Re: Little Rock directors hesitate to vote on sales tax increase
Little Rock is a city in desperate need and at this point, the hesitation to act at ALL is an act of harm.
It’s a great day to remind you that the views expressed here are my own and are the observations and opinions of a citizen proponent of the sales tax plan watching board meeting after board meeting waiting for a decision to be made on whether or not I get to vote on it.
After months of public meetings, community input, and collective interest, the message to Little Rock citizens from our some of our board seems to be a classic play of “We have a lot of questions but we won’t ask right now.” and “Let’s wait and see” with no clear sense of what the questions are OR what we’re actually waiting to see. Many of us are professionals who have witnessed meetings between parties who disagree. I know what stalling about something you’d rather not discuss looks like when I see it.
If this conversation was happening in a corporate board room it would have read like “Ah yes. We need to strategize and find our synergies on these line items and then circle back around to these deliverables.” Well. Strategize. Circle back. Gather your questions. Because we’re all literally waiting. STOP PLAYING WITH THE CITY. 
I am frustrated by a board who seems at this moment to be more committed to their individual doubt than to our collective progress. I’ve spent the time since last week’s agenda meeting and last night’s meeting waiting for additional questions to be raised, a fuller discussion to be had and have felt nothing but an overwhelming annoyance at how circular and indecisive the conversations in these meetings have been. It makes me feel embarrassed about encouraging other citizens to watch if there are going to be people that are overtly trying to avoid public discussion. To say “It is important for citizens to watch and engage” but then they tune into meetings where we spend extended periods of time talking about questions that people may have but haven’t asked and have no clear timeline on when they would.
If you have questions, ask. If you need more information, who else but a city board member has more power and authority to seek those answers? I understand disagreement but I don’t understand the expressions of abject and utter confusion about the process. It seems to be a means of delaying conversation.
People SHOULD have doubt. People SHOULD have questions. But simply having questions should not be a qualifier to stall an entire process. Especially when there are timelines associated with what has to happen between an issue being approved for ballot and the process of it actually getting there. If I know that, they MUST know that which is why I really feel like we’re stalling. Call your Ward Director and ask them directly about their intention to support the sales tax coming to a public vote. If they do still have questions that are affecting their ability to decide how to vote, ask them what those questions are and how the answer they receive with affect their decision to bring the issue to a vote or not. The majority of directors have contributed both amendments and additions to the language of the proposal based on engagement with their constituents. If you don’t know who your Ward Director is, reach out. In my interactions with Directors, I’ve found them all to be kind people who care about Little Rock regardless of whether we agree. Be kind, be civil, and center the city. https://bit.ly/RocktownWardDirector
The decision of whether or not to put the sales tax to a vote is time sensitive and my perception and mine alone is that opposing board members are running down the clock feigning confusion until it’s too late for the issue to be approved in time to make it on the ballot in November because they don’t support the measure.
I think the worst thing we could possibly do to advance Little Rock is what some members of the board are choosing to do: hesitate.
I’m happy to say that you really don’t even have to listen to me or my perceptions! The City streams the meetings live and you can watch and reach your own conclusions. If I don’t go in person, I listen in podcast style live or the day after. You can stay engaged on your own schedule.
Guess we’ll be back in two more weeks to see if any questions have been raised or confusions relieved by that point. We’ll wait and wait and wait. And while we do, Little Rock’s potential is waiting too.
