Pair of candidates face off for open District 4 position

SPRINGDALE — Republican Bill Ussery faces Kenny Arredondo-Loyola, a Democrat, in the race for justice of the peace for District 4 on the Washington County Quorum Court.

District 4 covers east-central Springdale. Judith Yanez, the incumbent justice of the peace, chose not to run for reelection.

Justices of the peace serve two-year terms. The Washington County Quorum Court is made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats.

Justices of the peace are paid $200 per diem on days they attend Quorum Court or committee meetings.

Election Day is Nov. 3. Early voting begins Oct. 19 and runs through Nov. 2. A voter may request an absentee ballot application by contacting the county clerk in the county where the voter is registered, according to the Arkansas Secretary of State website. Voters may download the application from the county websites.

The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette emailed the same questions to the candidates. Candidates were limited to 200 words per answer.

Arredondo-Loyola declined to participate or provide biographical information when contacted by phone.

Question: Why did you decide to run for justice of the peace and what makes you the best candidate for the position?

Ussery: I am running for justice of the peace to finish what I started in my last term as justice of the peace. I wish to serve the people of Washington County by doing all I can to keep and improve the quality of life we currently have here. I have six years successful experience on the Quorum Court and know the hard work it takes to get this job done. I am a firm believer that kindness matters.

Question: What area of county government are you most interested in and what specific plans or goals do you have in that area?

Ussery: I am most interested in supporting the sheriff and law enforcement. We currently have too many folks in the pretrial area. We need to come up with creative ways to speed this up. Keeping the budget in line is a major responsibility for Quorum Court that I have worked hard on in the past and will continue these efforts if elected. We also have some issues with the planning department from time to time that can use some creative reform.

Question: County Treasurer Bobby Hill is projecting a drop of about $1 million in Washington County’s share of the revenue from the countywide 1% sales tax after the results of the 2020 census are in. How can the Quorum Court deal with that drop in revenue while maintaining services?

Ussery: Due to the 2020 Census, the county will lose funding as the tax money is divided based on the population that lives in the cities versus in the county. While the county will lose about $1 million, at the moment, it looks like a portion of this will be recouped through higher tax collection. Due to covid-19 and changing life styles, the taxes from the internet sales has helped keep tax collection up. The remaining deficit will need to made up by reducing spending, some of which has already occurred this year due to the effect of the covid-19 pandemic.

Question: The Quorum Court has been discussing an ongoing problem with overcrowding at the Washington County Detention Center. A study recently commissioned by the Quorum Court offers some recommendations on ways to address the problem. What do you think the county should do to better manage the population at the detention center?

Ussery: Our jail has been overcrowded until the recent covid-19 crisis. The jail population has been greatly reduced due to this. The overcrowding issue is related to the amount of time we must hold prisoners before they come to trial. There needs to be better communication and collaboration between the various stakeholders in the pretrial process. Currently there are different agencies using different methods making the process more time consuming.

The study indicated we needed to move to data-driven decision making and evidence-based practices. This can be done with proper guidance and training. It will take all of the stakeholders sitting down and coming up with a way to all use the same systems along with a collective path to us using the most up to date methods.

The other suggestion from this study was to consider making the county jail a regional jail. We have the property available. This may be the best option for all of Northwest Arkansas.