The biggest challenges facing Jefferson County are a declining population and the subsequent declining tax base, candidates for county judge said, but both men believe the county already has the infrastructure it needs to attract more residents.
It just needs leadership to capitalize on economic opportunities, they said.
Former County Judge Dutch King of Jefferson County and Sheriff Gerald Robinson want to fix the population drop and, in the meantime, mitigate its consequences.
One of the two men will be the county's next chief administrator after the May 22 Democratic primary. No one else has filed to run for the office.
King or Robinson will replace Booker T. Clemons, who was appointed to the office by the Jefferson County Quorum Court in March. Clemons, 88, is not allowed by law to run for the office. He replaced Henry "Hank" Wilkins IV, who resigned from the position that month after pleading guilty to accepting more than $80,000 in bribes in exchange for pushing certain bills while he served in the Arkansas Legislature.
Starting Jan. 1, county judges will serve four-year terms after the passage of constitutional amendment Issue 1 in 2016. Previously, county judges and other county officials were elected to two-year terms.
The starting salary for county judge is $75,555, according to the Jefferson County Clerk's office.
The county's decades-long population drop has translated into decreasing county budgets. The general fund, which includes the sheriff's office and jail, is $8.3 million for 2018. That doesn't include tax collection, assessment or various other services overseen by other elected officials. The total budget for all county offices in 2018 is about $26 million.
Not including the sheriff's office and jail, the general budget is a little more than $1.3 million, down from more than $3.4 million in 2008, according to previous Arkansas Democrat-Gazette articles.
The 2000 U.S. Census counted 84,278 people in Jefferson County. In 2017, it estimated 69,115 lived in the county, about 10,000 fewer people than in 2008 and more than 15,000 fewer people than in 2000. The county has lost thousands of jobs through the closure of factories and other employers.
King, 68, said he wants to attract more businesses to bring people back. He tied the county's population loss to political tension within local government, saying "things are just not done on an even keel in Jefferson County."
King found himself caught up in the political tension in 2016, when he challenged election results after losing to Wilkins by just over 100 votes. He said Wilkins' associates had been allowed to access ballots when they should not have been. The State Board of Election Commissioners did not sanction anyone as a result of the complaint.
"We can't recruit business in with all this unrest and tension," King said.
Robinson, 55, said that if he's elected, he will have discussions about how the county as a whole can stretch its budget.
"I propose to sit down with our elected officials and come up with solutions on how we can save money and become more efficient in our operations," said Robinson, noting that savings could come in the form of reducing the number of county employees.
Robinson said he also would like to improve retention rates of existing employees by setting up a day care center for county employees. He said he believes employees countywide have about 70 children who need day care, but he doesn't know how much that would cost.
Robinson said he'd like to consider other avenues for securing more money, such as grant funding and "utilizing misdemeanors and fines" to help clean up the county. As sheriff, he started what he calls a "clean fee," which allows low-level offenders who can't pay their fines to instead work on projects to spruce up the county.
King also expressed interest in cleaning up the county.
Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington has made cleaning up illicit trash dumps in the city a priority, and King said he would "stand right beside her." Further, he said, dilapidated houses need to be addressed because they provide places for people to do "dirty deeds."
King said he'd like to set up cameras to catch people and to ask county and local law enforcement agencies to help enforce codes against dumping.
The perception of crime within the area also has hurt Jefferson County, both candidates said.
Robinson said he has boosted patrols in higher-crime areas and boosted interaction with the people who live in those areas. He said some of the perception regarding the crime rate in the county is fueled by crime numbers that, more than in other counties, factor in reports from more than a half-dozen correctional facilities in the county.
Pine Bluff, where most Jefferson County residents live, had the state's third-highest per-capita rate of crimes against people in 2016 at 52.6 crimes per 1,000 people, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
People have painted Jefferson County with a "black eye" for years, King said, but he said crime in the county isn't as bad as many think.
"We've got the things in place for businesses to come in," King said, noting rail, water, highways and interstates.
Both candidates have several years of county leadership experience.
King, born and raised in Pine Bluff, served as county judge for Jefferson County from 2013 through 2016 and served as Pine Bluff's mayor from 2001 to 2004.
Robinson has been sheriff for more than 11 years and has worked in the sheriff's office for 30 years. A native of Humphrey on the Jefferson-Arkansas county line, Robinson was born and raised on the Arkansas County side of the city, but has lived on the Jefferson County side of the city for nearly 16 years.
Robinson said he did not want to be judged by Wilkins' performance as county judge and that he hoped county residents would trust him.
King said he wanted to straighten out what Wilkins left behind and urged voters to think carefully about the candidates they choose to support.
Metro on 05/14/2018