Of the people, By the people, For the people
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Joy Dunston
TUESDAY, May 7, 2019 / Vol. 5 Issue 19 / 75 cents
Quorum Court panel begins 2019 budget talks The fat has been cut from the county budget and department heads are cautioned to watch their spending closely, justices of the peace were told last week. Quorum Court budget committee Chairman Brian Tatum outlined the county general figures, which has a fund balance of about $484,000 as the fifth month of the year begins. “Revenue is not coming in as fast as it’s going out,” he said. However, delinquent taxes should be making their way into county coffers this month, which should add $125,000 to $130,000 to the account balance, said
County Judge Dale James. The state Legislature has passed some laws, such as 911 funding, that will help down the line, but not yet, Tatum said. James said the county could eventually be looking at more personnel cuts. JP Ester Bass reminded the committee that he could remember earlier times when the county had to borrow money to make ends meet. Office of Emergency Management coordinator Jeana Williams told the committee that she realized the “difficulties” with county general, but she noted that
her office has received an Emergency Performance Grant for several years now that can be used to pay 50 percent of her salary. She asked the committee for a salary increase of almost $7,000 per year. Williams’ current pay is $35,630. She said $42,000 is a “fair number” for her to be paid. She outlined the many awards and accolades she has received as well as the amount of reimbursement money she has obtained for the county after natural disasters in the 11 years she has been head of the department. “I think I am more than deserving of this,” she said.
Williams noted that her salary increase over the years has been less than $3 per year and said this increase would not come from county general funds and would leave a couple of thousand dollars from the grant for other office expenditures. Several committee members said they thought Williams deserved the increase, but expressed concern with public perception. “We need to think about this,” Tatum said. He said it bothers him to “give a raise in the middle of the year,” even paid for by a grant. The public doesn’t understand and it’s easier to do during a budget cycle,
he said. “Perception is what we’re concerned about?” Williams said. JP Nikki Brown said she was “gun shy” after the public outcry over a proposed ordinance that would increase the hourly wage for the Van Buren County Library administrator after two positions were combined. That request came just months after the Quorum Court had been notified that the library was facing financial problems and likely would not be able to make its loan payments in 2020. Tatum said the committee should think about Williams’ request for a bit.
Meanwhile, JP Dell Holt advised Williams to prepare a news release about the grant her office has received. “Wait a month or so, right now the timing is bad.” Bass added, “Jeana, you deserve it, but right now, as much as you deserve it, it’s not a good time.” The committee, at James’ suggestion, then went into executive session, apparently to discuss the salary issue more and to decide whether Treasurer Mistie Wilson would be permitted to hire a second person for her office. When members emerged, they took a vote and tabled the discussion.
Panel discusses handbook
Azaleas - Photo by Jeff Burgess
Irises - Photo by Robert Snyder
Spring colors - Azaleas in Dennard and irises in Clinton offer vivid spring colors in the area.
The Quorum Court personnel committee met last week to discuss some changes to the county handbook for employees. Among items discussed were the “progressive discipline” policy, which County Judge Dale James said seems to contradict the state’s “at-will” policy. He also noted that the county policy said employees can be fired for serious offenses, but fails to spell out what those offenses are. Justice of the Peace Mary Philips said that at grievance hearings she “saw it (disciplinary progress) bite us.” “We fell into a pit of alligators” because of it, said committee
Chairman Dell Holt. Another item addressed was political signs. They are not allowed on county property, Holt said. Visitors can’t be stopped from displaying then on vehicles or other places, but employees can be, he said. It also was discussed that state drug testing policies will apply only to county employees who have to have a CDL for their jobs. All other drug testing can be performed by the sheriff’s office, Holt said. He said he would like to have a new version of the handbook ready for the full Quorum Court to consider by July.
Woman offers 3 identities
2019 county farm families named County farm families for the 72nd annual Arkansas Farm Family of the Year Program have been selected. In Van Buren County, the family selected for the honor was Alan and Angela Mahan with Rabbit Ridge Farms in Bee Branch. The county winners will be visited by a set of judges to determine the eight district winners, who will be announced June 17. They will be visited again by a different set of judges in July to determine a state winner, who will be announced Dec. 12 at the Farm Family of the Year luncheon in North Little Rock.
Other nearby selections were the Triple T Cattle Company in Marshall for Searcy County; Jerry and Barbara Davis of Marcello for Stone County; Duvall Farms in Hattieville for Conway County; and Schaefers Brothers Farms in Conway for Faulkner County. “The Arkansas Farm Family of the Year program recognizes great farmers and ranchers each year,” said Randy Veach, president, Arkansas Farm Bureau, a main sponsor of the contest. “These families are involved in noble and important work to provide food, fiber and shelter to the world.”
A driver and his passenger both ended up behind bars after an April 22 traffic stop on Holley Mountain Road. The driver, Charles Darren Watts, gave a deputy consent to search the vehicle and two empty bottles of whiskey were found as well as more than two dozen quetiapine pills, a syringe loaded with what field tested as methamphetamine and checks from various banks, according to an affidavit for arrest. The female passenger told an officer her name was Anne Marie Mayes, 35, and provided an identification card to that effect, the document states. At the jail, she said her name was Anna Lynn Marie, then later said she was Holly Ann Dalrymple, a third false identity, according to the court papers. Fingerprints confirmed she was actually Carol Dalrymple. Watts of Goodman, Missouri, has been charged with
possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance, both Class D felonies. Dalrymple, 32, of Poteau, Oklahoma, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, a Class D felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class D felony; and obstructing governmental operations. Daniel Franklin Lyons, 36, of Clinton has been charged with failing to register as a sex offender after being more than 10 days late to register with the sheriff’s office, according to an arrest affidavit. Joshua Vanesch, 41, of Clinton was arrested on April 23 after his car was stopped by a Van Buren County deputy who said the vehicle was crossing the center line and was traveling 10 mph less than the speed limit. Vanesch had a suspended drivers license as well as an ar-
rest warrant, according to the court documents. The passenger in the car also had a suspended license and arrest warrant. The suspect had several hundred bills in his pocket, the court document states, and a search of the vehicle turned up a plastic bag with a white crystalline substance, a glass pipe with residue and a green substance suspected to be marijuana, according to the report. During an interview with a Drug Task Force agent, Vanesch said he was selling meth to make money to pay his court fines, according to the report. He has been charged with possession of methamphetamine or cocaine with purpose of delivery, a Class B felony; possession of schedule VI controlled substance with purpose of delivery, a Class D felony; use or possession of drug paraphernalia to manufacture methamphetamine/ cocaine, a Class B fel-
Watts
Dalrymple ony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class D felony; misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia; and driving while license is canceled. Vanesch was charged as an habitual offender. He was released on a $15,000 bond. Plea and arraignment is set for May 23.