Quorum Court candidates discuss issues facing the county

Two Republicans to face off for District 10 seat

Editor’s note: This is the third in a multipart series looking at contested local races in the May 22 primary. Each installment, running Sundays until the primary, will look at a different race in Union County or El Dorado. Remember to check News-Times editions throughout May for more information on the primary elections and what voters can expect to see on their ballots!

Two Republicans, Bret Garrett and Donald Brock, will face off in the May 22 primary for District 10’s Justice of the Peace’s seat on the Union County Quorum Court.

The Quorum Court is a legislative body, whose duties include levying taxes and appropriating funds. Currently, the District 10 seat is held by Cliff Preston. Preston is not seeking re-election, instead running for the Union County judge position.

In separate interviews, the two candidates highlighted issues that are important to them and described how they would address those issues if elected.

Both candidates cited economic development as being important to them. Garrett said investing in workforce training would be a large part of a drive towards industrial recruitment.

“Part of the jobs issue is retraining and making sure that we have the facilities here to train our employees. That’s a big part of keeping people working and putting people to work, too, is education and training and what support the county can give to those training programs, we need to,” Garrett said. He cited SouthArk’s new Advanced Manufacturing Training Center as an example of the sort of programs he is referring to.

Garrett also said he thinks someone in the county government should work with the County Judge to focus on economic development and recruitment. He said specifically, he would like to see a new poultry processing plant in Union County.

“I would love to see the poultry industry back. … It just would be a huge economic benefit, provide lots of jobs,” he said.

Brock was coy about specific ideas for economic development, saying he didn’t want to reveal his ideas at this time. He did say the county should be working hard to recruit industry to Union County, especially higher-wage jobs.

“Anything we can do, and if it involves tax incentives for someone else to come in, … if we can make a deal to get more jobs here, we’re going to have more people coming,” Brock said. He noted that tax incentives could only be offered if the county could depend on recouping the lost revenue from the increased economic activity.

“I’m not sure [the Quorum Court] can just pass an ordinance and solve the problem, no, but I think that we can work with industries, businesses and make a difference,” Brock said.

A related issue for Brock was a lack of avenues for transportation. He said he has talked to truck drivers who said they didn’t like leaving the interstate when they travelled to Union County. He said recent improvements on Highway 167 North and South have improved the problem, but that maybe more could be done.

“Business depends on getting products in and out in an efficient manner,” Brock said.

One issue Garrett said he would be interested in looking in to, if elected, is the privatization of Union County’s waste collection system. He said if it could be determined that a private company could produce the same results as the city in quality of service, it would be a proposal worth looking in to, because it could save the county residents money.

“Typically the private industry can do the job more [reasonably] than the government can. … I’ve not had any complaints about waste collection, and I certainly wouldn’t want to mess that up, so, if it was privatized, quality would have to be top for that company that did the business,” he said.

One of Garrett’s platforms is “good stewardship” of taxpayer money. He said if the Quorum Court works closely with the County Judge to evaluate current spending, they might be able to identify inefficiency and eliminate it.

“Unless you focus on it, unless you spend time looking at the details of it, its probably hard to just pick out visually,” he said.

Garrett said he would like to look through the budget, starting with line items with the highest dollar amount, to see where each

dollar is being spent and whether any of that money could be saved.

They would work down through each line item, he said, until every dollar has been accounted for.

As a former commissioner on the Water and Sewer Commission, which was dissolved by the El Dorado City Council last year, Garrett said it’s important to him to serve his constituents equally.

He said that is what he endeavored to do on the Commission, and that is what he will continue to do

if elected.

“We need to make sure we create and sustain an environment of benefiting the most of the people, not the individual. And that’s something that I definitely am a proponent of,” Garrett said.

Brock said that if he’s elected one of his major focuses would be transparency.

He intends to set up a phone line that will serve the exclusive purpose of being an open line of communication between him and his constituents.

The phone number will be publicized so that anyone can call him any time to express concerns.

“I want to make myself

available so that I can address the issues and problems that come up in the district. … I want the voters to know everything there is to know,” Brock said.

He also mentioned trash dumping in the county as an issue he would like to address if elected.

He said his phone line will allow residents in the county to immediately report litter and junk they see dumped so that is can be dealt with in a timely manner.

“I also plan on encouraging religious, civic and other volunteer groups to adopt sections of county roads to help keep them clean,” Brock said.

Both candidates said they looked to Ronald Reagan as a role model for a public servant. Garrett said that he thinks the people of Union County vote based on the best candidate for the job rather than along partisan lines.

Brock said that he doesn’t see partisan politics coming into play too much at the local level, and that it’s important to work as a team for the citizens of the county.

“There’s no Republican or Democratic way to fill a pothole,” Brock said.