At Edwards' first meeting, Quorum Court votes to meet earlier
Posted on Wednesday, January 7, 2009
New Washington County Judge Marilyn Edwards presided over her first Quorum Court meeting Monday night, which was the statutorily required organizational meeting of the new court after the election.
By law, the meeting has to be conducted at the beginning of each new Quorum Court term.
Edwards replaces Jerry Hunton, who ser ved a decade as county judge. She read a letter thanking the people of the county for the chance to serve as county judge.
"Though we have a lot on our plate with the building of the new deck, the renovation of the old courthouse and the refurbishing of the Terminella Building, we are living in times of great economic uncertainty and will need to be even better stewards of the taxpayer's money as the country works it way through this time of crisis," she read.
In a key move, the court approved an ordinance amending county code to provide that the regular meetings of the Quorum Court start at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month. The ordinance was brought to the court by Justice of the Peace Micah Neal, at the request of Edwards.
Justice of the Peace Ann Harbison voiced concerns about the change.
"I really want to know why we're doing this," she said, adding that she believes making the time earlier could restrict public participation.
"I've had real concerns about public participation," she said.
She said she would vote against the change unless she could be given a "real good reason" to move the time.
Edwards said she felt the time change would promote more public involvement because people could arrive at the meetings directly from work before going home for the evening. Once people get home from work, she said, they are ready to relax and not leave home again.
Justice of the Peace Tom Lundstr um, who voted against the ordinance, said a lot of people do not get off work until after 5 p.m. Combine that with traffic and parking difficulties at the courthouse, he said, and it could restrict public participation in the meetings.
It was noted by Justice of the Peace Steve Zega and Harbison that most people attend meetings only if there is a particular issue in which they are interested.
Zega said committee meetings are conducted at 4:45 p.m. and are already hard to make for Springdale and western county residents. He also said the 6 p.m. meeting time would make the social gathering prior to the Quorum Court meeting go "out the window."
Still, he said, "I would rather get the meeting over earlier." He said he just wants people to understand there were reasons for placing the meeting at 7 p.m.
He noted that county employees often attend the meetings and the new time would allow them to go home an hour earlier to their families.
He said it is "at least an experiment worth trying."
Justice of the Peace Barbara Fitzpatrick also said she would be willing to try the experiment. Justice of the Peace Butch Pond said that he thinks Edwards would be willing to change it back to 7 p.m. if there was enough public input.
Pond said he thinks the new time will be more convenient for a lot of people.
Justice of the Peace Candy Clark suggested placing controversial issues on the last part of the agenda for people who may be running late.
Justice of the Peace Jack Norton said, "I'd be willing to try it."
Edwards also reviewed committee assignments and introduced the new county administrator, Dan Short, to the Quorum Court, among other things.
Named as chairman of the finance committee was Zega, who had served as vice chairman under former Justice of the Peace H.L. Goodwin Jr.
Neal will serve as chairman of the personnel committee, while new Justice of the Peace Gary Carnahan will chair the public works committee.
Here are the other chairmen:
· County services - Norton
· Jail/law enforcement/ courts - Justice of the Peace Mary Ann Spears
· Legislative affairs - Zega and Neal, co-chairmen
In another matter, acting on a nomination from Zega, the court selected Neal as the representative to serve on the Arkansas Association of Quor um Cour ts for the 2009-10 term. Former Justice of the Peace Jessie Bryant had been the Quorum Court's representative.
The justices of the peace approved an ordinance to continue conducting business with Gary Davis, doing business as Cardinal Printing. He is the son-inlaw of Edwards. The company has done business with the county for several years.
Zega said Davis does a quality job for the county.
In other business, the Quorum Court approved a request from Edwards to confirm reappointments of Randy Laney and Larry Walker to the Washington County Planning Board.
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