If the powers-that-be want to keep the courts of Benton County in downtown Bentonville, here's an idea: Build the Walton Arts Center's second campus there with a few extra floors stacked on top for the courts.
It will be easier to raise the money for it.
Does it sound like the most efficient idea? No, but that's not really what some of the folks involved in the courts decision are interested in anyway. Efficiency would dictate putting the courts on the county-owned land next to the county jail, where there's space for parking and for designing a building that could easily expand. And where inmates could easily be walked over in a secure setting rather than loaded in a van for a ride downtown.
Efficiency may not be the deciding factor.
I can't blame some city leaders, at least a few members of the Walton family, downtown business interests and others for wanting to keep the courts downtown. That's historically where courts have been, and there's a decent level of activity related to the courts that has an economic spillover benefiting the cafes and businesses downtown. Certainly, most towns with dying or at least static cores would want to keep anything it could downtown, because a dead downtown is like a body with one lung and a damaged heart. It may survive, but it won't thrive.
Bentonville's downtown is a bustling place, though. Removing the courts can seem a good idea just to free up room for the uncorked economic vibrancy downtown. Bentonville's downtown is about as far from dead as one can get.
Walton family "interests," however, seem pretty convinced downtown wouldn't be downtown without the courts. Jay Allen, who represents the family in various capacities, recently appeared before the Benton County Quorum Court to sweeten the pot for consideration of downtown as a courts location.
Allen revealed Bentonville Revitalization Inc., a private nonprofit formed by Jim Walton in 2010 to spur development downtown, is prepared to build a 300-space parking deck downtown. The proposal is contingent on the county keeping its court system downtown. It was also made when it was so the existence of the offer could be factored into a county-funded study of potential locations for its courts project.
In a subsequent conversation, Allen assured me the parking deck offer does not involve any public funding.
Bentonville Revitalization Inc. has offered leased spaces in the 21c Hotel parking deck for the county for a "token amount." Arvest Bank has also pitched the availability of 113 spaces on four jury pool days a year if needed to alleviate a space crunch.
Keep in mind, too, the Waltons have committed $2 million from their family foundation toward construction of new or renovated courts facilities -- downtown, of course.
Some get bent out of shape over the Waltons wielding such influence by throwing their money around, but the angst is misplaced. First, they don't throw the money around. It's strategic. The Waltons have an idea of what they're ready to support in the advancement of Northwest Arkansas and they'll use their resources to make it happen. I do the same thing when I give to my church, to Boy Scouts and to other worthwhile causes. My checks are significantly smaller, in case anyone wondered.
Secondly, the angst is misplaced because Northwest Arkansas would be a shadow of what it is without the generous contributions of the Waltons for amenities like the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, the Razorback Greenway running through all four of the region's big cities, and so much more it's hard to fully grasp.
But they're not going to just fund anything. For example, when it came time for a location decision for a second Walton Arts Center performing arts hall, the Waltons communicated loud and clear they wouldn't consider being lead sponsor unless it was built in Bentonville. Out of 25 proposals the arts center received, Bentonville's was the most vague -- a two-page faxed pledge to find 10 acres within a half-mile of the downtown square.
But the leaders of the Walton Arts Center saw the check-writing on the wall. Bentonville it is. To this day nobody has announced a specific location. But hey, maybe there will be plenty of parking available for it when it's built.
I applaud the Waltons and their generosity. But I'd bet even they would acknowledge having all the money in the world doesn't necessarily ensure a person is right. The Koch brothers and George Soros are incredibly rich, but I suspect they'd rarely agree on anything.
The people with the responsibility to look out for the public's interests, irrespective of how many dollars or parking spaces are floating around, are those elected representatives on the Quorum Court and the county judge. Dollars can be dazzling, but their job is to examine what's best for efficient operation of the courts for decades to come and for the taxpayers of Benton County.
If that's downtown, take everything being offered and be thankful for the help. If that's near the jail, it might seem a hard decision, but not if it's the right one.
Commentary on 08/29/2016