BENTON COUNTY JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, DISTRICT 10
Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008
Westby
Candidate: Michelle Blaty
Background: Homemaker; Bella Vista resident; married, has two children; secretary, Bella Vista Republican Women; member, Benton County Republican Committee; associate’s degree from Mount San Antonio College.
Candidate: Carole Westby
Background: Retiree; former secretary, Northwest Arkansas Community College; Bella Vista residence; licensed real-estate broker; treasurer, Benton County Democratic Central Committee; two years of college.
Question: What would you like to accomplish on your time on the Quorum Court ?
Blaty: Upholding my oath that I would take, being an elected official, and being a true representative to the constituents of District 10 and really listening to what they want done. Back in 2007, the Quorum Court had this wonderful plan that they had written up where they would have a place on the Web site to have constituent comments and more town-hall meetings. I think that’s really important. I would like to see that implemented. I don’t know if you’ve gone to the county Web site, but May’s agenda is still up there. More interaction with the constituency (is needed ). I would like to see that plan really implemented.
Westby: I want to preserve the environmental and nuisance ordinances and the requirement of permitting and inspections. I also think that we need to work on some sort of adjustment where the county presently seems to be involved in putting in some infrastructure improvements and what-not for projects that are going on in larger subdivisions and things. That’s probably slowing down because of the economy and everything, but in the past they’ve had situations where they put in some of the infrastructure improvements for the subdivisions, and then after the subdivision started to create tax revenue, the city would annex them in, and it left the county burdened with making these monies and then losing the tax revenues. So there should be some correction of that. That’s something to be addressed.
Question: What is your opinion on zoning / land use overall and how it relates to your district ?
Blaty: I know that we need to be really careful when it comes to zoning and plan use. And I’m willing to do all the research into this. I’ve done some. I know that, in certain counties, … (in ) Virginia, for example, zoning really impacted small farmers and basically, when the big farms came in, then the small farms were pushed out because they couldn’t make any more money. So I think we just need to be very careful. It needs to be farm friendly. It needs to be property-rights friendly. Careful is how it needs to be handled. But I definitely am in favor of researching both pro and con for whatever the county wants to do. In my opinion, zoning has the capability of creating another layer of government that could create formal laws that would actually govern people’s behavior, which is why I think we need to be so careful with it. And we need to determine, really, how much more government we want to impose on the people. And if we rezone, we need to make sure it’s responsible zoning.
Westby: In my district, it is well protected, one would assume. However, I had this experience when I was growing up where water from the big spring in Bella Vista — which later was that area where they call it the trout farm, which was a nice source of pure water, 2 million gallons a day — all of a sudden had chunks coming out of it into the faucet. My mother opened the faucet and stuff came out. And it turned out that this was Kraft Foods. This was back in the ’ 40 s. (They ) had taken their waste products, after they had made their cheese, and put it in a sinkhole three miles east of Bentonville. So that material had gotten into ground water and come out in a spring in Bella Vista, about five miles away as the crow flies. So I learned real early that what you do on your land doesn’t stay on your land. And for that reason I think that even though Bella Vista is well protected, with its own covenants and laws and what-not, that areas away from Bella Vista could affect the lakes and those areas there, as well. So I think we have to have some control, watchdog, over the entire unincorporated areas, as well as a purview that the cities have.
Question: Why do you think you are the most qualified to serve as JP in your district ?
Blaty: Because I am willing to put in the hours for research. I’m willing to read the state legislation that we have to abide by. I’m willing to read the federal legislation that we have to abide by. And that’s a daunting task. And I’m willing to listen to my constituents. And it wouldn’t be about what I wanted to change or not change per se. It’s about what my constituents want to change or not change, because I would be elected as the representative.
Westby: Well, for many years I’ve cared about that particular area of land that was my home, growing up, and my family’s money-making — that was their career, the old Bella Vista Resort. So I’ve always had an appreciation for what you had to do to maintain it, make it attractive, protect the situation for the animals and the people and the businesses. All of those have standing. But we need to — from my stand point; coming back to live in Bella Vista after all those years away was very much a desire on my part. I never really wanted to leave, and I was very happy to come back. So I live in an unincorporated area, and I understand the problems that face people in those areas as well. So even though I’d be representing one district, I think that all the members of the Quorum Court have to take in the entire population when they make their considerations.
Question: What are the biggest problems facing Benton County government in the future ? What are your suggestions to deal with them ?
Blaty: With the economy’s problem right now, I think it’s going to be budget. To deal with it, we cannot spend outside of our means.
Westby: I think reduced revenues because of, for instance, Bella Vista becoming a city, is a serious difficulty for them. And I do not have an answer at this point. I have not studied the budget because up until six months ago I wasn’t expecting to be involved in the budget. I’ve been awfully busy in some other things that involve county organizations and what-not. So I just had not taken the time to really look at the situation. As I’ve been sitting in on meetings, since I realized I wanted to run to save the seat for, well, I wanted to save the seat. I wanted to win. Then, going to the meetings, I’m becoming more familiar with the issues. And I think that I’m fiscally a conservative. I live a lifestyle that says that. I’ve never had an electric bill over $ 38. And I think I know enough, care enough, about trying to conserve things — money being one and energy being the other — that I think that I’ll be able to find some places there that might be able to help. And it’s not one single thing that’s going to do it. It’s probably going to be many situations, looking and saying, “ Do we already have something here that we can use ?” instead of just going out and saying, “ Well, I don’t know where this is. Let’s buy something. ”
Question: What can the county do to help citizens of Benton County during the economic downturn ?
Blaty: I will have to research that. I don’t know, technically, what county government can do — well, besides lowering taxes. I definitely favor lower taxes.
Westby: Well, the ordinances that they have in place now, with regard to planning and permits and environmental nuisances and what-not, all those have multiple facets. They are safety issues. They have economic preservation benefits, as well, come with them. So I think that by sticking with what they have adopted and continuing along those lines, people’s economic security in their property can be preserved. If we get rid of those ordinances and let people do what they want to do, then you’ve got someone who moves (in ) who uses their land adjacent to yours in an unattractive way. … There are kind of safe things, you know ? Places where (there ) becomes an attractive hazard. Kids play in some place, and then someone gets hurt and what-not. People don’t like to have that in proximity to their home because it might be their kids that go around there and do that and get hurt and what-not. So those ordinances, and they’re actually following through on them, are really beneficial to people. But the need to understand that, I think, may be educating people to the value of the existing ordinances; the planning for zoning is something that I think we probably need to get a little background on.
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