Washington County candidates address homelessness, other issues

The Washington County Courthouse, Tuesday, February 14, 2017 in downtown Fayetteville.
The Washington County Courthouse, Tuesday, February 14, 2017 in downtown Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Two Washington County justice of the peace candidates for District 12 discussed county homelessness and many other issues during Friday night's forum at the Fayetteville Public Library.

Sue Madison, the incumbent and a Democrat, faces Todd Crane, a Republican, for the Quorum Court seat representing residents of south-southeast Fayetteville.

Madison, 70, is serving two consecutive terms as the JP for District 12. She was previously on the court from 1990-1994 and has lived in her home in the district since 1979. She served as a state representative from 1994-2000 before being elected to the state Senate in 2003 where she served until 2012.

Crane, 40, is an engineer in the aerospace industry. He and his wife own eLeMeNO-Pee and Fox Trot Boutique in downtown Fayetteville, and he has served on the Fayetteville Municipal Airport Board since 2017, he said.

Crane said in his opening statement he would like to work with cities to improve homelessness services and lower-income housing.

An audience member asked both candidates what they would do to help people who are homeless.

"I actually have an idea for a community that has retail, restaurants, housing, medical," Crane said. "Give them a place where they can accomplish a job, a house, food and being productive all in the same development."

A comprehensive project like this needs to be done at the county level, because land in the city is too expensive, he said.

Madison said it's important to treat anyone experiencing homelessness as an individual with privacy rights and help those who want it. She also pointed out it may be better to keep resources inside the city as that is where many possible jobs and established places such as 7 Hills Homeless Center are located.

She said the county is doing nothing to help the growing homeless population and spoke against last year's county cut of its contribution to Ozark Regional Transit.

"Without transportation, it's really hard to get a job," she said. "The county, rather than actually working on this problem, has in sense turned its backs on homeless people. The community is pulling together and working with the university now to come up with good solutions ... . I think the county needs to step up."

Both candidates said the biggest issue the county faces is the budget.

"The county is in a serious budget crisis, almost," Madison said.

The Finance Committee works to make sure every budget is absolutely as tight as it can be, and the justices of the peace don't see extravagant requests from the county offices, she said.

"But the problem comes after the budget is set then we begin to get, every month, requests for a higher salary or new position or shifting of money from here to there. And that's where we need to be extremely cautious."

Crane said it's important to start projecting the budgets to look forward beyond a year.

The county needs to take on more of a leadership role in economic development and create a long-term development plan as the area rapidly grows, Crane said. Some of the decisions the bigger cities have made have been detrimental to the county as a whole, he said.

If elected, he would focus on making doing business easier in Washington County, keeping tax rates at current levels and overhauling the county zoning and planning laws.

Madison said she has a proven track record of listening to the people she represents, both on the state and county level, and addressing their needs.

Justices of the peace serve two-year terms and are paid $200 per meeting night.

The election is Nov. 6. Early voting begins Oct. 22.

NW News on 09/22/2018

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