CONWAY — Central Baptist College is now off-limits as a meeting place for the Faulkner County Tea Party after a dispute involving the Conway School District’s millage increase.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the 1.9-mill increase Tuesday.
Faulkner County Tea Party Chairman David Crow of Conway said Central Baptist President Terry Kimbrow called him Sept. 10 to tell him the party could no longer meet in the private college’s auditorium.
Crow said “a rogue member” of the party “took it upon himself to write a piece” indicating the Tea Party wanted residents to vote against the millage increase, which is aimed at replacing Conway High School-West and building an additional elementary school.
Crow said he thought the “rogue member” distributed fliers, but Kimbrow said Tuesday that he got an e-mail.
“The thing that Terry told me he took exception with was on the flier it said to vote no,” Crow said.
Kimbrow said the voteno instruction “absolutely” bothered him and he personally supported the millage increase.
Crow said the Tea Party did not take a position on the issue. He said he was sure some members supported it.
Last week, Crow released a Tea Party flier that said in part: “We absolutely do need a new [high school] building that is a reasonable value while providing much needed facilities and space. But, our high schools do not need to be grandly extravagant to be updated and functional. We’d rather spend taxpayer dollars on equipping the needed science labs in an attractive, simple and functional highschool-type building.”
Kimbrow called the party’s website “derogatory, saying [the millage proposal is] an extravagant plan. ... If that’s not a position, I don’t knowwhat is.”
Kimbrow said a faculty member raised the issue to him.
“I got some comments that the Tea Party meets at CBC, so CBC probably lines up with the Tea Party,” Kimbrow said. “I just don’t want anyone to damage our relationship with the community.”
Crow said, however, that Kimbrow “understood that we had not taken a position for or against [the millage], but because of the correspondence that was out and about ... the perception was there that it might be a negative for CBC.... I told him I did not want to do anything to hurt CBC because they were so gracious and helpful to us in assisting us to be there.”
Crow said he told Kimbrow “that you really want us to leave because you’ve received complaints from influential people,” and that might affect the college. “He said, ‘That’s true, but I don’t want you to say that.’”
Kimbrow denied making that statement.
Crow “accused me of folding,” Kimbrow said. “People that know me know I do not fold. I have convictions” and fight for them. “I said, ‘I am not folding.’ That kind of incensed me.”
Crow said the Tea Party started meeting at the college at Kimbrow’s suggestion.
“He had come to some of our meetings and was impressed,” Crow said.
Kimbrow, however, said he went to just one Tea Party luncheon “because I knew some of the people and they did not have a place to meet.” The group had been meeting elsewhere, but the place was not as comfortable as the auditorium facilities, Crow said.
“I was assured they didn’t take a stand on issues,” Kimbrow said. “I told them they could meet” at the college as other groups do. “I never [at the time] thought that there would be any reason why they shouldn’t meet here.”
But the recent problem “made me rethink it,” Kimbrow said.
“I just said perception is reality. And if the perception is [that] we are against the millage, then people will believe that,” he said. “And I don’t want that perception.”
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 09/23/2010