(Revised. Previously posted as “Trust in Local Guvment”)
“The complaints of the privileged are too often confused with the voice of the masses.” John Kenneth Galbraith (d. 2006) Economist
In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, the evidence revealed that, not only was Jonesboro a small, somewhat isolated Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) but also that the city’s residents earn less income and are less wealthy than the other regions that the “Team Jonesboro” lobby pines to mimic.
Here, before providing a solution (Part 4 of 4) to cure Team Jonesboro’s “ills”, it’s beneficial to explore the machinations of the local government. The city of Jonesboro government has been called out before as not having the trust of many residents. For the purposes of this discussion, actions and events during the previous mayor’s administration include a failure to provide cost-of-living increases to retired public safety officers and a citizen-generated “petition” that reversed an ordinance for a “property maintenance code”. Alert citizens caught the foul “whiff” of United Nations “Agenda 21” (now “Agenda 2030”, aka “The Great Reset”, aka “The Green New Deal”) and successfully fought the issue.
There may be other events that fed the diminishing trust in its elected officials but #JonesboroStrong prioritizes the demands of day-to-day living and only rustles up the energy for “corrective action” when it’s riled up and ready.
A more recent example during the previous mayor’s tenure of 11 years (2009-2020) occurred when the city council approved a special election for September 10, 2019, to vote on a one-cent sales tax increase, because…? The city council approved the special election in July, just in time for Independence Day and well after many began questioning the need for a special election – why the rush to vote? Jonesboro OKs sales-tax election (arkansasonline.com)
One reason considered was the hubris of the “Team Jonesboro” lobby’s polling, the mayor’s, and city council’s collective support for the tax. Since it was a “slam-dunk” to pass, why not fill the tax coffers soonest?
Another inferred reason was the recently signed into law increases of state taxes and fees percolating on the calendar. Those increases from the Arkansas state legislative session would go into effect soon and it was better to pass the local tax increase before hard-working local residents attuned to the increases, i.e., before #JonesboroStrong “smelled the coffee”. Net Tax Increase: New Tax Laws from the 92nd Arkansas General Assembly | Conduit for Action
Regardless, more residents rallied under the banner of “Citizens Taxed Enough” and defeated the tax increase, spanking the city guvment for its behavior, its “bitter brew”.
Poll results are in for Jonesboro special tax election (kait8.com) Another reason to doubt the trustworthiness of city guvment may have occurred during the City Council meeting on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. This moment of revelation, also known as a “glitch in the matrix”, occurred during the public comment portion at the end of the meeting.
Watch the meeting on Channel 24 or the video online. At the 00:48:20 mark, a resident asks the new mayor, sworn into office in January 2021, about a letter he and other residents on Creath Avenue had received from the city. The letter offered them “one dollar per square foot for their land”, to make way for the mayor’s $24M taxpayer-funded bike paths, the mayor’s “Happy Trails”. After a jovial exchange between the resident and the city lawyer, the “moment of revelation” occurs after Mayor Copenhaver thanks the resident and asks for his contact information.
Off-camera, the voice of Councilman Frierson, Ward 1, Position 1 (elected city-wide), loudly interjects that he knows of no legal way that the city can acquire land because of a re-plat, “without just compensation…it ain’t gonna happen”. Silence. The resident then reiterates his support for “Happy Trails” and the mayor ends the exchange with another “thanks, we’ll get back to you”.
Link to City Council video: https://fb.watch/7WjKqkryJA
For those of us who didn’t receive a letter with the details, that “one-dollar per square foot” sounds like much less than “just compensation” for land at any time for any reason, but the resident sounded satisfied. Still, it was that gravelly voice that was the glitch, aka “rancid coffee”, because engagement by Councilman Frierson usually sets the azimuth for the city council’s direction on an issue.
Since April 2020, I’ve submitted multiple emails to the previous mayor and council (only the new mayor and one councilperson have changed), sent to both individual email accounts and collectively at “councilcomments@jonesboro.org“, as well as many letters to the editor the Jonesboro Sun. Many of these communications discussed the city’s quiet, “below-the-radar” installation of “5G”/small cells” throughout the city. I informed them, as well as state legislators and the Craighead County Judge, about the dangers of this new “millimeter wave” radiation, of all wireless radiation, to the “safety, health, and welfare” of humans, pets, and the environment. The goal was to convince the city to stop the installation of #5G and, if not, to strengthen the ordinance and require random, independent emissions tests by a Radio Frequency (RF) Engineer, with stiff penalties for violations. The page http://www.facebook.com/5GHurricane contains much of the information provided to the elected officials,
With the help of Councilman Bobby Long (Ward 6, Position 1, elected city-wide), then Mayor Perrin scheduled a “special presentation” to the city council by the Jonesboro Medical Advisor, on the dangers of radiation. He acknowledged the uncertainties of its impact on health. The August 4, 2020, video is here, at 00:02:30.
Then, in September 2020, Mayor Perrin brought in the attorney contracted by the Arkansas Municipal League (AML) who advised the state, cities & towns on the implementation of the “Arkansas State Broadband Plan”. When asked about information that some states and many cities had implemented ordinances that better protected people, pets/animals, and the environment, he acknowledged that many had, but only until “Big Telecom” decided to sue those jurisdictions. This pronouncement ended local government interest in the dangers of 5G. The September 15, 2020, video is here, at 00:09:00.
Since relocating to Jonesboro in 2019 and, after watching enough city council meetings, expecting some acknowledgement of my contributions to the discussion on 5G, for example, the trend emerged. To acknowledge Councilman Frierson’s heft, when he doesn’t see a need to address the dangers of 5G and wireless radiation in a public setting, the city council won’t. When he opines that he’s looked at it and there’s no need for the city attorney to read my submission aloud, or address it, it ain’t gonna get read or addressed. This, despite Councilman Frierson’s status of being, in some way, an attorney for “City Water and Light” (CW&L), the local utility.
So, back to that recent moment of “just compensation” in exchange for resident’s land, the city will change direction on that aspect of “Happy Trails”, as Councilman Frierson proclaimed. In this case, his heft appears to benefit those who received letters from the city but, in other cases, suppression of a resident’s concern for the safety, health, and welfare of people, animals and the environment. Even the perception of a conflict of interest between his elected and appointed duties is a reason to question trust in the city government.
(NOTE: Councilman Street, Ward 4, Position 1 (city-wide) also sits on a board at CW&L.)
This timeline details the history of safety limits for wireless radiation – no updates since 1996. Timeline of Development of Safety Limits for Wireless Radiation in US – Environmental Health Trust (ehtrust.org)
Here is the status of the lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a captive agency of “Big Telecom”. National Law Review Features DC Circuit Ruling on FCC and Wireless Safety Limits – Environmental Health Trust (ehtrust.org)
In closing, with a new mayor sworn in this January, the city would do a service to #JonesborStrong by reviewing what information it has had in hand for 18 months and take action on behalf of Us, not “Big Telecom”.
There’ll be more on the local 5G issue soon, as the mayor just announced a pending “broadband” initiative to the tune of ~$50M. Again, visit http://www.facebook.com/5Hurricane for more on the dangers.
Action
Address one email to councilcomments@jonesboro.org, aldermen@jonesboro.org, bcampbell@jonesboro.org to reach the city council and the mayor’s communications officer, or contact each, as listed below.
To contact Mayor Harold Copenhaver and his executive team separately via Mr. Bill Campbell, call and/or text 870-919-7042 (c), 870-336-7164 (o), bcampbell@jonesboro.org.
NOTE: More on “trust in government” will follow in future posts.
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