• DIRECTOR'S FAVORITE: Ron Mathieu indicated he favored this proposal for treatment of an entrance sign for the renamed Little Rock National Airport.

The Little Rock Airport Commission has scheduled a discussion at its meeting Tuesday to rename the airport the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.

The idea has kicked around for years, with varying amounts of cheering and jeering. Hillary Clinton served for a time as legal counsel to the airport.

I'm guessing the votes are in hand now to honor Arkansas's native son president and his wife, the secretary of state.

It's better than a guess. Our FOI request early today produced 1) renderings of various proposed sign treatments including the one above; 2) the resolution the commission has up for a vote, and 3) e-mail about planned publicity from the Markham Group, which handles PR for the airport, including a memo on talking points on the name change. Interesting to see the spin machine at work, including a lineup of notables to speak in favor of the name change. Public notice was not part of the fait accompli PR plan, though notice of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, naturally, was. The Markham Group, you'll remember, did the unaccounted-for work on the Chamber's shadow campaign to get a $500 million city sales tax adopted. I should say the PR plan did call for leaks to "key media." That didn't include us, except by happenstance.

Note that all this is just a proposal at this point, particularly design elements. Airport Director Ron Mathieu said in an e-mail to commissioners earlier this month:

Attached please find the proposed designs for the new entrance icon. I think the one that has the blue "potential water feature or light feature" is the best, but that is just my opinion.

I would suggest that we all keep these concepts under wraps until both the Clinton Foundation and the President has had an opportunity to look at these and advise of their preference.

Please feel free to call if you have any questions or comments regarding the attached proposed designs.

Thanks!!

NOTED: Notes on the Arkansas Times Facebook page and my own Facebook page drew in rapid fire 40 comments or so, strongly positive.

My own experience agrees with Noel Oman's report in the Democrat-Gazette this morning about complaints that security checks take longer at Little Rock National Airport since the screening area was expanded, improved and full-body scanners were added.

Anecdotal observations: The line was long during a morning flight "wave" period because only one TSA agent was checking IDs against boarding passes. The full-body scanners take longer to negotiate and seem to trigger closer inspections more often than the old scanners.

Anybody else?

• RON MATHIEU: Gets $20,000 sweetener.

David Goins of Fox 16 reports the Commission gave Mathieu a $10,000 bonus, plus a $10,000 pay raise from $180,000 to $190,000.

You got the equivalent of an 11 percent pay bump this year, didn't you?

The commission really likes Mathieu, architect of plan by which the airport has been able to increase revenues from airlines even in the face of a continuing decline in passenger loads (another drop, of 1.9 percent, in 2011). PS: That figure refers to enplanements.

The Little Rock National Airport opened its expanded security checkpoint today, a $1.7 million, 3,000-square-foot addition that includes more room for waiting lines, an added ticket checkpoint and an added screening lane, plus a couple of those advanced imaging machines. (What, no Twitpic on the flylit Twitter feed?)

Noted: A canned comment in the glowing news release quoted an airport official about "a major increase in the number of passengers moving through Little Rock National over the years."

Not true — at least unless you go waaaaay back. Here's a handy chart, complete through 2010, that shows the 1.1 million passenger boardings last year were a good 12 percent short of the airport's peak of 1.28 million 12 years ago, in 1999.

Year-to-date boarding numbers through October are down another 2.8 percent against 2010 boardings. If the trend continues, it will be the fourth consecutive year of a decline in boardings since a bump up in 2007.

The airport naturally is hoping for better, with a $67 million improvement plan in the works. But building improvements don't bring travelers.

Ron Mathieu, director of the Little Rock National Airport, has narrowed a second round of applications for the job of director of government relations at the airport to four finalists — all new names — and they'll be interviewed by airport officials Nov. 28 and 29. Times will be set aside each day for the finalists to talk with any airport commissioners interested in meeting them.

Long story short: A previous effort to fill this slot fell apart in a disagreement between Commissioner Tom Schueck and just about everyone else on whether the choice would be Mathieu's (he initially chose gas company PR man Mark Raines) or the commission's to make. Schueck favored former Little Rock City Director Michael Keck for the job, which could pay $135,000 or so. The commission ultimately stood behind Mathieu, though there've been a series of discussions intended to give all a piece of the process.

The finalists:

* Julie Leonard of Little Rock, a lawyer and fund-raising consultant whose resume includes political work for former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts and Rhode Island Republican candidate Christine Ferguson.

* Shane Carter, a former TV reporter and meteorologist who oversees public relations for the Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould.

* Tracy Horne of Little Rock, a PR consultant whose past employers include Gov. Mike Huckabee, Secretary of State Mark Martin, U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin and the Win Rockefeller gubernatorial campaign.

* Shannon Vinson, a Batesville native who's a former Air Force C-130 navigator and public affairs officer and currently working in public affairs in Washington for Northrop Grumman.

Here are the resumes.

• Commissioner Schueck

Commissioner Jesse Mason, after Schueck made repeated objections to the commission’s stand that it was the executive director’s hire and that its role was “advice and counsel” only ("I don't know what that means," Schueck asserted) — said he was “disturbed” by the nearly hour-long debate, adding, “Something’s happening here that should not be happening.” That prompted a huffy response from Schueck: “I’m not going to comment on that.”

So what was happening? The most likely is this: Schueck, who supported former City Director Michael Keck for the public relations job, which Executive Director Ron Mathieu gave to gas industry spokesman Mark Raines instead, wanted to give Keck, or someone of his choosing, another chance at getting the job. Raines quit shortly after accepting the job; it’s believed that he did so because Schueck was unhappy with his hiring.

Schueck asked that the job description, which says experience working at the State Capitol or in a public relations firm would be preferred, be amended to include experience with the city, which he said was more important. Schueck also said a local person should be given preference, saying a national search was “a waste of time.” “It ought to stay local and it should be the commission’s hire as well as Ron’s, since [the hire] will be spokesman for both. Our suggestion should be considered. This is how I was hopeful … the way I’d change from last time.”

Schueck got no support from the rest of the committee — commission chair Virgil Miller; Mason, former mayor Jim Dailey or committee chair Kay Kelley Arnold. Miller said the hire would be confused who his boss was, the commission or the executive director. “I want them to know they report to the executive director,” he said, and not in “any form or fashion” to the commission.

Schueck expressed bewilderment at the commission’s position. “This position is the mouthpiece of the airport and the commission. If he speaks for me I want to know who he is and what he’s going to say. … I find it strange that the rest of the commission is going to hand this over. It’s unacceptable to me.” He paused, then added, “Sometimes I’m a lot smarter than you guys are.”

Mathieu and the commission’s attorney also said it would be illegal to restrict applicants to a local pool, saying it would jeopardize the airport’s eligibility for federal grants. Schueck said he disagreed with the attorney, adding, “I believe we can say [local experience] will be looked upon favorably,” though it’s unclear how that position departed from counsel’s.

Mathieu won another point too: Schueck wanted the application process started over. Mathieu said he’d like to review four or five applications that came in after the original deadline, and look over the other applicants, whom Arnold described as “brave souls.” After the meeting, Mathieu said a few of the late applications came after Raines’ resignation. He declined to say whether he was enthusiastic about a particular late application. Mathieu said he should have a list by Monday of new finalists for the job. The pay range for the job: $90,560 to $135,838. Raines was hired in at $125,000.

The Little Rock Airport Commission met for about an hour in a special executive session today to discuss the suddenly controversial job as director of PR and government relations, but took no action. Commissioner Wesley Clark participated by phone. Jesse Mason was absent.

Mark Raines had taken the job, then backed out. The Arkansas Blog reported over the weekend on internal disagreement, chiefly led by Commissioner Tom Schueck, who favored former City Director Michael Keck for the job. Schueck contended he thought the job would be the commission's to decide. Airport Director Ron Mathieu (backed by Commission Chairman Virgil Miller) had said it was Mathieu's decision, though he consulted with commissioners during the process and they interviewed finalists.

After the closed meeting, Chairman Miller said the commission had not made a recommendation on the job under discussion (presumably the PR job, though it was never explicitly identified.) The matter was referred to the personnel committee for further action. This was the procedure Miller had said last week he hoped would occur when the commission found itself still looking for a new employee. Mathieu will confer with the committee, led by Kay Kelley Arnold, on existing applicants and whether a new search should be launched.

The lack of action has some significance. Good sources said there was some sentiment among members of the commission to ratify Keck as the commission's choice. That did not happen, at least today. It would have been a strong signal about executive power vis a vis Mathieu and the commission.

Schueck razzed me today about my weekend report. He objected specifically to my repeating an account from anonymous sources that he'd complained publicly about Raines' selection. He said that was not correct. There is no doubt that his preference for Keck got back to Raines.

• THOMAS SCHUECK

Last week, former TV newsman and current gas industry PR man Mark Raines accepted, and then declined, a $125,000-a-year job as director of PR and government relations for Little Rock National Airport. He cited family concerns.

Yesterday, an interesting story came to me. It was that Airport Commissioner Thomas Schueck, a successful industrialist not known as a retiring type, had spoken publicly and loudly about his unhappiness at Raines' selection and talked of making Raines' life difficult. Schueck backed another finalist for the job, former City Director Michael Keck. Shortly after, Raines (told of Schueck's remarks by a friend as the story goes) decided not to take the job. Word got back to Schueck, who called Raines and tried to make things right, but Raines decided to stay put in the Fayetteville shale world. Two sources told me this story.

I called Raines. "My decision for not taking that job is just very personal. I’m not going to get into a lot of that hearsay." He said he had heard from Schueck Thursday and appreciated his call and thought highly of the airport and its leaders. "It was a nice thing for him to do. And I'll just leave it at that."

Schueck said that he'd said nothing unpleasant publicly or privately about Raines, though he said he'd had a difference of opinion with Ron Mathieu, the airport director, on whether the choice would be solely Mathieu's to make (as Mathieu had announced from the beginning) or product of a Commission decision.

"It's absolutely untrue that I said anything to anybody. I was happy with him," Schueck said. Yes, he did call Raines. Yes, he called because he'd heard a story that Raines might have withdrawn because of something he'd reportedly said and he wanted to correct that impression. "He was not my favorite. But you don't always get what you want. I thought he was a wonderful candidate and would have made a great employee," Schueck said. He added that he told Raines that he was sure he could get an expression of unanimous support from the commission if that would make him feel more comfortable. But he said Raines told him he understood there was a split on the commision about the job and "didn't think he could work there under those conditions."

Well, OK. Then there was this. The same sources who indicated (correctly) that Schueck had called Raines about his decision to withdraw and that there'd been some sort of division on the matter also told me that Schueck might have had cause to be upset with Mathieu for not choosing his preferred candidate because he thought Mathieu owed him a favor. By one source's account, Schueck had made it possible for $40,000 to be contributed to Little Rock Christian Academy so it could repay the airport for the controversial $40,000 in airport ad dollars Mathieu had directed to the private school for a new football field surface. The airport got a sideline ad for the money. The matter became hotly controversial after the Arkansas Times uncovered it.

"Where do you keep coming up with those falsehoods?" Schueck asked.

That's not an answer to the question of whether Schueck had a role in providing the means for the airport to get its money back to help Mathieu out of the controversy.

"That's all been handled and I'm not going back into it," he said.

That's not a yes or no, I said.

"That's all been handled and I'm not going back into it," he said.

Well, OK then.

Schueck said, by the way, that I shouldn't take this as any indication of any problem between him and Mathieu. Families have occasional disagreements, he said, "but I'm a team player and I do what's best for the team."

Mathieu is now going to reconsider earlier applicants for the job and decide how to proceed, Commission Chairman Virgil Miller said. It's Mathieu's call, said Miller, who added, "He has the full support of the Commission."

Mark Raines, who was hired this week as the public relations person at Little Rock National Airport, has changed his mind and decided not to take the job, Airport Director Ron Mathieu has confirmed.

"After he signed and accepted," Mathieu said, Raines had second thoughts, and gave family issues as his reason to back out. Mathieu said he didn't probe further. Mathieu added that he hasn't decided on what his next step will be to fill the position. Raines won out over finalists Michael Keck, a former city director; Bryan Kulpin, who holds a similar position with the Reno/Tahoe Airport Authority; and Debbie Wilhite, a political consultant.

Raines, a resident of Cabot, was to have been paid $125,000 a year. After Raines' hiring was announced, City Manager Bruce Moore noted that it is a "requirement" of his that department heads and key staffers at City Hall be Little Rock residents, but he doesn't hire airport staff. Residency of city employees has been an issue in the ongoing city penny sales tax campaign.

I'm led to believe Little Rock National Airport will have an announcement today on a selection of a director of public affairs and government relations, a job that could pay up to $135,000.

We reported a while back the five finalists for the position.

Mark Raines, the former KTHV newsman who more recently has been a spokesman for Chesapeake Energy, is believed to be the front-runner for the job. Raines was an inaccessible and prickly spokesman for Chesapeake. If he is the choice, we'll soon learn if that was more a reflection of his employer than himself. The public arena is a different world, of course. Raines TV background was primarily as a producer and news director, not on-air, but becoming a "face" of the airport is part of his duties.

UPDATE: Airport Director Ron Mathieu confirms that Raines was hired today. He'll be paid $125,000 a year, which Mathieu said was less than he made at Chesapeake. Raines lives in Cabot. Residency of Little Rock employees has been an ongoing topic of discussion in the campaign for the city sales tax increase. There is no city ordinance requiring residency of employees, though City Manager Bruce Moore has said he encourages city residency by department heads. Mathieu said he and the airport's No. 2 both live in the city. If there were an ordinance requiring other employees to live in Little Rock, he said, the airport certainly would comply, but Raines' residence wasn't an issue in filling the job.

CLARIFICATION: City Manager Moore said it is a "requirement" of his that department heads and key staffers at City Hall be Little Rock residents. He doesn't hire airport staff.

Vision Airlines will discontinue its flights to Destin/Ft. Walton Beach on Nov. 2. It will add service to Orlando, Fla., this winter; no date was given in the press release.

Ron Mathieu, director of Little Rock National Airport, tells me he has narrowed to five the field of candidates for a new job at the airport — director of public relations and governmental affairs. The job will pay in the range of $90,000 to $135,000. As he explained it to me previously, this will return the airport to its previous staffing, with both a PR/govt. affairs person and a marketing/media relations person (TJ Williams holds that job.) One job had been pared with Philip Launius' retirement a few years ago, but it was decided the airport had sufficient work for two positions. The airport also has contracts for public relations and marketing work.

Four of the five (the fifth name is to come later today after she has notified employers that she's a finalist):

* Michael Keck, an employee of St. Vincent Health and a former member of the Little Rock Board of Directors.

* Bryan Kulpin, who holds a similar job with the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, somewhat larger than the Little Rock National Airport in terms of boardings.

* Mark Raines, the former KTHV news director who went into PR with Chesapeake Energy.

* Debbie Willhite, a Little Rock political consultant.

Resumes here.

UPDATE: The fifth candidate is Jennifer Hodges Reynolds, a lawyer and Sheridan native now working in Washington for the Inter-American Foundation. She's also worked in the White House and for Witt Associates.

They were winnowed from dozens of interested people. The interviews (with staff and commissioners) and selection by Mathieu is expected to be completed in August. Observation: An agency looking for a friendly public face would be better served by some in this group than by others.

Little Rock National Airport has opened its cell phone lot, a boon for folks who want to pick up friends from the airport without having to pay parking fees.

The lot is in the former Aerospace Museum parking area; four directional signs to the lot have been erected. The plan was met with some resistance from airport staff initially as being unnecessary — (read: free) — but the Airport Commission prevailed, approving the plan in April. The airport has spent $21,000 refurbishing the area.

The cell phone lot will be patrolled daily by both police and airport staff.

I mentioned the other day that Little Rock Airport Commissioner Tom Schueck had held up routine extension of the Little Rock National Airport's $100,000-a-year lobbying contract with Witt Associates, James Lee Witt's government consulting firm. He was unhappy that the airport had been unable to defeat state legislation that blocked an airport fee increase for the private Security Parking concession. The law will produce a cut in fees collected from the parking deck.

Witt Associates added Ron Fuller, a former Republican legislator, to their team for airport work because of the heavy Republican forces assembled by Security Parking, whose bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson.

Only Schueck dissented on the renewal of the contract at the regular Commission meeting today. Other commissioners defended Witt's work and said all at the airport shared in factors that contributed to passage of the legislation. It was hardly a Republican-only victory. The bill was opposed by only one senator and a handful of representatives in a legislature that remains majority Democratic. Some commissioners acknowledged that the airport had a larger public relations problem — presumably on account of reporting about some questionable airport expenditures in the last year.