Fayetteville’s Mayor Wants to Change His Image

Dan Coody opponents believed the Fayetteville mayor would board up the city to thwart new business prospects when he took office more than 18 months ago. But the environmentally conscience Coody said that label was a “political maneuver” by his detractors and supporters alike during the 2000 campaign.

Today, Coody points to signs that he says show Fayetteville is indeed open for business.

The mayor said his stance on business growth in Fayetteville has not changed. But some groups might disagree. Although the business community is pleased with what it perceives as a more positive tune coming from city hall, environmentalists — a.k.a. “green party” and “tree huggers” — can’t believe their ears.

Coody spent most of early days in his first term as mayor fending off verbal attacks from business leaders that hoped the soon-to-be 50-year-old would never see a second term. Times have changed.

“Some of the people that have been the most disappointed in me are some of the folks in the environmental community that only see the world as black and white,” Coody said. “They see me as a pro-developer and anti-environmentalist now. I don’t think that’s any more fair than calling me a 100 percent tree hugger. I’m neither extreme.

“There were two things going on when I came into office. One was that Fayetteville had the perception of being anti-business because of the bureaucracy and the regulations. And the neighborhoods were bellying up against development. The other half of the equation is since I was associated with the environmental community and those that were opposed to development, some figured in their perception that when I got elected that it would only get worse. But my whole campaign was based on streamlining some of the processes so that businesses could get done.”

Coody noted that points No. 2 and 3 in his candidacy announcement say that he wanted city government to develop a strong partnership with the business community, the environmental community, the neighborhoods and the University of Arkansas.

Political maneuvering

Coody admits that he used the controversy at north Fayetteville’s CMN Business Park to help grab concerned voters. But he doesn’t like to still be tied to the group, led by tree sitter Mary Lightheart, who staged the long-lasting protest of trees being cut for the purpose of construction of Kohl’s department store.

“Well, I did,” Coody said of using the CMN controversy to help boost his voting base. “I used all the support bases I could find to help me get in. The thing a lot of people seem to forget is that it wasn’t just the environmental groups that helped me get elected. There were a lot of the business groups that helped me get elected, too. They saw that what we were doing could not be sustained, and we needed to have a change. So, labeling me as an extremist would be a political maneuver by both sides.”

Former Fayetteville City Councilman Randy Zurcher, then a local official of the Sierra Club, even organized a bonfire complete with banjo picking on Coody’s lawn attended by 54 forest activists. Fayetteville had become a poster child for the Sierra Club.

Coody is slowly changing the opinions of some of his most vocal critics.

Gary Head, president of Arvest Bank-Fayetteville, said he began to have a different view of Coody when he welcomed Kohl’s to town at its grand opening ceremonies.

“That was very difficult for [Coody],” Head said. “But he wrote letters to other businesses that have come to that area to try to help us show those retailers that despite what our reputation might have been, we are open to them coming here. I hope that the mayor can change this perception that Fayetteville is not business friendly in the rest of the world. He is certainly working toward that. Fayetteville is open for business and eager to talk to anyone for something that will fit in our community.

“I have been pleasantly surprised with the support the mayor has given the business community. He seems to want to tie together the university and business community for the first time to attract new business so we can provide an opportunity for our university graduates to work and reside right here in this area.”

To some, such comments may sound shocking. But the question is which faction of people is the most shocked.

“I hope the mayor finally gets that [Wilson Springs Business Park] going,” said John McGuire, chief financial officer and treasurer of Virtual Satellite Corp. in Fayetteville. “The mayor’s old green party friends are about to kill him over it. That’s what he gets for hanging around those people.”

Coody claims to have “a foot in both worlds.” He said he has a love for the environment and understands the need to protect it. But he said Fayetteville also needs “good development.”

All of which gives both sides strong sound-bite fodder.

“On one hand, the environmental community only sees the one foot that’s in the environmental half,” Coody said. “I presented both of them equally all the time, but people tend to see only what they want to see.”

Legacy in the making

Establishment of the fiber optic Business Park near the intersection of Interstate 540 and Arkansas Highway 112 could be the biggest coup for Coody and the future of Fayetteville business. The City Council’s vote is still likely more than a month away.

McGuire has helped in the mailing of about 35 letters to Fortune 500 companies, selling the positives of Fayetteville with Coody’s signature on each one. There already has been one response, that coming from Eastman Kodak Co. of Rochester, N.Y. Officials from Kodak will visit Fayetteville in the fall.

After his next 12 months in office, Coody hopes to see the business park under construction as well as additional growth at the Genesis Technology Incubator in the UA’s Engineering Research Center.

“The younger generations are the big movers and shakers in technology, and they want to go to towns that have the amenities they like,” Coody said. “If we can provide a good quality of life and a good natural environment and a good business climate with the entertainment and the arts, that’s gonna help us to development the business base that we want to build the business park around.”

The Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce has had to fight through its own battles with Coody in the early months of his term, but the Chamber helped alleviate many problems between itself and city hall by bringing Coody in as a a member of its board of directors.

“I’m a great believer that you don’t get anything done if you’re not working together,” said Bill Ramsey, president and CEO of the Chamber. “I have found [Coody] to be very open. He has the support of the Chamber, the board and its members. Of course, that’s not universal.”

Ramsey and Coody agree the business park is essential for Fayetteville to be the technology leader in Northwest Arkansas. The project has dragged on since 1992, held up primarily by environmental disputes.

What backup plan?

On the City Council’s agenda for the July 23 meeting is a one-cent sales tax vote that Coody is calling a “must” for Fayetteville.

“It’s 100 percent crucial we get it passed because that is how we fund city services,” Coody said. “It’s about $12 million per year. And that pays for capital improvements like water and sewer lines and streets and sidewalks. It also pays for wages and salaries and benefits for city personnel, including fire and police.

“We don’t have a contingency plan other than just laying off a whole bunch of people and cutting back on city services. But I don’t think it’s going to fail. I think the citizens of Fayetteville realize how important this is. They realize that we have to fund our quality of life somehow, and this is the mechanism.”

Coody said that the city sales tax has declined since he took office from 2 percent on general merchandise to 1.75 percent.

Fayetteville’s largest sales tax base is the north business district. And that figure will increase with the additions of the highly anticipated Target store and the end of July and Olive Garden restaurant later this year.

Coody couldn’t contain his excitement about the Target opening.

“I’ll definitely be there for the ribbon cutting,” he said.

McGuire added, “My granddaughter was talking to my wife about going to Target when it opens and I said, ‘Y’all can forget it for 30 days. We won’t be able to get in the door. It’ll be a zoo.'”

CMN forever will be linked with Coody’s legacy. But Doug Lynch, executive vice president of Community Bank of North Arkansas in Fayetteville, said the real test for Coody will come when the next large-scale development comes through during his administration.

“[Coody] has demonstrated organizational savvy,” Lynch said. “But, I still look forward to seeing the first major development like CMN. We’ve not had a major project like CMN since he’s been in office. The infield developers are still having difficulties getting their projects through. I don’t know if that’s the fault of the City Council or the Planning Commission. But … Target and Olive Garden, from the feedback we’ve had, have gone much smoother than Kohl’s and other CMN developments. A lot of steps have been taken.”

Northern exposure

The Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill, which was completed in 1998, jump-started the Benton County business boom, something Ramsey said was “inevitable.” But Ramsey believes the strong north Fayetteville retail market needs to get better road access before its northern neighbors begin claiming more businesses that Fayetteville could have landed.

Tom Broyles of Merrill Lynch in Rogers said Fayetteville should not worry about the successes or failures of its neighbors, rather concentrate on taking care of itself.

“I drive up and down [College Avenue] every day, and I see the parking lots,” Broyles said. “There are no business for- sale signs. There are good solid businesses in Fayetteville raking it in right now. I think [Coody] has done well in protecting local businesses from the influx of overbuilding. Sometimes, good managers have to stop growth to get through other areas first.”

There are areas of concern in Fayetteville. Although Dickson Street, the heart of Northwest Arkansas’ entertainment district, is undergoing a facelift, south Fayetteville continues to be left behind in the business boom.

Broyles is an investor in a project that many hope will be just what south Fayetteville needs to get back on the right financial path.

“We need to tell the community that south Fayetteville has value,” Broyles said.

The $30 million-$40 million project near Baum Stadium will include 400-500 apartments, a hotel and a strip center.

And Broyles said he liked the way the project has been handled by city hall.

“I thanked the mayor on how well the chain of events worked,” Broyles said. “We had a very good experience. He put the people first in that area and didn’t just rubber stamp anything. The City Council said it’s not going to zone it until we talked with the people out there. I understand that. [The city] wanted to know if I’m trying to do something to better the community through development. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

Looking back

Coody said he’s happy with where city government has improved during his term but said there is “always gonna be room for improvement.”

“One of the things that has made a big difference is bringing in some new personnel to blend into the organization,” he said. “Also, one of the most effective things we’ve been able to do is bring in neighborhood organizations. We have developers talk to neighborhoods and neighborhoods talk to developers. They put their heads together before it comes into city hall, and they hammer out their problems in a private setting.”