John Fenley said it was OK to call him an eccentric. And about those eccentricities, as he put it, "I'm an open book."
Such as his purchase of 31 go-karts -- to be in direct competition with a Go Forward Pine Bluff go-kart track being planned. More on that later.
Indeed, his story is writ large and small across the internet and in person, leaving little doubt that he is quite non-average. Stories in online publications, blog posts from him, YouTube videos, one of him getting arrested in connection with disruption of an event in Pine Bluff, his appearances at almost every Pine Bluff City Council meeting to rail against the city -- there are many ways to get an understanding of what Fenley wants to do and what he's been up against.
"If I wasn't rich, I'd be crazy," he said as he gave a tour of his warehouse/old factory in Pine Bluff.
Fenley was living in Utah and was looking for space for his personal businesses and for his father, a sculptor, to have a place to pursue his art. Likely, a Google search is what brought the 42-year-old to Pine Bluff. He said he did a search of warehouses with the most square feet at the cheapest price per square foot.
"And this place popped up," he said, referring to the old Varco Pruden plant on West 17th Avenue. "I thought the price was a typo. Then I called the real estate agent and it was true."
The asking price was $375,000 for the property, which included 220,000 square feet of enclosed space and 17 acres of land.
That's five acres of enclosed space or enough room for almost four football fields.
"I offered $300,000 and they took it," he said.
The vast, empty interior spaces in the plant go on for hundreds of feet, lit by the many skylights in the metal roof. Steel girders rise from the concrete floor to near the ceiling where cross pieces support cranes -- some of which are still in place -- that once moved heavy material. Birds skitter from one area to the other as the tour continues. A big ride-able vacuum cleaner that looks like an ice skating rink's Zamboni machine sits idle, but its swaths of cleaned concrete are evident.
Fenley would like to put at least some of that space to use, but that's where the rub has been.
Suffice it to say that he doesn't believe the city has been as helpful as it could have with his efforts to bring the electricity and other utilities for the building online. And to that end, he is suing the city. Efforts to get comments from various city officials last week were unsuccessful, although one document gives an indication of how the city sees him.
According to one city official at the time, council members were getting lots of phone calls from Fenley and they asked that his situation be explained.
The document says Fenley received Planning Commission approval in mid-2020 to establish a multi-use facility at his new property.
Soon after that, various inspections were made of the property, which did not have any utilities connected, and the electrical, heating and air conditioning equipment had been stripped by thieves. There was also mold present.
"Mr. Fenley was informed that because the building was in such disrepair and because the proposed uses were not the original uses of the building, the City would need engineered or architectural stamped drawings that outlined the areas by square footage and the use of all areas," stated the document.
His frustrations with the city have continued to mount, although he was able to get electricity turned on to a small area within the labyrinth of offices tucked here and there around the huge complex.
About the thieves -- they have been persistent, he said. For a while, Fenley lived in the offices, putting his three children visiting from Utah in a couple of the rooms. For showers, he rigged a container of water up high. Some of his children's toys still remain. When he was on-site, he could keep a watch out for burglars, but then the city told him he couldn't live inside.
So he moved outside and was living in a tent, but that didn't go so well.
"I woke up to someone holding a gun to my head," he said. "They caught the kid, a 16-year-old, later, but then the city said I couldn't live in a tent out back and couldn't live on the property."
So now he lives elsewhere in Pine Bluff, meaning the thieves have an easy run of the place. Anything of perceived value has been looted, he said, including a car he had parked inside.
"I've been robbed 50 times or more," he said, pointing to some outdoor storage containers that had had the handles cut off of them by someone wanting to steal what was inside.
The headwinds have been significant. Asked if he regretted coming to Pine Bluff, he said sometimes.
"I've missed a lot of time with my kids," he said. "I didn't think it would be this hard to get this going."
But he continues on, fighting City Hall and trying to make a go of it. Part of that effort is to fight Go Forward Pine Bluff. Fenley, a Libertarian, calls the group's tax proposal, which is on the ballot on Tuesday, a "cash grab" and says the city should make room for entrepreneurs to grow the city and not depend on initiatives paid for with tax dollars.
Around town, there are what appear to be three signs regarding the tax vote. There are signs that encourage a yes vote. There are ones paid for by the NAACP that encourage a no vote. And then there are Fenley's own signs that also encourage the defeat of the proposed sales tax. He also wears a pin that encourages a no vote.
One of Go Forward's proposals is to create a go-kart track on the site of the old Admiral Benbow Inn on East Harding Avenue. Fenley said the budget for the project of $3.5 million is far more money than it should take to have such a venue. And he has some experience, having purchased 31 go-karts at a cost of $75,000. He said he found an entertainment park that was upgrading its inventory and bought their old ones.
Fenley recently went to the Planning Commission to get approval to operate a go-kart track on some of the paved areas on his property, but was told his plan was incomplete. Fenley said he did have a plan and sees the temporary rejection of his plan as politically motivated.
"I'm thinking they didn't want my go-karts running around while Go Forward is trying to get a tax passed and is spending millions of dollars on a go-kart track of its own," Fenley said. "I can show how much more efficient it is for the private sector to do this than a public agency. If I had permission from the city, I could open my business right now."
To prove his point, he started one of the go-karts, hopped in and drove around the track he had set up with little orange lane markers, zigzagging through the turns and finishing up with a sliding stop and two thumbs up.
And if he could get at least some of the lights on in one of the large spaces, he could operate indoors, he said.
The last day of early voting is today with election day on Tuesday from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. A renewal of the five-eighths-cent sales tax that supports Go Forward initiatives is on the ballot, as is a three-eighths-cent sales tax for public safety. The Go Forward-sponsored tax would sunset in 2031 while the public safety tax would not expire.
One of John Fenley's business cards appears to levitate above a device he created. (Pine Bluff Commercial/Byron Tate)