Nov. 1, 1992
Mayoral Run
In Fayetteville
Gets Grimier
Dave Edmark
The Morning News
The campaign for mayor of Fayetteville continued its trek through the mud Saturday. Candidates Glenn Sowder and Dan Coody, who clashed Friday over Coody's comments to Sowder on a telephone answering machine, remained in the spotlight while candidates Fred Hanna, Robert Reus and Cyrus Young maintained a low public profile.
Saturday's events included the following developments:
* The editorial page of the Northwest Arkansas Times took the unusual step of publishing a half-page, first-person editorial signed by publisher S.D. (Dave) Stokes sharply criticizing Coody for remarks Coody has made about Stokes and the Times. "His slurs against this newspaper are slurs against Fayetteville," Stokes wrote, and called for Coody "to back down, period."
* Coody responded to Stokes with a long, point-by-point rebuttal, saying Stokes had written "a shrill editorial attack against me." He said he previously had advised Stokes to "give everyone a fair shake and not line up solidly behind those who hold the power of this town with a death grip. Literally. Obviously my advice was ignored, as this editorial proves once again."
* Copies of a letter to the Grapevine attacking Sowder and expressing skepticism about his background were distributed overnight in home newspaper tubes and left on newsracks around the city. The flier did not have the writer's signature as it did when published as a letter in the Grapevine. Sowder's campaign told the police about the distribution of the flier.
Sowder said in a statement that several months ago when he considered running for Congress he spoke with Coody and gave him his resume. Sowder said it was his "honest belief" that the conversation and the resume "were used to create the innuendoes and half-truths" contained in the letter and flier. Sowder further said he was "disappointed that anyone associated with a political campaign would stoop to illegally distributing unsigned literature of a critical nature. I would question their integrity and ability to lead our city."
* Coody said he did not have any prior knowledge of the letter, he did not know the person who wrote it and he did not have anything to do with its distribution as a flier. "I was as surprised as anyone to see that letter in the Grapevine," Coody said. "To accuse me of having anything to do with that is inappropriate."
Coody also said he had made it a point to stay away from "personal attacks and smear campaigns." He said it was "completely disgusting what this campaign has degenerated into."
The campaign took a sharp turn Friday when Sowder called a press conference to play back a tape of a message Coody left on Sowder's answering machine. Coody was angered by comments allegedly made about his wife by Gaylord Willis, a Sowder supporter. Willis denied making the comments although one of Coody's supporters, Pam Pemberton, said Saturday she overhead Willis call Coody's wife by a derogatory name about a year ago.
Stokes' editorial said it was "time for the gloves to come off" regarding Coody, said Coody had accused him of being "in collusion" with the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce and the city government. Stokes said he had never made a secret of his involvement with the chamber, where he serves on the board of directors.
Coody said in response that his ""observations of your newspaper are not attacks against Fayetteville." He asked why Stokes took his statement about being on the chamber board as being an accusation. "Herein lies the flavor of your editorial policy," he said.
In response to the flier and Grapevine letter, Sowder said he would not have run for mayor "had someone of the caliber and experience of John Lewis, Hugh Brewer, Dan Ferritor, Bill Martin or Jim Glenn stepped forward." Instead, he said, he would have run for alderman or the school board.
Nov. 2, 1992
Investigator Hired to Find Dirt Calls
Mayoral Candidate 'Squeaky Clean'
Dave Edmark
The Morning News
A private investigator in Fayetteville mayoral candidate Dan Coody's hometown said Sunday he had looked into Coody's past and found him to be "squeaky clean."
Mike Adams, an investigator in Beaumont, Texas, where Coody grew up, said in an interview that he was contacted Saturday morning by a Fayetteville man whom he was not at liberty to identify. Adams said he was asked by the man "to get the dirt" on Coody. Adams investigated Coody's history in Beaumont and Huntsville, Texas, and reported that Coody had not been arrested or convicted of anything.
The probe surfaced when Coody learned through family members in Texas during the weekend that he was being investigated. Coody said he called Adams and asked him about it and was told that there were no blemishes on his record.
Adams said he was willing to tell Coody about his findings because it was rare that he came up with a clean bill of health on people he was asked to investigate.
Coody's past has been the subject of some rumors and campaign talk during the current election. At a televised forum last month, all candidates were asked if they had ever been arrested. Coody said he had not, but said rumors had been spread alleging that he had a criminal past in Texas. Coody moved to Fayetteville from Texas in 1986.
The issue arose again Friday when mayoral candidate Glenn Sowder asked Coody to provide more details about his past, although he did not raise a question about any criminal history. Coody had previously released a report from the Texas Department of Public Safety which stated that he had no criminal history.
Adams said the person who asked him to investigate Coody wanted to find out if he had been arrested on an armed robbery charge in Huntsville. Coody didn't have a record, but another Beaumont man, about Coody's age, who had the same name as Coody's father, was often in trouble with the law when Coody lived there, Adams said.
Adams said he interviewed 12 people, including law enforcement personnel and prominent people who had known Coody all his life.
"For the last several months people have been spreading detailed rumors about my history, and it is stainless," Coody said Sunday. "After the election, I still have to live with the smear on my reputation."
Nov. 3, 1992
Paper Confirms
Investigation
Of Candidate
Mark Minton
The Morning News
Fayetteville mayoral candidate Dan Coody said Monday that the Northwest Arkansas Times was involved in an investigation of Coody's past. S.D. (Dave) Stokes, the publisher of the newspaper, confirmed in an interview that the Times was involved.
At a news conference, Coody called on the newspaper to release to the public whatever information the investigation, conducted by a private investigator, had produced. Coody said the private investigator, Mike Adams of Beaumont, Texas, had told him about the inquiry.
Adams told The Morning News on Sunday that an unnamed Fayetteville man had hired him "to get the dirt" on Coody, who grew up in Beaumont. Adams said his investigation showed Coody to be "squeaky clean."
Stokes said Monday that he, as a representative of the paper, had commissioned the investigation, but had not directly hired Adams. Stokes said he hired someone else, who then hired Adams, Stokes declined to identify the middleman.
Coody said the Times should release the findings of the investigation to "refute the various fantastic rumors that have been intentionally circulated in an attempt to cloud my personal history and attack my character."
Coody called the investigation another attempt to smear his reputation.
Stokes said, however, that the newspaper was trying only to get answers to questions about Coody's past. "At almost every debate," Stokes said, "he's been asked about these rumors or about his background, and he's been evasive about it." Stokes said the newspaper didn't intend to immediately release the findings of the investigation directly to Coody, but did plan to print a story about it. The Morning News article on the probe Monday was based on a telephone interview with Adams.
At the news conference, Coody released "photographic essay" to complement the report by Adams. The "essay" included several photos of Coody as a younger man -- Coody wearing a mortar board for school graduation ceremony, for instance -- and newspaper clippings.