Benton County Officials Eye Road Department Hopefuls

BENTONVILLE — Benton County officials met Friday with six candidates for the Road Department's top job which has been vacant since former administrator Scott Stober’s July 30 arrest.

County Judge Bob Clinard and his staff interviewed the candidates and narrowed the field to three. Clinard said he hopes to fill the position by Friday.

“We’ve got some more research to do, some references to call,” Clinard said Friday afternoon. “I think it’ll come into focus by the middle of next week.”

The Road Department has operated without three of its top officials since Stober and two other supervisors were arrested in connection with a theft investigation. Jack Brown and Grant McCracken were also arrested. Stober and Brown resigned from their jobs while McCracken was fired.

At A Glance

Job Finalists

Benton County officials interviewed six candidates Friday for the top job in the Road Department. Finalists for the job are:

• Gerald Venable of Rogers who has a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and a master of business administration degree from the University of Arkansas. His experience includes engineering manager for New Millennium Building Systems of Rogers and area engineering manager and plant engineering manager for CMC Joist & Deck.

• James Meziere of Springdale has a bachelor of science degree in psychology/human relations from the University of Arkansas-Monticello and attended the University of Arkansas School of Engineering. He has experience as a construction foreman for Ideal Construction Company of Crossett; a materials technician/construction consultant for Grubbs, Hoskyn, Barton and Wyatt of Little Rock; and as a firefighter/paramedic for the Springdale Fire Department.

• Terrance N. Nalley of Rogers graduated from Monett, Mo., Vo-Tech with a degree in drafting design. He has experience as a senior construction manager, construction manager and in field inspection, surveying and design for Walmart.

Source: Benton County

Clinard said he is looking for an administrator and is intrigued by the engineering background of some of the candidates. He said the county could use someone with that experience to help design smaller bridges and other projects instead of contracting that work.

Barb Ludwig, human resources manager, said the top job in the department carries a grade 24 in the pay scale. Ludwig said the pay for a grade 24 position ranges from $51,958 to $58,468. Ludwig said if Clinard wanted to hire someone to fill a position akin to a “chief engineer,” he could ask the Quorum Court to approve a higher pay for a non-graded position. She compared such a position to the head of information services or the jail physician.

“He would have to go to the court on anything over $58,468.80,” Ludwig said.

Steve Curry, justice of the peace for District 11 and chairman of the Quorum Court’s Transportation Committee said his preference is for someone with experience in road construction and proven leadership skills, not just an engineering background.

“I think we need a proven, strong leader out there,” Curry said. “I hope we can get both, someone with strong leadership abilities and an engineering background, but my preference would be for someone who’s shown leadership ability.”

Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4, said he thinks having someone with an engineering background could be helpful beyond the Road Department, possibly as a chief engineer for the county.

“It wouldn’t be so bad, to have an engineer running the Road Department,” Allen said. “They would certainly be qualified. At the Legislative Committee meeting the other day, we were talking about planning and environmental and how there’s a need for an engineer in that department. I’d be interested in seeing how that might work. Certainly we need an engineer in both departments and if we have someone on staff, we can avoid having to contract out that kind of work. I think that’s not out of the possible.”

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