Riff Raff

by Michael Tilley -

Trust, transparency and trails

Funding for a 35-mile multi-use trail system in Fort Smith wasn’t rejected because voters don’t like trails. It wasn’t about the trails. Never was. It was about trust. It was…

by Michael Tilley -

A fortunate son

A lot has changed in Mom’s world. The world in 1949, the year of her birth, was a crazy place. Europe was rebuilding its continental economy, the Soviets were rattling…

by Michael Tilley -

The Earth Day thing, revisited

The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-face for the urge to rule it.
 – H.L. Mencken Recently toured several of the fine museums in Chicago. The city…

by Michael Tilley -

A lack of confidence

Raising of Fort Smith sewer rates in a process that will more than triple the average bill by 2017 is not a problem. It’s not welcome news, but we’ve been…

by Michael Tilley -

Some you can’t replace

Having watched and interviewed elected officials for more than 30 years, there are only two with which it was easily and immediately evident why they were popular and successful: Bill…

by Michael Tilley -

Passions of the Sen. Cotton

The good Senator Tom Cotton isn’t acting like the farm boy from Yell County who was dominant in his campaign commercials. Those small town, farm values he loaded up in…

by Michael Tilley -

Muddy shovels and needle movers

If or when the post-Great Recession history of Fort Smith is written, a leading candidate as an historic marker in the economic recovery will be the recent and well-attended cold…

by Michael Tilley -

The trail money money trail

The Fort Smith Board of Directors may not have had a full battery of information when approving a ballot question seeking voter approval of a plan to spend more than…

by Michael Tilley -

Shut up and pay up

Let’s consider this mysterious and allegedly absolute cover of confidentiality under which Fort Smith and federal officials discussed the settlement of the city’s Clean Water Act violations – a settlement…

by Michael Tilley -

7 Fort Smith government moves

Solely for the purpose of providing a window into how Fort Smith city staff and the Board of Directors conduct public business, let’s revisit the process to name the water…

by Michael Tilley -

Still on the SOB watch

It’s just another day, really. Another week. Another month. Another year, one hopes, above the daisies and dirt. But this calendar shift comes with an unavoidable remembrance that, honestly, best…

by Michael Tilley -

The big deal about TiFiber

Fort Smith business leaders and officials with the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce were challenged a few years ago to do a better job connecting with the commercialized technologies…

by The City Wire staff -

Names that are all wet

The submitted names for the water park being built by Sebastian County and the city of Fort Smith would be Exhibit A if you were to build a case that…

by Michael Tilley -

The veteran I remember

This week we are to remember the military men and women who served this country — especially those who saw combat and those for whom combat was the last thing…

by Michael Tilley -

Miss Ada said it could be like this

The discussion of how Arkansas Republicans swept the 2014 election cycle will be woefully incomplete if not wholly inaccurate if it does not include in the opening paragraph this name:…

by Michael Tilley -

Guess who’s coming to dinner

Some or all members of the Fort Smith Board of Directors often gather at a restaurant following their regularly scheduled voting meetings. The media has not received advanced notice of…

by Michael Tilley -

Analysis of the analysis

It was September 2013 when the Fort Smith Board of Directors encouraged city staff to do more to incorporate compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles into the city fleet. At the…

by Michael Tilley -

Do stuff

Comes now Kaitlin Stephens serving as a timely example to students returning to school: Do stuff. Do a lot of stuff. Do a lot of different stuff. Do a lot…

by The City Wire staff -

Mayor Corleone?

With Fort Smith city government looking like Petrino’s face the day after his skirt chasing motorcycle trek, some are calling for a new form of municipal governance. Fort Smith has…