The following letter was released by “We (the MAJORITY of) the People Of Fairfield Bay.
After nearly 2 years of bad management signatures are being collected to remove Jackie Sikes as mayor of Fairfield Bay. The list of scandals is long. You can read more on Lake Area Weekly’s Facebook Page.
Letter starts below:
“We (the MAJORITY of) the People of Fairfield Bay”, are unhappy with Mayor Sikes and have begun the recall process. Her policies, her practices and her inability and/or unwillingness to govern in the best interest of the citizens of Fairfield Bay have made this recall necessary in our opinion. If it is not the will of the people, there will not be enough signatures obtained to force a recall election. If enough signatures are collected and certified, there will be a recall election. If the majority vote in favor of keeping the mayor, we will accept the will of the majority. If we are right, and the majority of the citizens of our fair city are sick and tired of the lies, bullying and disruptive behavior of the mayor and her group of supporters, the recall election will be the first step in regaining our dignity, financial soundness and reputation that has been damaged in the past year by Mayor Sikes and her associates.
For those that have not been paying close attention to what the mayor has done directly or indirectly, we have listed just a few of the concerns we have as citizens and business owners in Fairfield Bay.
Mayor Sikes:
1. Began her term by firing a very capable Chief of Police, fulfilling a promise to fire anyone the previous mayor had hired, demonstrating a total lack of understanding about the workings of city government. (The “firing” was overturned by the City Council, averting litigation.)
2. In December 2023, sent a letter to the City Attorney terminating his service. It is our opinion that she tried to terminate his employment because he tells her when she is out of line and cannot do certain things to stay within the legal boundaries of her position. This, too, was stopped by the City Council, again averting litigation.
3. Fired two of the Conference Center employees, including the one with the liquor license. To date, a new liquor license has not been obtained even though the mayor told the City Council several times that there would be no problem to have a new one issued.
4. Claimed to not know that her granddaughters were working for the Conference Center in violation of nepotism rules, in spite of the fact that one of the granddaughters was living with her at the time.
5. Left the position of Executive Director of the Fairfield Bay Chamber of Commerce once elected mayor. When her granddaughter was not hired as the Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Director, she told several board members that her daughter was going to sue the board of directors. She refused to turn over the Facebook administrator duties or help the new Executive Director saying she was acting on the advice of the attorney that was in the process of suing the Chamber board. The new director was harassed by people that identified themselves by saying “we know Jackie Sikes”. Sean Sikes appeared at the Chamber office, laughing maniacally and asked if the new chamber director “felt safe?”. A city police car sat in front of the Chamber office a full day and only left when the director left for lunch, then again when the director left for the day.
6. Refused to work in good faith with citizen groups (Animal Protection League, Our Towne Productions, Foundation Spaghetti Fund Raiser) to use the Conference Center, in violation of the grant stipulations that it be used for community activities.
7. Forced Ozark Health to go elsewhere for the annual fundraiser that has been held in Fairfield Bay for the last nine years.
8. Forced the Moonshine Festival to relocate to Clinton.
9. After elected, held the city’s first ever “Inaugural Ball”.
10. Consistently scheduled her events to coincide with other events traditionally held on the same date.
11. Through raised prices, inconsistent pricing, forcing events to relocate, firing competent staff, not having a liquor license and general incompetence, we fear one of the cornerstones of the Bay (Conference Center) is going to be in fiscal distress and will inevitably affect the hotel’s ability to stay in business. If these two facilities are lost due to her inability to manage a facility such as this effectively, Fairfield Bay will be taking several steps backward that have taken many years achieve.
12. City Council meetings used to be orderly and respectful. Today’s meetings are subject to out of order public comments and questions of the City Council designed to embarrass and frustrate what was once an orderly process. “Bullying” of City Council members is happening on many levels. Not just in the meetings, but privately and in other ways.
13. The mayor is making our city a laughing stock in the state of Arkansas. The story of her showing up to speak at a Rotary event in Heber Springs wearing her crown and sash, and giving a presentation that had nothing to do with the senior pageant she won, as well as whispers in the courthouse, “you ARE going to get rid of her, aren’t you?” are embarrassing to everyone that loves our fair city.
14. She created problems with the Corps of Engineers around the campground that were never there and could have been easily avoided. None of her self created drama was needed. She had access to emails stating the City could give the Resort a sublease. Members of the City Council were told by Corps officials that the City could hire the Resort to run the campground.
15. Recently she filed ethics charges against six of the eight elected officials. All those charged were told the complaints were frivolous and not being pursued.
16. Lastly, when you talk to anyone that has dealt with Jackie Sikes, there is one phrase that always come up, and that is “you can never trust a thing she says”.
For the above reasons, we are beginning the recall process. The location, date and time where the recall petition is to be signed will be announced soon. Once an appropriated number of signatures are certified and the election is called for, a simple majority is needed to force her to step down.
We are hoping the City Council will have a “vote of no confidence“ before this comes to a vote and Mayor Sikes will step down. This will save the city time and money and will save her much embarrassment. We are also asking that you contact your City Council representative and let them know you support them. The City Council members have been bullied relentlessly in City Council meetings and privately. They need to know that the people they represent are behind them. Now is the time to take a stand and take back our city.
“We (the MAJORITY of) the People of Fairfield Bay” are your friends, neighbors, club members, people you go to church with, do business with, sit on boards with and business owners. We have stood by and seen no progress in her promise to “unite Fairfield Bay”. Instead, it appears to be a slow circling of the drain that will inevitably end in her leaving our fair city in fiscal distress, while she runs off from the mess she created, similar to what happened to her in Clinton. (Ask business people you know in Clinton that know her, or of her.). We are no longer willing to watch that happen without doing what we can to stop it this year. We hope the compilation of the above facts will help those that have simply been enjoying the beautiful city we live in and staying away from “small town politics”, as many of us were. Maybe there are some that have been confused by the myriad of lies, attacks and innuendoes constantly being presented on Facebook by a vocal minority. We are convinced that Fairfield Bay cannot afford two more years of her administration and its incompetence. Please ask questions of people you trust to give you the truth. People that live here, work here and have always demonstrated a love of Fairfield Bay through their actions and words. That is who we are. If you are a registered voter and live in Fairfield Bay, sign the petition. We will all be better off when she has moved on.
Signed,
“We (the MAJORITY of) the People of Fairfield Bay”