FAYETTEVILLE -- Justices of the peace voted Thursday to remove part of an ordinance requiring any elected official to wait more than a year before being employed with the county except by a majority vote by the Quorum Court.
The ordinance to remove the nearly 20-year-old section passed 8-5 after much discussion. Thursday was the third and final reading.
Justice of the Peace Lisa Ecke said she looked into when and why the section was passed and found it was to help reign in the nepotism going on in the county at the time, she said. It was to prevent someone from drawing retirement and getting paid for hours of service at the same time, she said.
"There a processes in place that protect and govern from this double dipping from happening, so we saw it as an ordinance that needed to be repealed for it is no longer necessary," Ecke said.
Justices of the Peace Sue Madison, Joel Maxwell and Robert Dennis all spoke to keep the ordinance to prevent the appearance of nepotism.
If someone wants to come back to work for the county in less than a year, the decision can come before the court for a vote so it is out in the open, Maxwell said.
"I don't see that anything is being hurt by having this," Madison said.
The ordinance has served the county well in helping to make sure offices go through regular hiring processes rather than make backroom deals, she said.
Dennis added they should "abstain from the appearance of all evil," as it could appear the court is changing a rule for the benefit of someone, Dennis said.
"Though I don't think that we are," he added.
Some justices of the peace as well as County Attorney Brian Lester made the point when it comes down to it the Quorum Court cannot make hiring or firing decisions of any employee, according to state law.
"I would say this statute is illegal, and trying to act on this would be an illegal act by this court," Lester said.
The Quorum Court controls the budget and any changes in salaries, Ecke said.
"In my opinion, that's transparency," she said.
The Quorum Court also officially recognized a vacancy for District 11 during Thursday's meeting.
Joseph Kieklak, a Democrat, dropped out of the election and resigned from his position because he's moving out of the south Fayetteville district for a teaching position in Little Rock.
It's now up to the governor to appoint someone to serve for the remainder of 2018, though he may choose not to, Justice of the Peace Ann Harbison said.
The Democratic Party of Arkansas chose during an August meeting to fill the District 11 slot in the election with Suki Lin Highers. She is running unopposed.
Highers, 46, is a social studies teacher at Fayetteville High School where she has worked for 12 years. She earned her bachelor's degree in history and master's degree in secondary education from the University of Arkansas.
"The vacancy came open and the Democratic Party contacted me," she said. "I'd been looking for ways to get more involved, and I had been thinking about this for a really long time."
NW News on 09/21/2018