Reaction has been strong to the city of Little Rock's lawsuit asking a judge to order the Arkansas Ethics Commission to enforce a local campaign fundraising ordinance and sanction the mayoral challengers who aren't following it.
When news that the city filed the lawsuit hit Twitter on Thursday, politicians and political commentators quickly took notice.
Arkansas lawyer Nate Steel, @Nate_Steel, tweeted, "This is absurd. The courts should not be made into political arenas. Judges are not #arpx referees." The hashtag #arpx stands for Arkansas politics.
"Whoa. Not a good look for the city's current Mayor," said Billy Fleming, @JooBilly, an Arkansas native who interned in the White House under President Barack Obama and co-authored the Indivisible Guide on local resistance to President Donald Trump's agenda.
The surprise to the rare lawsuit by a government entity naming two political contenders as defendants was bipartisan.
"Wow, just wow," said Republican state Rep. Aaron Pilkington, @pilkingtonforar.
Republican consultant Kenneth Ryan James made a play on Little Rock's marketing ploy rejecting Amazon by tweeting, "It's not you, it's us #arpx" when he shared a link to the news article on the lawsuit.
"I sincerely hope @warwicksabin & @FrankScottJr band together to fight this abuse of process. The Mayor utilizes carry over funds, which is one way elected officials become institutionalized," tweeted Blake Rutherford, a political commentator and Arkansas native who lives in Philadelphia and who has served as chief of staff to two state attorney generals.
State Rep. Warwick Sabin and area banker Frank Scott Jr. have announced they are exploring a run for the Little Rock mayoral seat up for election this November. Both released statements on the lawsuit in which they said it was incumbent Mayor Mark Stodola's way to attack his challengers.
Stodola responded Thursday and issued a second statement Friday specifically about the blow-back alleging he was behind the lawsuit.
"Contrary to false statements by candidates running for mayor, the lawsuit filed on behalf of the city is not about me as mayor," Stodola wrote in a statement he posted on his Facebook page. "It is the City seeking legal relief against the Arkansas Ethics Commission to resolve the issue of whether the candidates are violating a good government law passed by the City twenty years ago, which was designed to prevent pay-to-play scenarios on city land use decisions since the city Board of Directors is in session year round."
Chris Burks, legal counsel to the Democratic Party of Arkansas, has been particularly vocal about the lawsuit. He has said he will likely represent Sabin in the matter.
Burks sent an email to members of the city Board of Directors and other city employees Friday saying they are "being poorly served" by City Attorney Tom Carpenter. He went on to say Carpenter was doing "poor quality work."
In statements to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette before the email to city officials, Burks said Carpenter "either can't read a basic law or is instead nakedly political."
"The City is being given very poor quality legal advice," Burks said.
Burks did not copy Carpenter on his email to city officials.
Carpenter told the Democrat-Gazette he had no comment in response.
"If someone does not have the courage to say something to my face, I see no need to answer behind that person's back," Carpenter said.
Carpenter was instructed to file the lawsuit by the city board, to which he answers.
At-large City Director Joan Adcock said Friday that she still supports the lawsuit despite the comments being made.
"It is not all about the Mayor's race, but about all of the races this year for the city board. It is not fair for people to be raising money for their race and a Director cannot start raising funds until June. I completely agree with our ordinance on this subject," Adcock said. "I was on the city board before we passed it and there were problems with fundraising all of the time. We do not pass laws once a year, but twice a month, and that in my opinion is why we are different than the state."
The main question at issue in the lawsuit is if the Arkansas Ethics Commission should sanction Sabin and Scott for violating the city ordinance that prevents campaign fundraising until June 1 before a November election.
Both Sabin and Scott created exploratory committees, which are fundraising and will give the money to the men when they formally file as candidates. State campaign finance law allows candidates to form such committees and collect funds two years out from an election.
Carpenter contends that the same state law allows cities to narrow that time frame. In an email to Carpenter, Burks agreed with that, but contends that neither Sabin nor Scott are violating the city ordinance because they are not formally candidates and their exploratory committees are fundraising.
"I believe our citizens expect our leaders to respect the laws of the city. I intend to follow the law, not circumvent it. It is disappointing [Sabin and Scott's] unbridled ambition appears to have blinded them," Stodola wrote in his Friday statement.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Pulaski County Circuit Court and assigned to Judge Chris Piazza, asks for an expedited hearing since the matter is an election issue in an election year. The mayoral seat and six board seats are up for election in Little Rock this year.
Metro on 01/20/2018