The people of Fayetteville voted in August to tax themselves at a higher rate for the operation and expansion of what's become one of the most popular facilities in town -- the Fayetteville Public Library.
In that Aug. 9 election, 3,615 voters favored a 1.5-mill tax increase on Fayetteville property to pay for ongoing operations and maintenance while 2,549 opposed it. On the separate question of a 1.2-mill tax to fund expansion of the library, 3,437 voters favored while 2,725 voters opposed.
What’s the point?
Elected leaders who find themselves in the minority on votes don’t serve their communities by continually harping on issues that have been decided.
It was a convincing victory for supporters of the library.
Well, convincing for most. Apparently not for John La Tour, an alderman on the Fayetteville City Council who represents Ward 4.
Last week, the City Council faced more business related to the library project. Because voters had approved the tax and the sale of up to $26.5 million in bonds to finance construction, it was up to the City Council to authorize those bonds. Doing so would put into motion the will of the people expressed in the Aug. 9 election.
Paul Becker, the city's finance director, stood at the lectern to explain the authorization would clear the way for the city to issue the bonds whenever it's determined the time is right. That's likely to be next year, after litigation affecting the availability of the land for expansion next to the library is cleared up by the Arkansas Supreme Court.
In other words, this is fairly standard procedure for such municipal projects.
La Tour, however, still had a question.
"You mentioned in your delivery that voters had approved this. Do you remember what the vote count was?," La Tour asked.
"I do not have that off the top of my head," said Becker.
"Seems like I remember it was about 3,000 of the 20,000 registered voters in Fayetteville," La Tour pronounced from his seat on the dais (his numbers were off the mark). Then, as though he was scolding a child who had just been caught in a fib, La Tour went on: "So I think to not tell that part of the story is an overstatement of the facts. We need to tell the whole story and let people know what's going on. Thank you, Paul."
Forget that Becker is the city's finance director, who has nothing to do with counting votes or running elections. That's the job of the Washington County Election Commission. As with many analyses La Tour provides, there was an uncomfortable moment of silence after he stopped talking. Sometimes it takes a moment to process foolishness before moving on to relevance.
Setting that aside, what was La Tour talking about? He didn't say. Like Donald Trump, La Tour sometimes likes to lob a statement or question out there, clearly insinuating something, but not really articulating his point. We think perhaps he assumes too much as to other people's ability to decipher his inner thoughts.
Fans of watching the City Council every other week might have picked up a few clues from an earlier La Tour performance. Back in May, the City Council voted 6-1 to set the Aug. 9 election on the library tax and expansion project. The city had received a petition from voters who wanted the question put to the public and they asked for the date.
Under state law, if voters ask for a special election by exercising their rights under Arkansas' Constitution, the City Council has no choice but to call the election. The Constitution provides that the question can be placed on a general election or special election ballot. Kit Williams, Fayetteville's skillful city attorney, cited state statutes that say the city should comply if a petition from voters calls for a special election. That law also says the city must set the election within 120 days of the city clerk's certification of the petition asking for it.
Sondra Smith, the city clerk, certified the petition as valid on May 6. That gave the City Council until Sept. 3 to hold the election.
Back to that 6-1 vote to set the election. Any guess which alderman was in the minority? John La Tour, whose diversity of perspectives is usually summed up by his wide-ranging votes contained somewhere between "no" and "absolutely not."
"I'm not saying I don't want a library. I'm not saying we shouldn't support the library," he said in May. But as to the election date selected? "I view it as voter suppression."
Yes, it's the old "people don't vote in special elections" routine, the one that implies the outcome has questionable validity because the vote didn't come on a November general election ballot. And apparently, now, La Tour believes every time the library expansion is brought up, someone is being shady if he doesn't articulate La Tour's analysis of its supposedly shaky foundations.
The City Council, as long as it wanted to stay within legal bounds, didn't have the discretion to put the question on the November ballot. The people who wanted this election followed the law, asked for what they wanted and the City Council followed through on its obligation.
Whether La Tour likes it or not, under the laws of Arkansas, the process proceeded precisely as it should have.
We don't criticize La Tour for taking a stance contrary to the rest of the City Council if that's where his convictions place him. It's his vote to cast. We suppose there's a certain luxury in knowing one can be a contrarian while also knowing it's not going to have any lasting impact for which one might have to be responsible.
Voting against a bond issue that the voters of Fayetteville legally authorized is just obstinance. And it's a lousy time for La Tour to continue harping on whatever losing stance he's previously taken.
Accepting loss isn't just part of the grieving process. It's also part of good government. Elected leaders can keep flailing the proverbial dead horses, or they can move on and try to be part of productive conversations focused on advancing the future of their communities.
We recommend the latter.
Commentary on 09/28/2016