Election day is this coming Tuesday. The citizens of Little Rock will be electing a new mayor and have a chance to make changes on four seats on the board - Wards 1, 2, 6 and 7.
At least one candidate has been caught (and documented) removing other candidates signs and LR Public Works and the Arkansas Department of Transportation has removed some that were in the public right of way that candidates blamed other of taking.
Candidates or their supporters have placed push cards in mailboxes which is a violation of federal laws.
Candidates have taken contributions from organization that fight against tenant rights and equitable landlord/tenant laws.
The Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police, most of whose membership is white and does not even reside in the city of Little Rock targeted a candidate for the city board that has exposed corruption in their ranks.
One of the most bizarre efforts to influence a city ward election has been by Miles Mcferrin Goggans, a former Clinton staffer and registered lobbyist from Star City.
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| LITTLE ROCK VICE MAYOR /WARD 3 DIRECTOR KATHY WEBB AND GOGGANS IN 2010 |
Goggans is a sketchy individual in that he was involved in a scandal back in 2010.
The scandal involved identity theft and fake letters sent to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
In 2016 Goggans was involved in another controversy involving donation to the gubernatorial campaign of Asa Hutchinson.
Googans was rewarded for his helping to fill Asa's coffers by getting appointed to state boards.
Googins also reaps financial benefits from the government.
Googans is registered to vote in Star City.
So it seems extremely strange that he is sending out mailers that bring up a old issue regarding Ward 2 Director Ken Richardson missing some board meetings.
We posted about about that back in March 2017.
What we know now is that Richardson was absent from meetings due to out of town conferences he was attending on behalf of the city, personal illness and heart surgery of his mother.
Why is Goggans sending these mailers out? Because someone has hired him to do it just like they did to send out the forged letters back in 2010.
Was it an opponent of Richardson? Was it a fellow board member trying to keep him from being reelected? Was it Kenton Tremar Buckner seeking revenge against Richardson for his proposed ordinance to make arrests for possession of marijuana the lowest possible priority for LRPD, something Buckner stated that LRPD was doing anyway?
By the way, a week or so after the LRBOD rejected Richardson ordinance, the city of Jacksonville, AR adopted a similar measure much like major progressive cities have done across the United States.
LRPD officers frequently use the pretense of smelling marijuana coming from a vehicle in a traffic stop as an excuse to search the vehicle and harass the driver, more often than not a person of color.
Several candidates for the board have missed the deadline and failed to file a required campaign contribution and expenditure report.
A couple of the directors have filed questionable reports that indicate illegal contributions.
One of them is Doris Wright, incumbent Ward 6 Director. She accepted an illegal contribution from a business resulting in a complaint to the Arkansas Ethics Commission.
You can read the full complaint by clicking here.
The other candidate that has filed unbelievable reports is Valeria Tatum.
We reported about her being an ineligible candidate in this post.
A lawsuit will be filed tomorrow morning to have her declared an ineligibility candidate and her votes not be counted. We will post an update about it tomorrow.
The good news for many in the city is that as of November 16th, befouled LRPD police chief Kenton Tremar Buckner will no longer be our problem.
The new mayor and the new board of directors will need to demand that troubled city manager Bruce Moore involve citizens in the selection process.
With a new sheriff coming to Pulaski County and a new chief coming to Little Rock, we have an opportunity to make positive changes in our community and form a real partnership to address crime and reluctance of officers to live in the city that the are paid to serve and protect.
#TimeForChange #CleanOutLRCityHall