The Chamber of Commerce graciously paid for former Springdale Mayor Jerre Van Hoose's airfare from the luxurious resort town Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Salt Lake City, Utah and back again. I hesitate to call it a kickback, but I probably wouldn't hesitate at eyebrow-raising freebie.It is possible the Mayor later paid them back, although three years of bank deposits show nothing with Van Hoose as a depositor. I suppose it is even possible he too was a compensated volunteer earning 15% commission for Chamber membership sales like the Moore's & Mullikin's. Isn't it?
Someone at the Chamber penciled in "S.T. Initiative I" on the AmEx statement which could mean Springdale Tomorrow Initiative, but it appears Van Hoose was the only attendee.
Surely the trip didn't have anything to do with his rejection just a month earlier of an offer by a Dallas-based sports investor to privately bankroll Springdale's ballpark, thus derailing the Chamber's pet project and sparing the already overburdened taxpayers from taking on an additional $50 million in debt.
Of course the original news article is no longer available, but a snippet can be located on ballparkdigest.com.
It has been suggested that Van Hoose is married to the sister of the majority owner of the prime ballpark area real estate just waiting to be developed. That's not a conflict of interest, is it?