BENTONVILLE -- Voters will choose between Carrie Perrien Smith, a Republican, and Parker Zielinski, the Democratic party candidate, for the open District 5 seat on the Benton County Quorum Court.
Mike Jeffcoat, who holds the seat, was appointed to fill an unexpired term and is not eligible to run for the position in the Nov. 6 general election.
Carrie Perrien Smith
Republican
Age: 53
Residency: Rogers since 1993; District 5 for 15 years
Employment: Self-employed marketing, branding, publishing consultant for Soar With Eagles
Education: Master’s degree in business administration, John Brown University
Political Experience: Ran unsuccessfully for Rogers city council in 2012 and 2014 and Rogers mayor in 2016
Parker Zielinski
Democrat
Age: 38
Residency: Rogers and District 5 for 2½ years
Employment: Information technology project support contractor
Education: Associate’s degree in science from Northwest Arkansas Community College; attended University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Political Experience: None
District 5 includes parts of Rogers east of Interstate 49 and south of U.S. 62. Justices of the peace serve two-year terms and are paid $230 for each Quorum Court and Committee of the Whole meeting and $144 for each meeting of a committee of which they are a member.
Smith has run for Rogers city offices on three occasions. She said she saw the opening on the Quorum Court as a way to serve much of the same constituency.
"I know a lot of the JPs, and I was always intrigued by the work they do," Smith said. "This is a chance to still serve the city of Rogers, but on the county level."
Zielinski said he is running to change what he sees as this country's overly politicized government.
Zielinski said he's concerned about the county's proposed $30 million courts building.
"I think that's a lot of money that we probably could have put to better use," he said. "Somebody would have had to make a different proposal. The county Administration Building is fairly new, and that's a lot of space that might have been used for courts."
Zielinski said he would like to see the county spend less so tax rates can be lowered. He said he does not favor the one-eighth-cent sales tax increase proposed to pay for the new courts building. The funding plan is set to go to a vote in a special election in March 2019.
"That small of an increase may sound OK," he said. "But when you're buying groceries, that adds up. Wages are stagnant for a lot of people."
Smith said she might have argued for changes in the courts building but wouldn't support delaying the project now.
"To continually rehash that doesn't make any sense," Smith said of the building design. "We need to put it in front of the voters and ask them how they want to fund it. I am a bigger fan of the sales tax than some people. It's a temporary, consumption-based tax. I'm fiscally conservative, but we are at a place in the county where we need an expanded courts building. We need to upgrade. It's most important to be practical. Let's not build a Taj Mahal. But let's plan for the future."
Early voting starts Oct. 22.
NW News on 10/10/2018