Board Backlash

As Fayetteville moves closer to its Dec. 9 vote on whether to repeal the civil rights ordinance, it’s increasingly clear that regardless of how the vote turns out, the loser in this whole thing is shaping up to be Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Steve Clark.

Clark, as you know, recently called a press conference to announce the chamber board’s opposition to the ordinance. In a matter of minutes, Clark came under withering fire from ordinance supporters, who mounted a Facebook campaign urging businesses to drop their chamber memberships.

Soon after that, Clark’s proposal to have the chamber take control of the Fayetteville Advertising & Promotion Commission was rejected — not once, but twice — and in the process, the chamber website, its accessibility and social media presence were deemed as not up to snuff.

And around the same time, both Fayetteville mayor Lioneld Jordan and University of Arkansas chancellor David Gearhart — both of whom are ex-officio members of the chamber board — sent letters to Clark. They scolded him on how he handled the chamber’s press conference and asked him to rescind the chamber’s opposition to the ordinance.

Clark, meanwhile, has tried to fight back, and sent a letter to his membership telling his side of the story. The ordinance, which protects gender identity in housing and employment, is deeply flawed, he argued. Fayetteville has a history of conflict, he said, citing dustups over Sam’s Club, paid parking, school millage, business licenses, Bikes Blues & BBQ, the hillside ordinance and Whole Foods.

Most importantly, in 1998, Fayetteville voters tossed the “human dignity resolution” that protected city employees from discharge on the basis of sexual orientation. Despite rejection of that measure, Clark said, Fayetteville continued to grow and prosper. Likewise, if today’s ordinance does not pass, Fayetteville will survive.

The question is, will Clark? He and the chamber in general have been accused by detractors, many of them online and anonymous, of bigotry and hatemongering. And, according to Clark’s letter, several university professors are trying to persuade the UA to yank its chamber support.

On paper, the special election is about the civil rights ordinance. But somehow, it also seems like it’s a referendum on Clark.