Tom Terminella Plans Run For Mayor of Fayetteville

Fayetteville developer and real estate broker Tom Terminella said Wednesday he plans to oppose Lioneld Jordan in his bid for a third four-year term in office.

Terminella, an Independent, will make a formal announcement Aug. 18 with an event at Mermaids Seafood Restaurant in Fayetteville. He said invitations were sent electronically Tuesday night to approximately 1,000 supporters.

A Fayetteville native, Terminella said his only previous experience in seeking elected office was a failed run for city council about 25 years ago.

“I’ve had no political aspirations my entire life, but it’s gotten to the point where somebody has got to do something,” he said Wednesday.

Terminella said the theme for his campaign is “Positive, Responsible Growth.” He said he would discuss more details at the kickoff event on Aug. 18.

Jordan, who has held the office since first winning election in November 2008, is the only other announced candidate in the field. The Fayetteville mayor is not a term-limited position.

Terminella, who will turn 50 in October, has been a fixture on the Northwest Arkansas real estate scene for several years. He opened his first business, Terminella & Associates Inc. Realtors, in 1995. He is currently the principal broker at The Terminella Co. Inc., a company organized in October 2011 by his wife, Monica, to assemble commercial properties and facilitate the sale to investors.

Terminella also made headlines in the legal and banking arenas with a long-running lawsuit stemming from a 2007 property foreclosure by the new-defunct Metropolitan National Bank of Little Rock.

The suit was related to a $9.63 million loan MNB made to Terminella and Grand Valley Ridge LLC to fund completion of the Grand Valley Ridge subdivision in Springdale. MNB claimed the loan was in default. Terminella and Grand Valley denied the claim, and filed a counterclaim alleging MNB had breached its contract.

The public feud wound its way through the courts for years, with numerous appeals, complaints and additional claims, until eventually reaching the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2012, where justices upheld Washington County Circuit Judge Kim Smith’s order granting motions to dismiss Terminella’s suit and to file sanctions against him and his attorney, Robert Ginnaven.