CUBSARK: November 2007

Friday, November 30, 2007

County Judge and Sherwood Alderman receive public letters of caution from Arkansas Ethics Commission

Following is a story which appeared in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, published Friday, November 30, 2007:

Ethics panel issues letter of caution to county judge
By Kristin Netterstrom
LITTLE ROCK — Buddy Villines is a public official, but he doesn’t work for free. The longtime county judge, who earned $80,605 last year, neglected to list his county income for the past eight years when filling out statements of financial interest that ask elected officials about income, stocks, gifts and business interests.

The Arkansas Ethics Commission notified Villines last month about the missing information when Little Rock resident Sharon Stark filed a complaint against him. On Monday, the commission sent Villines a public letter of caution for what it found to be a technical violation.
“That’s the lowest level of sanction,” said Graham Sloan, director of the Arkansas Ethics Commission, on Thursday. Villines was not fined.

The form asks officials to list sources of income and whether the amounts add up to more than $1,000 or more than $12,500. Villines originally reported his wife’s 2006 income, a plane ticket to Italy and hotel room paid for by a member of Sister Cities International, an organization that creates relationships between cities across continents. Villines revised his statements of financial interest on Monday, going back to 1999. “I work hard to get those things in on time and accurate,” Villines said Thursday. “I looked at that as a disclosure document to disclose whatever income you have or financial investments for potential conflicts of interest,” he said.
Being paid by Pulaski County for the county judge post wasn’t a potential conflict of interest, he thought, especially when his salary was public record.

But Stark, who believes the county’s finances should be thoroughly audited, thought Villines’ omission made for sloppy bookkeeping. “I think [the letter of public caution] will get Buddy’s attention and he will be more careful,” she said.

Sloan said a common mistake made by those filing statements is failing to list income for their elected office. It’s also not something the ethics commission would normally catch, he said, because the commission spends more time making sure public officials turn in the statements.
“There are more than 500 potential filing offices and we do not go to every filing office,”Sloan said. Like all other county officials, Villines files his statements of financial interest with the county clerk. A review of other elected county officials, such as justices of the peace and the assessor, show all of them included Pulaski County on their 2006 forms.

The commission also issued Sherwood Alderman David Henry a public letter of caution Monday because he failed to list Sherwood as a source of income.
Sherwood resident Julanne Carney filed the complaint after finding his 2005 and 2006 statements lacking his city income. “I take disclosure laws very seriously,” Carney said Thursday. “It’s not only required by state law but it should be done as open and honest as possible so the public is allowed to know if there’s any potential conflict of interest.”
She doesn’t think Henry left out the information intentionally. “I believe it was probably an oversight, but it’s still incorrect,” she said.
Henry, who was appointed to the council in 2003, could not be reached for comment Thursday. City aldermen earn $6,079 for their service in 2007, according to the city’s latest budget.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Alderman Vassar Speaks Against Sherwood Police Department

Monday night's city council meeting is one for the records. Alderman Becki Vassar spoke for the mini-storage development on 107 across from the North Hills property. Then, Vassar joined Alderman Steve Fender to waylay others with their comments regarding the proposed 2008 Budget, criticizing the Office of Economic Development, and eliminating it from the city budget.

Vassar then spoke against the Sherwood Police Department. With a murder in Sherwood at Brockington and Calloway just five days prior to the council meeting, she questioned the department's budget requests for replacement of old police vehicles and six positions for the Police Department. Currently, two officers are out for medical reasons, two are in IRAQ, and eight are subject to call to duty in IRAQ. The city mechanic stated that the police department needed to replace more than ten vehicles due to their age and very high mileage.

Vassar and Fender did not attend any of the three budget meetings, and Vassar refuses to serve on the budget committee. Aldermen generally get their meeting packets several days before the city council meeting, allowing ample time for them to ask for additional information or seek answers to any questions on items on the agenda.

See more information:
http://www.arkansasleader.com/2007/11/top-story-economic-department-doesnt.html

Sherwood Police Vehicles List:
1977 Fermont Bridgeport generator
1990 Honda Accord
1990 Ford Pickup
1991 Chevrolet Caprice
1993 Chevrolet Van
1994 Chevrolet Caprice
1994 Chevrolet Caprice
1995 Chevrolet Caprice
1995 Chevrolet Caprice
1995 Chevrolet Caprice
1995 Chevrolet Caprice
1995 Chevrolet Caprice
1995 Chevrolet Caprice
1995 Chevrolet Caprice
1995 GMC Pickup truck
1996 Ford Crown Victoria
1996 Ford Crown Victoria
1996 Ford Crown Victoria
1997 Ford Crown Victoria
1997 Ford Crown Victoria
1997 Ford Crown Victoria
1997 Ford Crown Victoria
1998 Jeep Cherokee
1998 Jeep Cherokee
1999 Forc Crown Victoria
1999 Ford Crown Victoria
1999 Ford 15V van
1999 Ford Crown Victoria
1999 Ford Crown Victoria
1999 Ford Crown Victoria
1999 Dodge Truck
2000 Chevrolet Impala
2000 Chevrolet Impala
2000 Chevrolet Impala
2000 Chevrolet Impala
2000 Chevrolet Impala
2000 Jeep Cherokee
2001 Chevrolet Impala
2001 GMC Jimmy
2001 Polaris ATV
2001 Polaris ATV
2002 Chevrolet Impala
2002 Chevrolet Impala
2002 Chevrolet Impala
2002 Chevrolet Impala
2003 Dodge Durango
2003 Chevrole Impala
2003 Chevrole Impala
2004 Chevrolet Impala
2004 Chevrolet Impala
2004 Chevrolet Impala
2004 Chevrolet Impala
2005 Chevrolet Impala
2005 Chevrolet Impala
2005 Chevrolet Impala
2005 Chevrolet Impala
2005 Chevrolet Impala
2005 Chevrolet Impala
2005 Chevrolet Impala
2005 Chevrolet Impala
2006 Chevrolet Impala
2006 Chevrolet Impala
2006 Chevrolet Impala
2006 Chevrolet Impala
2006 Chevrolet Impala
2007 Dodge Charger
2007 Chevrolet Impala
2007 Chevrolet Impala
2007 Chevrolet Impala
2007 Chevrolet Impala
2007 Chevrolet Impala

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Recent newspaper articles about Frannie

The following story was published in the Sherwood Voice on Thursday, November 22nd:

http://www.sherwoodvoice.com/articles/2007/11/26/sherwood_voice/news/news01.txt

Friday, November 16, 2007

Sherwood Revamping 2008 Budget

The following is an article which was published in The Leader on Wednesday, November 14th. After looking over the article it is apparent that the pipe dream of purchasing the North Hills Country Club Property is just that, a pipe dream.

Click here to read the article:
http://www.arkansasleader.com/2007/11/top-story-sherwood-revamping-08-budget.html

There is no money available for a sizable down payment much less an outright purchase. The only way that this can be done is with a sales tax increase or a bond issue. Bonds are doubtful because a city has to demonstrate its financial solvency in order to repay the debt. If the city turned down an increase in funding for our Fire Department, where in the heck does the city council "think" we are going to get the money to buy this financial albatross?