By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
After much discussion, county budget committee members elected to submit a proposal appropriating close to $200,000 to the budget for October, November and December.
The move is expected to give quorum court members more time to work out the county's budget for the next three months.
Budget committee members met Tuesday night to attempt to establish a budget for the remainder of the year. Last week committee members were told that all plans for the budget were leaving the county with a negative balance at the end of December. Committee president O.J. Gandy told justices and those in attendance Tuesday that efforts to get proposals from county elected officials and quorum court members did not yield any results.
"At last week's meetings we asked that all elected officials and quorum court members submit proposals for the budget, so that we would have options as to which way to go. Those were supposed to be submitted by Friday and we received none," said Gandy.
One proposal, which would increase the county balance by $281,200.35, was heard by committee members but was not voted on last night. The plan, which was explained by Justice Regan Hill, called for cuts to the Food Pantry, the CARE Center and the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as cuts to the Auxiliary Deputies, and the Prosecuting Attorney's office.
According to Hill the decision to cut the funding to the Food Pantry, the CARE Center and the Chamber were made to insure that the county can pay its bills.
"Several years ago we had an account that we used to donate to several different things in the community to help them out. From that original amount of money, these three are the last remaining. We felt like we had to take care of business and pay the bills, and the first place to cut is money that you're giving away. Even though these are great things to do, and we want to continue to support them, we're at the end of the year and some things have to be cut," said Hill.
According to the plan, funds from workman's compensation reimbursements which normally goes toward employee bonuses will remain in the county's general account to the tune of $11,558.
"With the county's financial situation as it is I don't think that we can have people on the one hand being laid off and the county talking about cutting salaries, but then a month later we're giving a Christmas bonus. I just don't think that the community would go along with that," said Hill.
The plan presented to justices last night also called for the elimination of a deputy prosecuting attorney position and the elimination of $1,500 per month in funding paid to deputy prosecutor Gary Mitchusson's office.
Prosecuting Attorney Fletcher Long was on hand at last night's meeting and said the addition of the second deputy prosecutor last year allowed him to appoint Chris Morledge, who had been assisting the prosecutor's office as the attorney for the drug task force, to St. Francis County. Long said he then added Chalk Mitchell as deputy prosecutor for the task force. Long said the projected moves would force him to eliminate the position held by Mitchell, which would then force him to put Morledge back onto the task force.
"The position with the task force services the entire district and that would basically take Chris out of the county and put him back on the road and that will hurt the county," said Long.
According to Long the payments made to Mitchusson's office are for overhead for secretaries, supplies, etc.
"Since January 1, 1993, I have served this district as prosecutor and in that time the only expenses that I have had funded is $8,000 combined from the six counties in the district. That doesn't go far when it comes to paying secretaries and purchasing supplies and turning on lights. Have I ever been before the budget committee and said that I need an increase in the expense for the office of the prosecuting attorney? I have just sucked that up," said Long.
Long told justices that he didn't think that the committee was being fair with the proposed budget.
"I am more than adequately paid for being county attorney, but for how many years have I declined the standard raise that the county gives and has anyone else done that? I am going to do my job without a doubt and there's not going to be any acrimony but I don't think you're being fair with me," he said.
The proposal also would see the elimination of the county's auxiliary deputy department. Hill questioned St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman, asking if the county could eliminate some of the auxiliary deputies and hire another full time deputy for the department. According to Parkman one full time deputy could not cover the duties of the auxiliary staff.
"There's no way that one man could fill the shoes of our auxiliary deputies. We work ball games in Hughes, Wheatley, Palestine as well as events like the fair and the Mighty Mite. We also save in response time because we have deputies throughout the county. We're talking about getting services from approximately 50 people, some of whom don't even get paid, for $19,200 a year as opposed to one person. The mere fact that we've got those cars parked across the county also helps because it offsets the cost of getting a man from Forrest City out to Blackfish Lake or Heth to respond to an incident. We're talking about a difference of about 25 minutes in response time which is a lot," said Parkman.
Also included in the proposal were funds from projected sales tax moneys of $60,000, a reimbursement from other counties for juvenile expenses of $42,762.79, half cent property tax relief of $37,000, money from janitorial services to municipal court of $2,200 and reimbursements for expenses of the collector and assessor for $98,827. Justices agreed to continue discussion of the proposal next week. The $200,000 appropriation will give the county a budget to begin the month of October when justices will have to amend the budget.
The Quorum Court is expected to meet in special session on Thursday to discuss the proposal.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Plans for cuts in funding for three area agencies received mixed emotions this morning from the St. Francis County Care Center, the Food Pantry and the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce.
A proposal submitted to members of the budget committee Tuesday night would call for the elimination of the funding for October, November and December, a hit of $2,250 for each. According to Chamber executive director Danny Ferguson a short term funding cut from the county will not have a great effect, but long term funding cuts could damage continuing efforts for economic development in St. Francis County.
"We understand that in a money crunch the county has to make tough decisions. We're just hoping that these won't be long term decisions because the money in that fund is used for economic development throughout the county, not just Forrest City," said Ferguson.
"Any cuts that would directly impact the Chamber will also directly impact the work that we do for economic development. That ranges from advertisements in trade magazines to marketing our industrial parks and available buildings," Ferguson added.
Food Pantry director Catherine Freeman said that funding cuts would hurt efforts by the pantry to continue feeding the needy.
"We don't need any cuts at all, I was actually getting ready to ask them to increase their funding. We are seeing more and more people that are out of work and needing food. If this happens we'll be able to help fewer people and we will have to start sending them to the county for help. I can somewhat understand cuts to the Chamber of Commerce and maybe to the Care Center but we're feeding people that have no where else to go and we just don't need our funding cut," said Freeman.
Jan Hankins with the Care Center could only say that she was in a state of shock. Hankins would not comment further until she had received more information.
Justices agreed to submit a preliminary budget which will appropriate close to $200,000 into county general at a special meeting of the quorum court scheduled for Thursday night at 7 p.m.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
Four Uzbekistan natives taken into custody Tuesday morning in Cross County have been detained by the Immigration Naturalization Service. A fifth subject was released Tuesday evening.
The four were transported to the Cross County Jail along with a 19-year-old Uzbekistan native after their vehicle was stopped early Tuesday morning by the Parkin Police Department. A police check on the vehicle determined one or more people in the vehicle were on the FBI "watch" list of people investigators want to talk to following the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington on Sept. 11.
While those five were being questioned extensively in Cross County, it is believed FBI officials were questioning at least one subject in Forrest City. FBI Agent John Hazen with the FBI field office in West Memphis said this morning he could not comment on that rumor.
"I cannot confirm or deny any investigation that we do," Hazen said, referring all questions to an FBI press spokesman in the Little Rock office. That spokesman also said the FBI cannot comment on ongoing cases.
Cross County Sheriff Ronnie Baldwin said the five subjects were questioned until about 10 p.m. Tuesday after which the four were detained by the INS and transferred to another facility away from Cross County. Two had chains on their ankles and wrists and the woman was draped in a blanket.
"The only problems I feel they have are INS violations. From talking with everybody, and what I know, there was nothing that came out of any of the interviews to indicate anything other than INS violations," Baldwin said.
The teenage subject was released Tuesday night. Baldwin said he helped the teen get away from Cross County and to the home of an Augusta family who had previously served as a host family for the teen while he was an exchange student. "His visa is current," Baldwin said.
Fingerprints for all five subjects were taken Tuesday morning to the Forrest City Police Department where they were processed through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System. Baldwin said there were no "hits" on the fingerprints.
The FBI has an extensive list of people it believes might have information helpful to its probe. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said Monday that 352 people have been detained and another 392 were wanted for questioning, mainly for immigration violations.
''I don't know how many in the van they wanted to question,'' Courtney said. He said the five told him they were traveling from Augusta to Myrtle Beach, S.C., but did not explain their excessive speed.
''The bottom line is this became a federal operation the moment they were stopped,'' Baldwin said. The sheriff also said a search of the van ''didn't yield anything of great importance.''
Vickers and her mother said the man was visiting family members in the United States with two cousins, an aunt and another relative they understood to be an uncle.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
A state Board of Apportionment today approved changes in the legislative boundaries for state lawmakers, rejecting a last-minute plan proposed by Gov. Mike Huckabee.
The Huckabee proposal, among other things, would have split Forrest City into three State Senate districts. However, it also would have created more black-majority seats than the original proposal.
Before the vote this morning, two local officials had said they didn't think much of the idea of splitting Forrest City into three parts.
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant said he doesn't think splitting Forrest City more than it already is would be good for the city (the city is already split into two Senate districts).
"I don't have any dogs in this fight, but I don't like to see any area broken up into a whole lot of parts," Bryant said. "We've lived with two districts for about 10 years now, but three would be a lot harder."
He said Forrest City needs to have strong representation in the state Legislature if it is going to grow.
The state Board of Apportionment is made up of Huckabee, Attorney General Mark Pryor and Secretary of State Sharon Priest. Huckabee is a Republican. Pryor and Priest are Democrats.
Bryant said before the board met that didn't think Pryor and Priest would go along with Huckabee's proposal.
"I don't think it will float," he correctly predicted, "And if (the final plan) is not kosher and not fair or isn't somewhat equitable, it will arrive at the doorsteps of a courthouse."
Danny Ferguson, executive director of the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce and also a member of the Arkansas House, said his House district fares about the same under the original proposal and the proposal Huckabee has made. However, he said Huckabee's proposed Senate redrawing would hurt Forrest City.
"I got a mailing Monday," said Ferguson. "It was just an overall state map of the redistricting. You couldn't really tell exactly where the lines were, but you could tell that Forrest City and St. Francis County had been splintered three ways. I called the Secretary of State to express my deep concern."
He said splitting the city three ways would dilute its influence too much.
"If you split Forrest City three ways, those different sections of people are not going to be a major part of any Senate district, and that is going to dilute our influence in the Senate," he said.
"I think there would be no question that we'll be the most splintered community in the state of Arkansas, if the governor's plan is adopted."
Currently, Forrest City is represented in the Senate by Mike Everett and Alvin Simes. Neither could be reached for comment this morning.
Jim Harris, a spokesman for the governor, was quoted this morning in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as saying that the governor listened to people across the state wen drawing up his proposed map, and said it was fair.
According to the Associated Press, the plan approved today adds a majority-black Senate seat in central Arkansas and a majority-black House seat in eastern Arkansas.
Dale Charles, the state president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said that wasn't good enough. He said the group would consider challenging the plan under the federal Voting Rights Act. Arkansas is 15.7 percent black.
State Rep. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock, and chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said in the article that Huckabee's plan to add more majority black districts would actually isolate the black vote and make it easier to elect Republicans in other districts. Harris disputed this.
If upheld, boundary changes for the state's 35 Senate seats and 100 House seats will go into effect for the 2002 elections. Filing for next year's races starts in March.
The panel faced an Oct. 1 deadline to complete work on the plan.
Currently, the state has three Senate districts and 12 House districts with black majorities. Charles wanted the numbers increased to six Senate seats and 17 House seats.