Safety, flooding issues in JP race

3 hopefuls seek District 10 seat

Candidates for Pulaski County Quorum Court District 10
Candidates for Pulaski County Quorum Court District 10

*CORRECTION: Barry Jefferson, a candidate to represent District 10 on the Pulaski County Quorum Court, attended online courses at Southern New Hampshire University but did not receive a degree from the university. A graphic with a May 13 story about the Quorum Court race misstated his college credentials.

Public safety, preserving community and persistent flooding are all talking points for the three Democratic candidates hoping to represent District 10 on the Pulaski County Quorum Court.

The seat, currently held by the Rev. Robert Green Sr., drew two challengers: Barry Jefferson and Karega "Red" Wilson. District 10 encompasses downtown North Little Rock and extends east to the county line, bordered by U.S. 67 to the north and U.S. 70 to the south.

The Quorum Court -- composed of 15 justices of the peace -- holds the county's purse strings. By vote, Quorum Court members regularly appropriate funds and can dictate whether and how the county spends money, usually with the guidance of county officials.

Each member is paid a stipend for attending meetings. That amount is capped at $14,131 annually, though most members earned $12,600 last year for attending the 24 scheduled meetings. Justices of the peace in the county are elected for two-year terms.

The incumbent, Green, a 56-year-old associate minister at Unity Missionary Baptist Church, has represented District 10 since 1997.

In a recent interview, Green said that if re-elected, he will continue to focus on transportation, education and law enforcement -- in that order.

"If you educate a kid and you give him a bus pass, he'll pass right on by the police department," he said.

During his tenure, Green has sponsored ordinances that fund projects of the Pulaski County sheriff's office, as well as the river light system on Junction Bridge, Main Street Bridge and Clinton Presidential Park Bridge.

At an April meeting, Green left in protest over a decision to appropriate $100,000 to Verizon Arena to help pay for a new scoreboard. He objected to spending that money because people in his district had floodwaters in their front yards, Green said.

Citizens from the unincorporated Dick Jeter community had approached the Quorum Court a few times about the issue.

Green said he asked Barry Hyde, the county's chief executive officer, whether anything could be done about it. When Hyde said no, Green said he informed Hyde that he wouldn't support the Verizon Arena expenditure.

County spokesman Cozetta Jones said the area is in a flood plain and that "unfortunately, you will have to deal with flooding in your yard." If a home floods twice or more, the Federal Emergency Management Agency can help, Jones added.

At the April meeting, Green delivered a nay vote and left before all agenda items were discussed, one of several times he's done so.

Wilson, 44, previously ran for the justice of the peace seat in 2014. He works for Lifeline Towing and runs a company called Events Arkansas, which also does business as Events National.

The events management company puts on the annual Blues on the River music festival, according to the company's website. Through his work, Wilson said, he's gained experience gathering and coordinating groups of people.

"Year after year, I always do large events, whether it's for myself or other people. I have the ability to get people together," he said.

Originally, Wilson said he runs a nonprofit called Project Check to raise awareness of, among other things, "black on black crime," obesity and bullying.

When asked why there was only one out-of-date filing for the group with the secretary of state's office, and what the nonprofit spends money on, Wilson clarified that it's more of a "marketing concept" than a registered, tax-exempt nonprofit organization.

"I don't get nobody's funds. Never have, never tried to get a grant, none of that," Wilson said, adding that the process includes "a lot of red tape."

"Everything that I do is from my pocket," Wilson said.

A news release emailed by Wilson said the "nonprofit organization" was established in 2006. The out-of-date filing is from 2011.

Like Green, Wilson said he's concerned about flooding in the Dick Jeter area.

"A lot of this stuff has been existing for years, but the same system. It's not being addressed," Wilson said. He also said he wants to bridge a communication gap between the political class and regular citizens in the county.

Jefferson, 42, is the director of environmental service at the Arkansas Heart Hospital. Jefferson also co-owns Hall & Jefferson Enterprises, a business that provides general consulting to private and public organizations.

His volunteer work has included the Young Adult Opportunity Center, the Central Little Rock Promise Neighborhood and the Project WE Restore Foundation, he said. Jefferson has also served on the executive board of the Jacksonville NAACP, among other organizations.

In a recent interview, Jefferson said his decision to run for justice of the peace has been a "three-year-prayer." He's lived in District 10 for about eight years and said he wants to be a "voice of support" in the community.

Like Green, Jefferson said he's concerned with the flooding issues that Dick Jeter residents have noted. Earlier in May, he attended a cleanup session, lugging debris from drainage ditches.

To fix those issues, it takes infrastructure changes, which means it takes funding, Jefferson said.

"I want us to invest more money into areas like that," he said.

A major undertaking of the Quorum Court has been helping finance a bike trail between Little Rock and Hot Springs. Jefferson said he likes the project but added that resources should be spread around to areas of the county that don't normally see such investments.

Public safety is another issue at the forefront of Jefferson's mind. He mentioned his concern over the mother who was fatally shot outside of a North Little Rock apartment complex in January.

Jefferson said questions that guide his decision-making will be, "How can we better our community? How can we better young people in our community?"

The primary is May 22. Since no Republicans registered for the District 10 spot, the winner in this month's election will attain the two-year seat.

Metro on 05/13/2018

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