The Pulaski County Quorum Court's Budget Committee elected leaders this week during its first meeting of the year.
The Budget Committee is composed of Justices of the Peace Donna Massey, D-Little Rock; Curtis Keith, D-Mabelvale; Judy Green, D-Little Rock; Lillie McMullen, D-Little Rock; Teresa Coney, D-Little Rock; Aaron Robinson, R-Jacksonville; Doug Reed, R-Roland; and Phil Stowers, R-Maumelle.
The committee elected Massey and Green as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, during its Tuesday night meeting.
One early order of business for the committee will be considering raises for county information technology employees.
County information technology departments are currently under review by a management consultant group, and county officials expect to release the group's report by April 1. After that, the budget committee will consider those salaries.
Budget Committee membership is limited to eight. The Quorum Court members not selected by County Judge Barry Hyde to serve on the committee are allowed to attend its meetings, where they may participate in deliberations but can't vote.
Non-members who wish to attend and participate in the committee meetings would be compensated for their time at the same per-diem rate as the committee members, $175 per meeting.
Committee members serve until Dec. 31, 2018.
Last month, contention arose between some justices of the peace and Hyde over the Quorum Court's rules and procedures that govern the makeup of such county committees.
Justice of the Peace Tyler Denton, D-Little Rock, said the rules and procedures allowed Hyde to handpick justices of the peace for specific committees. Denton -- backed by Justices of the Peace Kathy Lewison, D-Little Rock, and Julie Blackwood, D-Little Rock -- voted against the rules and procedures as written.
Denton, Lewison and Blackwood were not selected by Hyde for inclusion on the Budget Committee or the county's Ways and Means Committee, which also has limited membership.
The Ways and Means Committee, which convened last week for the first time this year, is composed of seven justices of the peace: Massey; Keith; Stowers; Paul Elliott, R-Maumelle; Luke McCoy, R-Sherwood; Staci Medlock, R-North Little Rock; and Robert Green, D-North Little Rock.
That committee selected Medlock as chairman and Massey as vice chairman.
The Quorum Court's third committee, the Agenda Committee, comprises all 15 justices of the peace. Stowers serves as that committee's chairman, and Lewison is its vice chairman.
Metro on 02/23/2017