When is a gift of $2.8 million not entirely a gift? To listen to Benton County Judge Bob Clinard, the answer is when the money might force you to go in a direction you don't want to go.
Last Tuesday night, Clinard shocked some members of the Quorum Court by announcing he would not move forward on a project to renovate the first floor of the 1928 Benton County Courthouse and make other repairs with funding provided by the Walton Family Foundation. The Quorum Court last fall voted to accept the generosity of Bentonville's famed Wal-mart clan. The funding came with a few strings, including an expectation the building's roof would be repaired, that a specific architecture firm would over see the work and that the Quorum Court would accept the grant, in writing, before November was past. The Quorum Court met those terms.
What’s the point?
It seems implausible a public official would turn away a $2.8 million grant for renovation of an 86-year-old public building still in use, but spending it without a plan for the future doesn’t sound smart either.
Clinard's announcement left Justice of the Peace Susan Anglin feeling like Arkansas basketball player Jacorey Williams, who around the same time Tuesday was literally pouring his guts into the Hogs' game vs. Tennessee.
"I'm absolutely sick," Anglin said. "We voted on having this restoration of the old courthouse whether the courts are going to be downtown or out on Highway 102. I'm mad and I'm sick at my stomach just to hear this."
Williams' team came away with a win. Anglin's didn't.
Clinard has made no secret that he's given top priority in 2015 to developing a plan for a new circuit courts facility to handle the growing workload of the judiciary. Benton County's courts are spread over four buildings, leading to inefficiencies in operations ranging from support staff to security procedures. Few, if any, argue with the idea a new justice facility would be an improvement. The tougher issues are how much it will cost and where to build it.
Clinard wants the new building constructed near the Benton County Sheriff's Office and jail on Arkansas 102 because it's less difficult and would provide better security options. Others have argued for keeping the courts in downtown Bentonville where they always have been. Downtown is a burgeoning area of new retail shops and culinary outlets, all of which would benefit from the traffic associated with the courts system.
Nobody has suggested getting rid of the Benton County Courthouse on the square, but the question of how it will be used in the future remains undecided. Even with the Walton money ready to pay for some renovation costs, Clinard said it's too early in planning to know how to spend the money wisely.
"After looking at every aspect of it, I'm not going to do that right now," Clinard told the Public Safety Committee. "I can't see spending $2 million renovating the first floor and moving 20-plus prosecuting attorneys. It would be extremely difficult if not impossibly disruptive. Second, we don't know the future of the first floor of that building. I can't see renovating it for one use when it may turn out to be a different use in the future."
Using the grant doesn't legally lock the county into keeping the courts downtown. A foundation spokesman earlier said the family was committed to preserving the quality of life in Bentonville and the historic courthouse is "very much a part of that." One can hardly blame Clinard, however, for hesitating to spend the donation now if there's a possibility the work may have to be redone or undone once a plan for the courts is complete. Politically speaking, it appears he's trying not to get backed into a corner that would limit the county's options.
Remember those cable barriers installed on Interstate 49 not so long ago? They were a welcome safety addition. Then highway officials got funding to widen the highway and the cable barriers, which costs millions to install, were pulled up to make room for the widening. There were several logical explanations for why that happened, but from a perception standpoint, the public saw waste in government projects. Who can blame Clinard for not wanted to get caught up in a similar situation if he can avoid it?
The justices of the peace clearly didn't like Clinard's decision. Tom Allen, chairman of the Finance Committee, last fall referred to the Walton Family Foundation's gift as a "godsend."
It was certainly generous, and for that the foundation deserves praise. Now it's time for public officials to put their heads together and develop a plan that might allow the county to move forward, and if the Walton family wants to continue its generosity after that progress is made, that's outstanding. But Clinard is the man elected to oversee county buildings. He's set the vision for developing a courts plan. If he's not comfortable with how the grant fits into the larger picture, it's his job to push a plan he believes is right for the county. Spending someone else's money poorly is almost as bad a decision as spending taxpayer dollars poorly.
Back to the drawing board.
Commentary on 01/30/2015