Pulaski County justices of the peace discussed at length Tuesday night whether the county should hire two new communications officers out of hiring season, although both positions were eventually approved.
Pulaski County will hire a full-time communications director at the cost of up to $61,455 annually.
Additionally, the county will hire a full-time community liaison in the tax collector's office for a cost of up to $32,444 annually.
Justice of the Peace Curtis Keith, D-Mabelvale, asked Barry Hyde, county judge of Pulaski County, what made the communications director position urgent enough for the Quorum Court to break its guidelines on hiring outside of the annual fall budget season.
"July allows for new appropriations, not new positions," Keith said.
Hyde said the communications director would work with media outlets and maintain the county's forthcoming website, live-streaming and social media accounts, which he said would be appropriate for a government agency of its size.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is the only news organization that regularly staffs Quorum Court meetings.
Keith mentioned the county's goals of live-streaming Quorum Court meetings on the new website and cited an article in Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that reported viewership rates in cities.
As of June, Little Rock's dozens of archived videos had been viewed 4,700 times, and two months of North Little Rock's videos had garnered 384 views online.
Keith said he believed those numbers were low and asked if the county would really be getting its money's worth with the expanded outreach.
Hyde responded by asking the audience members at Tuesday's meeting to raise their hands if they did not work for the county. Only two people, including an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter, did not work for the county.
"If we got 300 new viewers, it will have been worth the money," Hyde said.
The Little Rock and North Little Rock figures do not indicate who watched the meetings, such as city employees or reporters.
The streaming services will cost about $23,000 in the next year to set up and about $9,000 annually after that.
Justice of the Peace Paul Elliott, R-Maumelle, said he supported the position because he believed the public had little understanding of what justices of the peace do.
"Everybody thinks justices of the peace marry people, that's all we do," he said.
The position was approved 11-2, with Keith and Justice of the Peace Teresa Coney, D-Little Rock, voting against it. Coney cited the out-of-season nature of the hire as her reason for opposing it.
Justices of the Peace Luke McCoy, R-Sherwood, and Staci Medlock, D-North Little Rock, were absent from the meeting.
The Quorum Court also approved a community liaison for the tax collector's office.
Pulaski County Treasurer/Tax Collector Debra Buckner said many people do not understand taxes and that the potential for outreach was wide. Buckner mentioned working with community organizations, new homeowners and disabled veterans. Disabled veterans in Arkansas can fill out paperwork to become tax exempt under certain circumstances. Buckner said the county has 2,291 disabled veterans.
Justice of the Peace Lillie McMullen, D-Little Rock, initially questioned whether the tax collector's office needed a liaison if the assessor's office already had one.
Buckner said the tax collector's office has different responsibilities and would be distinct from the assessor's office and the county judge's new communications director.
After some hesitation, McMullen voted to approve the position, along with the 12 other justices of the peace present.
Metro on 07/29/2015