Heifner back to work; OPO appraisal less than offering price

FAYETTEVILLE — Marilyn Heifner will keep her job as executive director of the Fayetteville Advertising & Promotion Commission after pleading no contest earlier this month to violating the Freedom of Information Act.

Heifner, who had been on administrative leave with pay for six weeks, received a slight pay cut and will have a letter of reprimand in her file for one year, the Fayetteville Advertising & Promotion Commission decided 4-2 Monday (March 26). Commissioner Justin Tennant and Mayor Lioneld Jordan voted against the motion proposed by commission Bob Davis.

The FOI complaint was made by a Northwest Arkansas Times reporter and pertained to information Heifner intentionally withheld about the commission’s plans to lease or buy the Old Post Office building on the Fayetteville Square. Specifically, Heifner lied about whether she had a counteroffer from the owner, lawyer Ron Bumpass.

Around the middle of March, Heifner’s lawyer appeared for her in district court to settle her case. She pleaded no contest, was ordered to pay a $100 fine and $120 in court costs and received a suspended 30-day jail sentence. The case was taken under advisement, which means it can be taken off her record at the end of one year.

After less than an hour of discussing Heifner’s employment in executive session Monday, commissioner Bob Davis made a motion to give Heifner a second chance. Over the last several weeks, he said he had personal conversations with 30-40 people — some who came up to him in public and some who called — as well as 10 to 15 emails on the topic. All were in favor of keeping Heifner as executive director of the commission.

Fayetteville, Davis said, is a town of “second chances.”

“In Fayetteville we believe in giving people a second chance when they admit their mistakes and are determined to learn from them —  to turn from them — and not repeat them,” Davis said. “She has admitted to lying; she has expressed remorse. She has assured me that given a second chance, she will not disappoint me or the people of Fayetteville."

“I believe her,” he said.

Heifner was called into the executive session for less than five minutes, then was believed to leave the building while the commission finished its discussion.

Her return to work comes with a $4,000 annual pay cut, reverting her salary to the same $80,000 she was making before she received a raise last November. She will also have a letter of reprimand in her file for at least one year.

At the same February meeting where Heifner was placed on leave, the commission voted to have an appraisal done on the Old Post Office building. The last offer approved by the commission was to lease the building for $5,000 per month with the option to purchase it for $1 million at the end of a year. Bumpass’ counter offer, which asked for a$1.5 million purchase price, was the document Heifner was charged with concealing. None of the deals included land costs — just the building.

An appraisal dated March 15 by Stuart Sanders of Parrish Appraisals places the value of the building, improvements to the building and the surrounding property at $730,000 — less than half of what Bumpass asked for in his counter.

The appraisal is expected to be on the agenda of the commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting April 9.