County panel split on transit money request

FAYETTEVILLE — Washington County justices of the peace split Tuesday over a request to spend more money on public transit.

The Quorum Court’s Finance and Budget Committee heard a presentation from Joel Gardner, executive director of Ozark Regional Transit, seeking more money for the transit service from the local governments that partially fund it. Most of the money for the transit service comes from state and federal sources.

Gardner said he has already spoken to city councils in Fayetteville and Springdale. He said he’ll make his pitch to Rogers officials Wednesday and speak to officials in Bentonville and Benton County’s Quorum Court in a couple of weeks.

Gardner said the transit service needs to increase the pay of its drivers so it can retain people once they’re trained and qualified. Drivers for ORT are paid $10.50 per hour and Gardner said he needs to increase that by at least $3 an hour and is asking local governments to support a plan to reach the goal over three years.

Andrea Jenkins, justice of the peace for District 10 in the Farmington area, said she supported the increase. Jenkins is a school teacher and bus driver.

“I would never work for that amount of money,” she said. “When you have people’s lives in your hands you deserve more than that.”

Gardner said transit drivers are leaving to drive trucks hauling rocks and dirt because they are paid more. At one point he told the justices of the peace ORT pays for drivers to obtain their commercial driver’s license and asks they stay at least six months before leaving.

Gardner said Washington County is paying the transit service $22,970 and the first year increase to support the higher hourly wage would be

$5,777.

Eva Madison, justice of the peace for District 9 in Fayetteville, made a motion to support the increase and take the additional money from Road Department reserve.

Several justices of the peace opposed taking money from the Road Department.

“The input I get from folks in the rural areas is they need roads,” Butch Pond, justice of the peace for district 15 in eastern Washington County said during the discussion on the motion. “Folks representing the cities think they’re doing rural people a favor by voting them buses on roads they shouldn’t even be on.”

The justices of the peace rejected Madison’s motion, with five voting in favor of it and seven voting against.

Gardner asked if he could return and several justices of the peace asked him to come back and provide more detailed information on ridership in the rural areas and on the number of people denied transportation when the transit operation is unable to fulfill requests for service.

Gardner said the increase in pay for drivers is critical and the transit service will find a way to make it happen. Without an increase, he said, the minimum wage will outstrip the operators pay in the next year and a half.

“I am bound and determined to see that our operators get an increase,” he said. “It will happen either through support or through cutting.”