I’m getting so much positive feedback about my “rogueness” since JP Lisa Ecke, District 6, called me “The Rogue JP,” that I’m going with it. If you want more background, watch this video starting at 1:01:06.
FIRST LET’S DO A BRIEF RECAP OF LAST WEEK’S HAPPENINGS
Watch the complete 3+ hour video of the June Washington County Quorum Court meeting. It’s a great lesson for “When people show you who they really are, believe them.”
These JPs voted YES FOR SPENDING $100,000.00 of your taxpayer dollars to hire outside attorneys to fight a lawsuit filed against the county by Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition: JP David Wilson, JP Sean Simons, JP Ed Bowerman, JP Lisa Ecke, JP Charles Dean, JP Robert Dennis, JP Willie Leming, JP Gary Ricker and JP Butch Pond. The discussion starts at 3:05:41 in the video when JP Coleman Taylor does an excellent job of speaking truth to power.
These JPs said NO! to spend the $100K when we have two of the highest paid county attorneys in the state on our payroll already: JP Coleman Taylor, JP Beth Coger, JP Suki Highers and JP Evelyn Rios Stafford.
You can read the AJRC v. Washington County federal court complaint and learn more.
My resolution in support of the NWA Community Correction Center passed, but only after JP Lisa Ecke made an amendment that was not necessary and she even tried to get my resolution sent back to committee. JP Ecke’s amendment was to add language commending the “Christian community values” and “sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.” She got the amendment passed, but I don’t think she got the response she thought she’d get. This starts at 1:30:20 in the video. Many of the community members who had asked me to carry the resolution were not happy with the amendment because it excludes other faiths.
The terrible State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) grant was approved again. SCAAP is the program sponsored by the Department of Justice that pays the county to hold what it refers to as “undocumented criminal aliens.” This was the FY2024 grant which just opened three weeks ago and the grant period doesn’t close until 7/29/24. The amount cited in the ordinance is only an estimate. Why the rush? Community members almost got this grant killed last time, and because we came so close to doing that, I think some people in county government were worried that we'd be successful next time, and they thought getting this out of the way so early as the means to cut down on the public "interference." That's just my personal opinion. I could be wrong.
This SCAAP grant award is usually announced in the fall, October or November. Maybe some JPs don’t want to be seen as voting, so close to the general election, in support of a program that harms our immigrant community. Some JPs have opponents. Learn more about SCAAP here.
Three conditional use permits were approved (1) Schlinker Wedding and Event Venue, 1558 Eldridge Road; (2) Belle Vue Venue and Grounds, 11482 Abilene Road; and (3) Round Mountain Fire Department Substation, 16333 Wyman Road.
→ WASHINGTON COUNTY JOBS EVALUATION SALARY ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM (JESAP) meets tomorrow 6/24/24, 3:30 PM, WASHINGTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE. I’ll be there. Come join me. Here’s the agenda for that meeting and also the minutes from the April meeting. Unfortunately the county does not livestream JESAP meetings and only makes an audio recording of the meeting. That’s public record and anyone can request a copy of the meeting audio. If you’d like to know how to do that, contact me and I’ll take you through it step by step.
Some Highlights from Agenda:
1. Request from the Prosecuting Attorney to create two Victim Assistance Coordinator positions for the 2025 budget valued at a grade 12.
2. Request from the Judge’s office to approve the re-grade of the Planning Director position from a 20 to a 24 with promotional pay request starting effective July 1, 2024 at the 1st quartile.
→ WASHINGTON COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION MEETS TUESDAY 6/25/24, 9:00 AM AT 2615 BRINK DRIVE, (ROAD DEPARTMENT BUILDING), FAYETTEVILLE. See agenda below:
Upcoming Meeting and Election Dates:
a. June/July: General Election Overview: Early Vote and Election Day Sitesb. July 31st: Filing begins Municipal Candidatesc. August 7th: Filing ends Municipal Candidatesd. August 22nd : State Certifies list of Candidatese. August 23rd: Ballot Draw: 9:00f. August 27th: Deadline for Special Elections to be held with the General Electiong. August 28th: Ballot Approval @ 1:00h. September 19th: Absentee Ballots due to County ClerkMeetings are live-streamed on the County Election Commission’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpX-GrzfCvEF0PszfEr6V3Q
DETENTION CENTER INFORMATION 6/23/24
As of 6/22/24, there are 759 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. This week 97 of those people are homeless. There are 258 Failure to Appear charges; 246 “holds for other departments”; and 63 “courtesy/contract holds.”
Here’s the link to the Detailed Charge Report:
NEW COUNTY BID POSTINGS
🌟 We have two new bids up this week. Here’s the one for outfitting of Sheriff Office vehicles. And here you can read about the Textured Bituminous Mastic Surface Treatment Bid. Please share if you think you might know someone who’s interested in bidding.
COUNTY JOB OPENINGS THIS WEEK (6/23/24)
There you’ll be able to complete an online application, see salary ranges and more.
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THINGS TO KNOW AND THINGS TO DO:
→ THE PETITIONS TO SAVE TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT AND SEVERAL OTHER BALLOT INITIATIVES ARE DUE JULY 5TH, SO TIME IS SHORT. We’ll be working extra hard this week and the next. PLEASE SIGN IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, AND PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS TO SIGN. I will be collecting signatures each Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm in the parking lot at 224 N East Avenue, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Fayetteville. Want to know more?
PLEASE go to YouTube and sign up for Washington County’s YouTube channel. Subscribe and be informed. You can do that here: https://www.youtube.com/@washcoar
There are now 791 subscribers and we need everyone in Washington County to subscribe and watch the meetings. Only 169 have viewed last week’s quorum court meeting.
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