→ Early voting started 10/21/24. As of Friday, 10/25/24, 22% of the registered voters in Washington County had already voted and 2,375 more voted Saturday.
→ Thank you to everyone who has written to me or called me about the zoning proposal. I love getting your questions and hearing from you. I am learning a lot from you and the information you provide. I’ve been getting lots of letters from Washington County people and that’s great. Keep them all coming. It doesn’t have to be about the new zoning rules. Please contact me with anything you need to know about the county and I will try to get you answers. You do not have to live in my District 9!
To the person who contacted me about the recycling issue, I am still working on that.
______________________________________________________________________
🌟 Washington County Judge has cut or wants to cut funding for the HIV Clinic in Washington County for 2025. (We’ve already appropriated funding for all of 2024) Here’s the report from 5NEWS who asked the judge if the county has provided alternative resources for the current patients. He replied with the following statement:
"Our county operations, as I am sure taxpayers can appreciate with their own personal budgets, have seen dramatic inflationary cost increases over the past few years. This has placed enormous pressure on our finite taxpayer funds. We are faced with the stark reality of making difficult financial decisions to ensure that we are meeting our constitutional and statutory obligations to the citizens of Washington County."
"After careful assessment of our priorities now and into the future, and after demands for significant additional financial commitments, Washington County made the difficult decision to end our partnership with the Northwest Arkansas HIV Clinic. We celebrate their years of dedication and success and wish the organization success with their future plans!”
I have reached out through FOIA to the county judge and the deputy county attorney.
The budget for the HIV Clinic for 2024 was $193,389.80. Our projected 2025 budget for Washington County is over $125MILLION.
This should be a decision for the quorum court, not the county judge or anyone else. He can suggest it, but we, the court, should be voting on it.
______________________________________________________________________
🌟 I have also been informed that the budget for the Washington County Legal Help Desk at the Historic Courthouse on Friday mornings has been defunded. Again, this is a quorum court matter, not the county judge or anyone else. We should be voting on this, too.
I hope to have more on the HIV Clinic and the Legal Help Desk next week.
______________________________________________________________________
ONE COUNTY MEETING POSTED FOR THIS WEEK AS OF 10/27/24 1:31 PM:
Washington County ZBA and Planning Board meets Thursday, 10/31/24 at 5:00 PM, Washington County Courthouse, 280 N. College, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Please note that due to early voting in the quorum court room, the Planning Board will meet in Room 115, First Floor. This is an in-person meeting only which is live streamed on the county’s YouTube Channel.
Here’s the agenda and my summary:
A. Janice Hyde Variance 18524 S Hwy 71, Winslow, Arkansas.
B. Pleasure Heights Church Conditional Use Permit (CUP) Request for Earthplan Design Alternatives-EDA, 17405 Pleasure Heights Road, Springdale, Arkansas. Proposed use: Church
C. Billy Peoples Minor Subdivision Land Development Hearing. Applicant Taylor McBridge, 14323 N Wedington Blacktop (WC 33), Lincoln, Arkansas. Proposed use: Single-family residential.
D. Carney Minor Subdivision Land Development Request. Applicant Bates & Associates, 10221 S Jackson Hwy WC 669, Lincoln, Arkansas. Proposed use: Single- family residential.
E. Allen Meadow Estates Preliminary Subdivision Request. Applicant Dan Cole, Sand Creek Engineering and Land Surveying, 18550 Harmon Road, WC 31, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Proposed use: Single-family residential.
F. Other Business:
Discussion of Current Development & Planning Dept. Activities
Reminder of upcoming regular Planning Board Meetings
_______________________________________________________________________
THIS NEWSLETTER CONTAINS IMPORTANT LINKS:
Proposed New Zoning Ordinance. Compare the old with the new.
Link to “Easy Read” STEP Plan. Budget Control Requests. Quorum Court Budget Discussion 9/10/24.
2025 Budget “Talking Points” as shared with all JPs.
Planning Board Meeting agenda.
_______________________________________________________________________
🌟 NEW ZONING LAWS: The zoning ordinance should be on the agenda for Tuesday, 11/12/24 at 6:00 PM. I say “should,” because I won’t know for sure until the agenda comes out on the Friday before. That’s when we next meet in a combined County Services and Finance & Budget meeting. This is the most up-to-date copy I have.
___________________________________________________________________
🌟 HERE ARE LINKS TO 2025 BUDGET DOCUMENTS:
Washington County’s 2025 Proposed Budget (with STEP Plan). Link to “Easy Read” STEP Plan. Budget Control Requests. Quorum Court Budget Discussion 9/10/24.
Item 6.6 is the 2025 Proposed Budget (without STEP Plan).
2025 Budget “Talking Points” as shared with all JPs.
There are links at the bottom of the spreadsheet with departmental budgets and other information. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. The budget as proposed is a huge increase from 2024.
________________________________________________________________
🌟 DETENTION CENTER INFORMATION 10/22/24
As of 10/22/24, there are at least 743 people locked away in our Washington County Detention Center. Most of those are pretrial - meaning they’ve been arrested and/or charged, but have not been found guilty. 73 of those people are listed as being homeless or unsheltered. The unsheltered population consists mostly of young people in their 20s, 30s or 40s, up to 50.
Most of the people in our jail are “pre-trial” which means they’ve been arrested and/or charged, but are awaiting trial or their day in court. They have not been convicted. 125 of the 743 people in our jail have bonds under $10K.
I’ve downloaded an Excel spreadsheet with jail data that you can play around with the data and learn more about the people that are locked in the jail today.
Here’s the link to the Detailed Charge Report:
You can check the “Calls for Service” board here.
READ AND STUDY THE 2020 CRIMINAL JUSTICE ASSESSMENT STUDY PREPARED BY THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTS HERE. READ AND LEARN WHY WE DO NOT NEED TO SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON JAIL EXPANSIONS TO KEEP OUR COMMUNITIES SAFE!
_______________________________________________________________________
COUNTY BID POSTINGS 10/27/24
🌟 No new bid/RFP postings this week. Here’s the link to current RFQs and bids:
_______________________________________________________________________
COUNTY JOB OPENINGS THIS WEEK (10/27/24)
Here’s a link to the current job postings:
_______________________________________________________________________
🌟 WANT TO BECOME INVOLVED?🌟
ATTEND AS MANY MEETINGS OF THE QUORUM COURT AND ITS SUBCOMMITTEES AS YOU CAN. CHECK MY WEBSITE WWW.BETHCOGER.COM FOR DATES AND TIMES.
CONTACT JUDGE DEAKINS AND TELL HIM YOU WANT OUR CRISIS STABILIZATION UNIT TO REOPEN AND ASK HIM TO GET TO WORK ON FINDING ANOTHER VENDOR BECAUSE WE CAN DO HARD THINGS.
Continue to ask Judge Deakins to appoint members to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee and get that group up and running! This is too important. If you haven’t called, please do so, or send email, or go by the courthouse and speak to the judge in person. WHAT’S NEXT? WHY WON’T JUDGE DEAKINS APPOINT MEMBERS AND ACTIVATE THIS COMMITTEE AND LET IT GET TO WORK? ASK HIM.
Contact your JP and set up a time to meet them for coffee or just to get together. Become a regular voice in their ear and urge them to support criminal justice reform and be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. That’s how I got started advocating to the court back in 2019. CAN YOU TAKE AN HOUR OR TWO AND MEET WITH YOUR JP AND SHARE YOUR CONCERNS OR COMMENTS, OR WHATEVER YOUR THOUGHTS ARE.
Share this Newsletter with your friends and neighbors!
Write letters to the editor. letters@nwadg.com
Do you have a court date in Benton or Washington County? Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition (AJRC) has a program to train volunteers to offer practical, procedural, and emotional support during your court hearing. From a reassuring check-in before your court date, to standing by your side on the day of court. Everyone deserves to be heard, supported, and understood.
To request a Court Support Volunteer, please fill out the Courtside Support Request Form. Questions? Concerns? Reach out to us at arkansasjusticereform@gmail.org.
To become a volunteer, contact AJRC at 479-345-1150 or the above email. They provide training that will help make you become a great Court Support Volunteer.
Here’s how you can contact your county officials. We need to hear from you!!
Yorumlar