Why Coody deserves a third term
I have lived in Fayetteville for over 25 years and have some breadth of experience to draw on when I ask the question: Are we better off now than we were eight years ago or before Dan Coody became mayor ? As a "green"business owner, along with my wife, I can say the answer is a loud and resounding YES !
I have difficulty understanding why editorial after editorial contains such negative remarks and connotations regarding the Coody administration. Sad to say, this myopic fixation on the negative overshadows the big view which is so positive. There is a reason that Fayetteville consistently ranks within the top 10 best places to live. For just once I would like to see an editorial reflecting some gratitude for what we enjoy here, in no small part thanks to the current progressive administration.
It does not take much to notice how better the streets and sidewalks look. Under his administration an award-winning library was built, a beautiful senior citizen center, improvements on Dickson Street, and beautification is underway on College Avenue. We enjoy a wonderful trails system, over 1, 000 more acres of green space under protection than before, a refurbished downtown square, a wonderful botanical garden, an airport that is in the black (compared to the nose dive it was taking after the commercial airlines vacated)... the list goes on.
What we gladly miss in Fayetteville are the millions of dollars we were spending in lawsuits, monthly fire fights at city hall, and so on.
All this did not just fall from the sky. It happened because Mayor Coody had enough vision and foresight to know what direction to head in, enough intelligence to know he couldn't accomplish what needed to be done alone, and enough smarts to surround himself with a team of highly skilled and talented people. As other cities have fallen on hard times because they didn't have progressive leadership, Fayetteville has prospered because we have someone at the helm with a "sustainable thumb. "Here at home, he has been able to successfully address our ecology regarding public land acquisition and use, climate change, use of alternative fuels for city vehicles and energy conservation for its buildings. Outside the community and nationally at conferences he consistently brings attention to Fayetteville's green environment and burgeoning green economy, and he has attracted a number of national and international green businesses to begin operations here with more to come. Enough said. It sure would be appropriate to see our hometown paper take a step out of the negative and into the positive with its editorializing of the mayor's performance. I am tired of always reading about the sewer system that ran over budget. Yes, it is regrettable. However, in this economic climate every major project in the country, both public and private, is experiencing the same. Coody's record deserves to be put into perspective. The truth is that the benefits for all of us have been overwhelming. Let's give credit where it's due.
Moshe Newmark
Fayetteville
Questions about Cain and George
I found Lew Huddleston's letter (July 13 ) outstanding. He lamented the loss of our constitutional protections. I know that Lew realizes our elected leaders take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. They do not take an oath of office to uphold the Bible, Christianity nor Islam. Without our constitutional protections we are adrift in a sea of changing, willy-nilly defined rules, which always seem to expand, instead of the wise constraints placed upon elected leaders by our founders.
Lew's letter was followed by Harold Chilton's letter, which chastised Rev. Grisham for using "creative theology. "I wonder how many different churches Mr. Chilton has attended ? During the election of 2004 one local pastor of a large church convinced his followers that a vote for Bush was a vote for God. Boy, that worked out real well, didn't it ? Very creative use of a pastor's pulpit, but there was more politics than theology. It made me wonder: Had politics become the new redemption for fundamentalist churches ? If so, it was a very creative and opportunistic switch from personal salvation.
One of the most creative understandings I ever encountered came many years ago when I was very interested in a charming young woman who was interested in me joining her at church. I accepted her invitation. I heard a very creative explanation regarding the origins of Cain's wife. For those unfamiliar with the biblical creation story of mankind, God created Adam, then Eve. Earth's first couple proceeded to have two boys, Cain and Abel. Up to that point, according to the King James Version, there were no more people on the planet. Then suddenly Cain took a wife. Where did she come from ? It was a question that bothered me back then. As it happened, someone had posed the same question to the pastor of my girlfriend's church and he chose to make a sermon around it. Seems the pastor knew with certainty that God "breathed"Cain's wife into existence. I thought this pastor missed his calling. He could have done well writing fiction.
Larry Woodall
Springdale
Fayetteville needs real leadership
We don't need Mayor Coody running again. We need some new fresh perspectives that don't entail abolishing plastic water bottles from government buildings. The truth is, I would find this discriminatory since it violates my right to choose my own drinking water. Did the plastic pop bottles go too ?
Let's get real. We are in some hard economic times here. No new business has been attracted to the area. Kids can't find jobs... just talk to them. Gas is at an all-time high, and the current mayoral agenda is going green. Please give us a break. We need real leadership - not an ego at the helm of this city.
Then you read how Kyle Cook gave up $ 800, 000 of trail money voted in for trails by the people to meet the general budget, which I knew wouldn't happen anyway. We need more fiscal responsibility and less trips abroad. Maybe if our mayor stayed here and talked to the little people of the city he'd get more done for us.
Vote for anyone but Coody. Anyone. He has left us hanging with such an atrocious sewer situation that we will never get ahead. Name one business he has enticed to the area. Name one city building that is "green"besides emptying them of plastic water bottles. I beg to differ about the water quality here anyway. I prefer bottled water to this tap water, and I don't care if Coody calls it good. That's simply his personal socialized opinion. Mayor, please go. Do all of us a favor and give it up. Steve Clark is right. Your time is up and you've stayed too long and you've lost focus of your fiscal responsibilities. They are to us the people and not to some green socialized agenda. Put the water bottles back. They aren't hurting the environment as much as running the city buildings is. We don't need a mayor who thinks God directed him to change our social behavior. Only God can do that.
Mindy Beers
Fayetteville
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