Here's how an aging newspaper columnist I know would have organized the ongoing investigation of badly built bridges in Washington County, rather than using two of its elected officials.
First, it matters that the faulty bridges were built by employees of Washington County's Road Department under direction of supervisors who work for the county judge. Pervasive county involvement from top to bottom naturally means the potential for lost credibility and the appearance of conflict can't be avoided, regardless of what they find.
To have avoided this predicament, the Quorum Court would have been well-served (and wise) to have simply looked a few miles north for objective help.
With a modicum of due diligence, the county government could have recruited, say, three retired people living in Benton County with impeccable credentials. One in law enforcement, a second in bridge construction and finally, perhaps an engineer.
There's no doubt such qualified people not only exist in Benton County but would have been willing to examine how and why the Stonewall and Harvey Dowell bridges in Washington County could have been so poorly put together.
By taking such a relatively simple step, any potential for conflict or a trust issue wouldn't be raised.
Courthouse heat
Speaking of what's fast becoming a chronic controversy, the heat keeps building under the Washington County judge and other administrators and supervisors at the county courthouse.
A third road department worker has thrown another log on the fire with a federal suit alleging his civil rights of free speech and association were violated.
The first suit was filed by George Braswell, the former road department employee who initially tried sounding the alarm that both bridges were not being properly constructed. Afterwards (and because he supported former Assessor Jeff Williams in the county judge race), Braswell contends his supervisors made his life difficult until he was ultimately forced from the department. Next to file suit on the same grounds was Williams' supporter Mandy Przysczpkowski, who had been the county's purchasing manager.
Last week, Brandon Holland, a former heavy equipment operator, became the third plaintiff to join the movement. Attorney Josh Bailey alleges a "common pattern of an attempt to quell any sort of dissension" during the election season.
County Attorney Steve Zega had nothing publicly to say in response to Holland's third suit, except that he'd be explaining the county's perspective in court.
Cooperation pays off
I had a good feeling about Robert "Butch" Berry when he was elected mayor of the oft-contentious arts and entertainment community Eureka Springs. The good-natured Berry's lately been validating my skills as a fledgling soothsayer.
Most recently, he worked closely in a joint effort with the county to repair and fill a serious tunnel collapse beneath the parking lot that joins the historic Auditorium and Carroll County's Western District courthouse.
The repairs took two weeks and required the city and county to cooperate in filling and repaving part of the lot.
A story by ace reporter Bill Bowden quoted Berry saying the repairs will run $138,827. The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management is funding $69,414 with a grant. The city will share the remainder of costs with the county, which leases the parking lot to it. The work was done by city and county employees.
"It's something we've been needing to do for 10 years," Berry told Bowden. "This is a great example of the city and county working together." I've long wondered what this creative community could accomplish if its leadership began moving common directions toward mutual goals.
Follow judge's order
The U.S. Department of Justice last week dropped its challenge of a federal court ruling that enjoined more than $3 million in loan guarantees to the Cargill-supplied and sponsored C&H Hog Farms in the Buffalo National River Watershed at Mount Judea. Join me to harmonize in unison: It's about time!
That decision comes after D. Price Marshall, U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, ruled on Dec. 2, 2014, that the guarantees by the Farm Service Agency and Small Business Administration were issued without an adequate environmental assessment while violating the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Both federal agencies now must follow Marshall's decision. They now have a year to conduct the environmental assessments that should legally have been done initially. "This outcome sends a strong message that federal agencies that are subsidizing and supporting industrial-sized concentrated animal feeding operations through loans and guarantees will have to follow NEPA and the ESA in the future," said Earthjustice attorney Marianne Engelman Lado, who represents a coalition of concerned Arkansas environmental and recreation associations.
"This is a truly significant victory, but the fight to remove C&H Hog Farms from the Buffalo River watershed goes on," said Dane Schumacher, a Buffalo River Watershed Alliance Board member. "We continue to monitor signs for bacterial content that filters into Big Creek and ultimately the Buffalo National River."
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mikemasterson10@hotmail.com.
Editorial on 04/28/2015