NWA EDITORIAL | THURSDAY’S THUMBS: Fayetteville reinforces its commitment to school officers; Washington County process for funding nonprofits with covid-relief money appears weak

County funding process appears shoddy

The Washington County Courthouse is seen in Fayetteville in this undated file photo. (NWA Democrat-Gazette file photo)
The Washington County Courthouse is seen in Fayetteville in this undated file photo. (NWA Democrat-Gazette file photo)


It's Thursday and another chance to fire off a few up or down thumbs about some of news developments in our neck of the woods and elsewhere:

[THUMBS DOWN] The entire process by which the Washington County Quorum Court has evaluated applications from nonprofit organizations seeking covid-related relief funding has appeared shoddy. Republicans on the Quorum Court, from the moment the federal government shoveled $46.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding into county coffers, have been more than willing to dole out the money for county-based projects. It's like they have to be wrestled to the ground and have their arms tied behind their backs to spend money on nonprofit organizations whose work was harmed by the pandemic or that worked to help residents through the pandemic. Favored nonprofit projects involving Northwest Arkansas job training and aid for men released from incarceration were handpicked and given the majority's favor without any application process. But when it came to letting nonprofit organizations apply for funding, 35 of 46 applications were rejected. Some of those applicants claimed the county's process wrongly disqualified them based on poor understanding of their projects or the federal rules. Two Democrats, a minority on the Quorum Court, pressed a Quorum Court committee this week to reconsider 11 of those previously rejected applications. The majority said no, perhaps only because it was the Democrats who wanted it.

[THUMBS UP] While acknowledging the game-playing cited above with Washington County's response to nonprofits, we're glad the Quorum Court saw fit to fund 11 projects for a total of $564,681. From $100,000 to the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank to $10,000 for Credit Counseling of Arkansas, the money may actually help some people directly.

[THUMBS DOWN] Resistance to stronger ethics standards for the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court is misplaced. The issue has come to the surface anew with details emerging about Justice Clarence Thomas taking free luxury vacations, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and benefited financially from an undisclosed real-estate deal with a top GOP donor. Thomas hasn't defended the arrangement; his only assertion is that he was under no obligation to publicly disclose any of those transactions. It's a weak and unsatisfactory response from a member of the High Court, whose conduct ought to be beyond reproach. Thomas' defenders claim critics are just seeking to undermine a conservative judge, but Rule No. 1 in politics is to avoid providing the ammo with which your opponents can attack you. Thomas' behaviors and reaction to the legitimate criticisms is a horrible form of elitism from a public official charged with interpreting law without influence from external interests. Imagine for a moment how conservatives would react if it was discovered Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagen or Kentanji Brown Jackson had a similarly cozy relationship with liberal donor George Soros. These sorts of behaviors do lasting damage to the moral authority of the Supreme Court. Without that, it won't matter for long what kind of legal authority the court thinks it has.

[THUMBS UP] The city of Fayetteville on Tuesday continued its support of school resource officers and its partnership between the police department and Fayetteville Public Schools. School district leaders consistently express their desire to have the armed officers, specially chosen and trained to interact with students and educators, at as many schools as possible. The district will soon have 17 schools. Nine officers are expected to be on duty by the start of the 2023-24 school year. The City Council last year wisely embraced a plan to add new officers every year until all the school buildings have at least one officer on duty. The recent debate was triggered by a plan to seek $250,000 in federal funding to help cover some of the costs associated with the program. It was, as many school supporters said Tuesday evening, a no-brainer given the community's clear evaluation that the schools, students and staff are all better off with school resource officers than without them. The final vote was 7-1, with council member Sarah Moore opposing.

[THUMBS DOWN] On the one hand, a disruption in the production of TV shows might mean more time to pick up a good book or two. One can never go wrong with reading, but how many hours get absorbed by the much easier process of simply watching TV? We won't pretend, though, that we don't have some favorites on the small screen, so it's unfortunate to see the Writers Guild of America going on strike in Hollywood. Beyond the issue of all of us simply being entertained there are real and serious issues for the writers, whose livelihoods have been disrupted by the way Hollywood works in a less-centralized environment of streaming video and a multitude of channels. Let's hope the producers and writers can come to terms so that the creative forces that produce incredible shows and films are not long stifled.

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Want to give some brief feedback on news? Someone who deserves a pat on the back? An idea that needs a dose of common sense? Recommend a "Thursday thumb" by emailing Greg Harton at [email protected].

 


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