Little Rock Under Fire Again
over Clinton Library Funding
Activist Nora Harris filed a new lawsuit April 23 against the city of Little Rock in an attempt to block its $15-million financing plan for the Clinton Presidential Library. Harris’s first attempt was overturned in March by the state Supreme Court, but it invited her to raise the issue again if she could prove that the city mixed tax money with park, zoo, and golf-course revenues used to make the library bond payments.
Harris said that she obtained financial records that indicate the city is in fact diverting funds inappropriately, according to an April 25 Associated Press report. Her attorney, David Henry, claims the documents show that several accounts were renamed and as much as $1.7 million in tax revenue was used for the library. “They’ve had to cover it out of the general fund,” he said.
City Attorney Tom Carpenter said in the April 24 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the library bonds were backed entirely with park fees, which have continued to grow.
Groundbreaking for the Clinton Library is expected before the end of the year, with the facility opening in 2003 or 2004. The city is also awaiting a judgment on Eugene Pfeifer’s eminent-domain lawsuit, under appeal in the state Supreme Court.
Posted April 30, 2001.
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