On Tuesday, October 21, the Jonesboro Board of Realtors held a mayoral candidates forum and the issue of the convention center came up yet again. Enough is enough! I set the record straight publicly. The FACT is that the City Council voted unanimously to refer the issue to the voters, and the developers withdrew it because the council wasn't willing to endorse the tax. My refusal to endorse the tax was based upon a lack of information submitted to the council. I have since learned that there were a LOT of things going on behind the scenes that the public did not know, and that many of us on the council were not aware of.
When I asked Mr. Perrin to look us in the eye and tell us the TRUTH about the lack of disclosure of potential conflict of interests, he admitted to supporting and voting for the proposed convention center without disclosing his own Substantial financial interest in the bank that already loaned some TWO MILLION DOLLARS to the proposed developer...But he then said it didn't matter because it was a personal investment that was in his retirement fund...STATE AND CITY ETHICS LAW SAYS IT DOES MATTER!
See the entire exchange and Mr. Perrin's admission Below.
At the end of the day, Character, Integrity, & Ethics should be more than just good sounding words for campaign ads if you want to be Jonesboro's Mayor.
As your next Mayor, I will stand up for the citizens of Jonesboro and shine the light into the dark places of back-room deals and special interest influence of city government.
