District 14 candidates talk about budget

FAYETTEVILLE — Jim Wilson, a Republican, is running against Ann Harbison, the incumbent and a Democrat, for the District 14 seat on the Washington County Quorum Court.

Harbison said she is running for an eighth, two-year term because she has some uncompleted projects and she wants to make sure some experienced justices of the peace continue on the Quorum Court. About one-third of the 15 seats will be filled with newcomers in January.

District 14 encompasses a large swath of the south central part of the county.

Harbison wants to make sure 40 percent of the county’s one-cent sales tax stays dedicated to the Road Department, she said.

“Some of these county roads get to where they are virtually impassable,” she said. “We need to make sure they are up to standards.”

Wilson is running because he believes he can solve the county’s budget problems without raising taxes, he said. He doesn’t have any experience in elected office but points to his accounting education and management

and budget experience.

Wilson spent 13 years in the operations departments of two local banks. He spent almost three years as Gov. Mike Huckabee’s director of boards and commissions appointments. He then served as chief of staff to Fay Boozman at the Arkansas Department of Health. When he retired in 2017, he was supervisor for six county offices in the Department of Health.

Neither candidate is in favor of a sales tax or millage increase.

Wilson said he’s unaware of any particular area where the county is overspending

but thinks it needs to look at how much and why money is leftover in departments at the end of the year.

“It could be that we are over budgeting in certain areas,” he said. “I’ve been on the sidelines, and until you are in the battle itself, your opinion doesn’t mean much. I want to dig in to it if elected.”

Harbison said some people think the Road Department has excess money, but that is not the case. The department has money for ongoing projects and may have to contract some work because of the workload, she said.

“None of that money needs to go to the general fund,” Harbison said. “If there is one thing that can improve the economy of a whole county, it is to have good roads. Transportation is important.”

She also wants to find more money for Ozark Regional Transit. The county cut $100,000 from transit funding last November.

The crowded county jail is another area that needs focus, Harbison said.

She would like the court to work with judges and prosecutors to look for creative solutions before asking voters to consider a sales tax increase to expand the jail. She said, for example, at least 50 percent of people awaiting trial could wear an ankle bracelet rather than be in jail.

Wilson thinks the court needs to look into all the possible alternatives to deal with the jail problem, he said.

“I’ve heard a variety of options,” he said, “including a regional option, which I feel has been unduly rejected.”

Justices of the peace serve two-year terms and are paid $200 per meeting.

The election is Nov. 6. Early voting begins Monday.