Lincoln Residents Running For Justice Of The Peace

Winner To Face Aman In November

LINCOLN — Two long-time Lincoln residents stepped up to represent an incumbent free district as Democrats for the May 22 primary race for justice of the peace.

Both candidates have extensive background in working public jobs. Boyce Davis, an attorney, represented Prairie Grove and Lincoln for more than 30 years, he said. Rhonda Hulse, currently a grants administrator for the city of Lincoln, has worked for the city, Washington County and

Davis

Hulse the Lincoln School District for more than a combined 18 years, she said.

They both live in Washington County District 13, one of the largest districts that covers a vast rural western area, Lincoln and now Prairie Grove. Prairie Grove was added into the district by the Washington County Election Commission after last year’s redistricting. That process put Justice of the Peace Rick Cochran, who currently represents Lincoln, into a different district.

“I think mainly

people who live far from the county seat ( in Fayetteville) are more concerned with quality law enforcement and county roads,” Davis said. “I think that’s the forefront of their concern because of the remoteness from the county seat. I haven’t heard complaints about either. I think we need to stay on track on those issues.”

Hulse said Washington County employees interact with many of the county’s residents and those jobs should be properly funded.

“I think one of my main goals is to be a steward of the taxpayer’s money but at the same time, not cut services,” Hulse said. “The government of Washington is service oriented. I think I want to bring a good balance of that in keeping those services for those people.”

The Quorum Court’s Finance Committee met Tuesday. The committee discussed its current stewardship of taxpayer dollars with regards to the county’s excess cash.

The committee looked at scheduling a meeting between Quorum Court members and full- time elected officials for a future date.

The county’s Budget Committee of the Whole last month chose to research a proposal to get a tighter grip on excess cash returned by full-time elected officials at the end of the fiscal year. The excess cash totaled $8.2 million when the 2011 budget closed in March. That amount increased the reserve to $14.3 million for this year. In December, justices of the peace used about $6 million from reserve to balance the 2012 general fund.

Hulse said she doesn’t think it’s a good idea to cut budgets proposed by fulltime elected officials.

“There’s something really good that they are working and living within their budgets or below,” she said. “Cutting them too short sometimes makes the departments or employees think, ‘Oh my gosh I’ve got to spend it.’”

Davis said full-time

offi- cials should have extra cash in case they have emergencies, but the Quorum Court’s function is to keep an eye on spending.

“The appropriation is a legislative function and the Quorum Court should be watchful that they don’t have too much executive authority.

The winner of the primary race faces Republican candidate Ron Aman of Prairie Grove in November’s general election.