we found the best locations for stations. The most urgent was on the west side so I negotiated a deal with a landowner to sell us a couple of acres for a station (7) on Rupple Road. We needed another station by Happy Hollow so while negotiating a deal with Tyson for easements on the Mexican Original site to widen 15th, I asked them to make a donation of the 11 acre property (it was valued at $2.8MM, we bought it for $1.1MM) so we could put a station there. We replaced that old house with the substation behind it by adding the station at 265 and Old Wire (with the hilarious tree). All this took huge budget adjustments and selling of bonds to build them. It was an easy sell, since we have doubled in size since the last station had been built (the substation house). We did all this to bring down the ISO rating, but marginally adequate water pressure slowed that. The new Lovers Lane tower was built to help with that problem. A dept head can request something, but to make this kind of work happen takes more than a simple request. Otherwise these stations would have been built years ago. There are more in the study that have not been built yet.
For the Police Dept. we took the Council and the media on a tour of the existing station to show them the need. We could have built a station at the Mexican Original site. Stephen Luoni drew up concepts. It was more contemporary than I was expecting, but it was pretty nice. I left office before that project came to pass, but it would have been built by now.
Parking program? Absolutely! But it looked NOTHING like what is down there today. We were designing a simple, uniform, less expensive program that would have included managing the private lots, as well as public, so there would not be towing here, booting there, tickets in between, but the Council refused to support a very reasonable program back them. I would never have brought forward anything like what we have today. All this is documented.
Recession? Generally the same way, but would have budgeted differently and not have fired Van Scoyoc And Assoc. in D.C. who brought in about $15MM in new money from the feds BEFORE the stimulus. We missed unbelievable opportunities there. Oh, well.
Interesting that with all your “support” for FOP, they endorsed Jordan in the last election, and are likely to again.
Thanks for the reply.
Do you know if the Police Commissioner supported the new station ?
Parking problem – were you active in the discussion like you are in the parking deck ? Did the council change dramatically from your time as Mayor to the implementation of the parking plan ?
Will you seek the endorsements of the Police and Fire ?
Also, cool, Dan, giving an actual “stump speech”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stump_speech_%28politics%29
Mr. Coody
Can you commit to keeping this a clean campaign and speak on the issues. Obviously you are aware that Mr. Jordan has garnered alot of support and will most likely get every endorsement. I do think it is smart to admit that you made mistakes during your 8 years but you would even have to admit that Mr. Jordan was not dealt the same deck of cards that you were (financial woes). Lets keep it clean and please do not chase people down on the county steps like you did in 2008. You should have had more people out there doing leg work for you and going door to door. At the end you lost a lot of steam and it was really only you and your wife, it was kind of sad overall. Let the best man win and hopefully you will keep this clean.
I have several friends that have worked for the Fayetteville Police Department and Fire Department for many, many years. So obviously over the years I have heard all of them talk about certain topics that frustrated them when it came to the city’s administration from Mayor Hanna, to you, Mr. Coody, and even some now with Mayor Jordan. All of them seem like very reasonable gripes and complaints, and all of them are fully aware that no one person gets what they want, but HOPEFULLY decisions being made as a whole are in the best interests of the employees and citizens of Fayetteville.
BUT, there was one thing in common from all of them and that was you, as a mayor, could not be trusted. Not that you didn’t help with the process of getting Fayetteville’s emergency services pay raises, etc. but that from one person to another person (FOP and IAFF) you could not be trusted. That you did not take the two organizations very seriously unless you needed them (election years)?
It’s my understanding that neither the police department’s FOP nor the fire department’s IAFF support you in this year’s election?
So as a citizen of Fayetteville for over 18 years, do you plan on reaching out to these organizations to “clear the air” and set the record straight, because it is extremely important to me, and I am sure most citizens within our great city, that you have the support of these two very very important organizations and departments. You said, “There is no doubt that my candidacy is an uphill battle, but I enter this race with a renewed passion and a humbled heart.” What do you mean by a humbled heart? Does this have anything to do with your interactions with the FOP and IAFF during your last term as Mayor?
Do you have any plans on meeting with these two groups in the near future?
In regards to the location for the “new” police station at Happy Hollow and Huntsville (Old Mexican Original) I do not know of one police officer who supported that location. Second, you say that you would have already had it built by now. How would you have accomplished that with the serious economic issues the city was facing (tax revenue down) during 2009 and 2010. Also, why would you build a new police station on the far south side of town, when Fayetteville was growing dramatically to the west and east? That does not make much sense to me. What was the rationale behind that location?
Well, with the issue of trust, every move we made in my term was for the benefit of the employees AND the taxpayers. We focused on better protection of the personnel as well as increasing public safety for our citizens. Remember, there is a difference between the fire/police unions and the fire/police departments. The two organizations may be the same faces, but they can have very different goals. My administration invested many millions to improve safety to bring down Fayettteville’s ISO rating, so response times would be better, equipment would be more reliable, and everyone’s insurance rates would be lower. While I did do everything we could to please everyone, it was not a possible task. Some things were asked that I did not think were in the best interest of the citizens or the other non-union employees. Sometimes it is not enough to do only 90% of what someone asks of you.
Also, I have been self-employed since I was 20 so I never belonged to a union. Lioneld was the president of the union at the university. I suspect you can guess where loyalties will lie. Everything I have done for the departments has been very well documented. There should be no question that the pay scale, protective gear, equipment and facilities saw enormous improvements while I was there. You can see these improvements with your own eyes. I would be glad to reach out, not just to the unions, but to anyone who disagreed with me to build bridges, but if it is clear that that effort will not be reciprocated, it’s hard to imagine much progress. I have always had a deep respect for the professionalism of the men and women of ALL the city departments, not just the 33% that belong to the unions. I believe strongly that ALL city employees deserve equal treatment.
On Happy Hollow: we considered putting a station there because of the highway access and useable, paid-for land, just 2 miles form downtown. Chief Hoyt really thought it should go on I-540. The only few people who thought it should stay downtown were in the planning dept because of trying to keep all city services downtown, and I understood that.. However, the Police Dept. has been shoe-horned in a too-small space for years and I don’t’ see the department getting anything but bigger with time. I was not locked in to the Happy Hollow site, and was certainly willing to look at other options. Maintaining only one option, keeping it where it is, does not make the most sense to me. The police do not sit at the station and wait for a call to come it and take off from there. Police cars patrol all over town, all day long. A station could be any place that has good highway and road access to the community.
Police and fire raises sound good, but what about the rest of the city staff? They work for the public as well.
So, are you saying the police and fire union employees got raises while the rest of the city non uniformed employees didn’t???????
No that is not what I am saying and apologize for it coming across that way. I was speaking more on the part of emergency services (police and fire) interactions with Coody while he was mayor. It’s my understanding that a pay study was done and all city employees received some form of pay increased based on averages of comparable cities and where Fayetteville employees fell into the mix at the time of pay study results.
So are you also posting as “city Person” because that is who I was addressing that question to.
just wondering, how come police and fire get to have unions in this non-union state?
Arkansas is a “Right to Work” State.
All city employees were given raises in March. Uniform and Non Uniform were provided raises.
All employees have a right to have unions or some type of organized representation. It just depends on the city if they are recognized or not. I know that both Mr. Coody and Mr. Jordan support organized representation. The city has a staff senate that I am sure both would support as well.
Thanks again for the reply. From your response i see you do not support organized labor so for that alone you have lost some steam with me. I was told today that you once had the endorsement of the FOP when you ran for a city board spot years ago. I was also informed that you sought the endorsement when you lost to Mayor Jordan in 2008. Did you meet regularly with the police and fire organizations when you were Mayor? What do you think about the staff senate that was formed by Mayor Jordan?
You must be reading into my response what you want to read into it. I am in no way an opponent of organized labor. Of course, I met with union leadership VERY often to resolve whatever issue was brought to us. I always had an open door policy with the employees. I am not at City Hall these days so I do not know enough about the staff senate to comment. Who is represented? What has been proposed to the administration? What were the results?
When Mayor Jordon was elected he surprised a few folks with the hiring of Don Marr as Chief of Staff. (Kit Williams calls it ” the highest ranking civilian position” in the city.)Would you have a Chief of Staff and if not, what kind of position would you create ? Do you have anyone in mind?
There was not a chief of staff during my administration. I would go back to an organizational chart where department heads reported directly to the mayor.. These charts are included in the yearly budget documents. Under my administration, internal audit, public information, fire, police, operations,water/sewer, finance, aviation and the library reported to the mayor. Under the current administration, only the chief of staff and the fire and police report to the mayor.
Mr. Coody
I’m curious if you had a plan to extend your beautification of College Ave. at the southern end all the way north, and if that would be something you would continue as Mayor. Public transit/bike trails/beautifying College Ave. and particularly making it more pedestrian and bike friendly are important to me, and I see it as important for revitalizing the core of the city and avoiding the sprawl of new businesses to the edge of town, forcing people to drive across town to go shopping and eating and leaving ugly abandoned buildings along our main street. I’ll definitely be voting for the candidate I deem more likely to support beautifying the streets we have and supporting public transit rather than simply widening streets to accommodate everyone using their own car.
And for what it’s worth, I find it very peculiar that there are enough union members in a town like ours to actually sway an election, and strange that average citizens would be swayed based on what a union thinks. Unions certainly don’t operate with them in mind.
When I first broached the idea of beautifying Fayetteville’s most traveled and unsightly thoroughfare, I was roundly criticized for being naive and foolhardy. Obviously, the naysayers were very wrong. It took a lot of work to get the public and the state highway dept to agree to do it, but now that the first stretch has been done, it shows that it is not an impossible task. All it takes is the right leadership, vision, and drive. The improvement to College Ave. happened only while I was in office. If I am elected again, I will continue that work. If I am not elected, what is there is likely all there will be. Trails? I advocated for a trails program when I was elected to the City Council in 1991. I was alone in that push and it took my getting elected mayor in 2000 to make a trails program come into reality. I have been on many other city’s trails to learn how they can be done, now other cities are following Fayetteville’s lead. The trials program has become so popular, it has a life of its own. I just want to see them constructed cost effectively enough that we can add as many miles as possible without breaking the bank. This is the reason I built the in-house trails engineering and construction teams that really accelerated the program. I am glad that the current administration has continued the work, but without that program being put into place in my administration, it would not be happening today. I could not agree more with your perspective concerning sprawl and simply building a city to accommodate a car-only lifestyle.
IMO, College Avenue has to be rebuilt. The improvements downtown are great and those trees will really transform that area over the years.
I have read many criticisms of that project, but given the limited ROW available there, I think it looks great and improves the safety of ingress/egress greatly. And I think it cost less than 1/3 of the new roundabout will. Not comparing the two projects on merit, but just noting what different things cost.
But we got Block Street.. See Flyer Story and comments. http://www.fayettevilleflyer.com/2010/07/18/city-asks-for-patience-on-block-avenue-project/
And we got this. See Flyer story http://www.fayettevilleflyer.com/2011/09/12/walton-arts-center-to-ask-fayetteville-ap-for-500000-arkansas-music-pavilion-renovation/
Yes, and trails that could serve as a small outlet from or inlet to the city hub would be the most practical use of pavement. We have a good north/south system going, but if we could create an actual “network” that would truly lend itself to bicycle/pedestrian commuting, that would be amazing. Create lanes and good sidewalks on streets like Huntsville and Old Wire, that can then be grafted into the current MLK and Mission Aves, respectively, as they get closer to the slower downtown traffic. Have spurs that branch out east to Happy Hollow, west out off Wedington, etc., that could truly meet in the middle so cyclists and pedestrians have a fast(er), safer, and more beautiful commute. I believe this would truly take our current trail system from being only weekend recreation to practical, everyday transportation for some.
I couldn’t agree more. The trails network is a long-term work in progress with a total of 129 miles of trails planned. An “alternative transportation network” was a key point in my platform of 2000. The trails program at that time had zero momentum because of no support from the administration. That changed when I took office. The reason we were able to build trails so quickly and cost effectively was because my administration developed an in-house design and construction program. Also, we initiated a tax incentive based land acquisition strategy that helped us get the land we needed at a greatly reduced cost . Now the program is so popular it has a life of its own. I am glad that the current administration has kept up the program.
Mr. Coody
If I recall you may not have had an official Chief of Staff but Gary Dumas was your next in charge. Speaking of Mr. Dumas he was at the kickoff event at your house, would he return with you?
Mr. Dumas was not “next in charge”. We had a broad and experienced team that looked at issue with a range of perspectives. He was one of nine direct reports. He was very good at taking a problem, like the municipal airport, for example, getting it into good working shape then setting it up under a good director, like Ray Boudreuax, that continued the improvement.. It should be no surprise that he is supporting me since Mayor Jordan fired him on his first day in office and morphed the position into the Chief of Staff that exists today. I would return to an organizational chart more appropriate for a Mayor/Council form of government and make new hires like I always did, but studying resumes and selecting the most qualified. This is a promise: Just like last time, I will not be hiring any campaign managers, staffers, or friends to run the city.
Hugh Earnest, your former Urban Development Director, appears to be opposing the 1/4 cent sales tax for mass transit and supporting the 1/2 cent sales tax for more highways. What is your position on those issues?
I support the transit over the highway funding, the only problem I have is that our sales tax rate is already too high. It is regressive, hurting lower income folks most. On the other hand, lower income people will probably benefit most from the improved transit system.
I like your hiring practices, Dan, and this will be a welcome change from what we’ve seen under Jordan. Still can’t believe the press gave Jordan a pass on the hiring of Lindsley Smith as Communications & Marketing Director. She had zero marketing/PR experience outside the classroom, but she was the only candidate considered who had contributed money to Jordan’s campaign. I guess work experience is way over rated.
What’s your beef with Lindsley Smith? She’s done a great job…
Having worked for a governmental agency where the chief executive was an elected official, we had to worry about losing our jobs every time there was an election. One time, everyone got a letter in their mailbox telling them whether they had a job in two weeks when the newly elected official was going to take office. That was some great Christmas present. I think a more interesting question for Mr. Coody to answer would be, “Who do you plan to fire immediately after taking office?” I’m sure there are more than a few in the current administration that Mr. Coody sees as “supporters” of Mr. Jordan, and who would be summarily dismissed. Aside from the obvious one of Mr. Marr, I wonder if Mr. Coody will be forthright enough to answer the question.
I have been forthright enough to answer the other questions posed to me. Why stop now? First, I can recall only one person being fired day one of a new administration since 1992. That was the current mayor firing Mr. Dumas to open that position for Mr. Marr. I did not fire anyone when I took office. Mayor Hanna’s Director of Operations, Charlie Venable, who had come out of retirement to work for the City at Fred’s request, retired before I took office. John McGuire, Fred’s Finance Director offered to stay on for 6 months to help make a smooth transition, and he ended up staying for a couple of years. He was a very good man and I hated to see him retire. I suspect that the political appointees of Mayor Jordan would quit. Most of the key positions are held by people who worked for me and I have a lot of respect for them. Of course, this conversation seems rather premature…kind of like Ron Paul picking his running mate.
Gee, this is going to be so much fun, as Coody turns the Flyer commentary into his own personal campaign vehicle. I realize it’s an open comment board, but something about this becoming Coody’s personal venue just stinks.
He’s choosing to engage the public online. What stinks about that?
If Mr. Coody and his supporters find this a good venue for publicity, what’s wrong with hijacking threads that are related to the campaign? It is free, criticism and complaints can be made, and the editors have no objection. You don’t have to read the comments.
I’m glad to see that Mr. Coody is taking part in the thread. The article is about Mr. Coody, and it is perfectly appropriate for him to address questions and accusations here. Would you prefer that they just hang in the air? What does that accomplish?
Really, Dennis? Every human on the planet (as well as political candidates) are welcome to participate in this discussion. You don’t like the fact that a politician is fielding questions from the public? That seems weird.
Yeah, I wish more of our politicians would interact with the public.
I’m not sure how using a public forum, no matter the venue, to discuss issues and engage the public “stinks”. Personally, I’m glad the candidates have more of an opportunity to engage in meaningful dialog in this medium. It beats the hell out of “forums” and “debates” where the questions are scripted, the answers rehearsed, and the public excluded from everything but watching. Kudos to Mr. Coody for engaging in such a dialog. Especially here, where flame wars rage and brave are those who interact without the shield of anonymity.
jmo
Keep it going–this is the best most open forum for getting to know a candidate. Good on Coody for his willingness to engage.
I’d like to know from Mr. Coody what he thinks a good outcome would be for the old Divinity site on Dickson.
I like the free parking it provides, although there are 101 better uses for it. There are too many possibilities to list here, but following the Downtown Master Plan would be a good start. Following the 2005 codes, appropriately sized buildings made with real materials (not EFIS, fake stone, etc.) that house businesses that bring patrons to the area would add much needed synergy to the area.
What gets me is this huge area of asphalt in between the WAC and George’s that covers a creek. The area is “reserved for parking except when there is an event when alot of people will be on Dickson then no parking is allowed because we need the space for people. Why is that lot reserved for parking at all?
You should come to the event at the public library on May 31st where people will be discussing that very issue. Andrew Georgiadis of Dover Kohl and partners will be here to facilitate a discussion on how we can develop a public space in that area. All points of view are welcome. This may be your only chance to express your opinion before the city sells bonds and locks in the current paid parking program which will likely eliminate other opportunities for that lot.
Hey Mr. Coody I have a question regarding your recent bid for Mayor of this fine city………….. Actually I don’t, I just wanted to make you click the link :-) Happy Thursday! Keep Calm and Chive On!