By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior writer
Four of six Republican seats on the Lonoke County Quorum Court are up for grabs in the Republican primary as the various factions of the party grapple for position on the court.
Nominally, the Republicans had held a 7-6 advantage over the Democrats after the 2006 election, but when Republican Casey Van Buskirk moved away, Gov. Beebe on Tuesday appointed fellow Democrat Harry Crum to finish out her term.
The conservatives drafted an opponent to challenge Republican Larry Odom, who has been on the court for 18 years, saying privately that he breaks ranks with them too often when it comes time to vote.
JP DISTRICT 2
Jannette Minton, 59, is running for a third term on the court against Larry Ridgeway, 58, from whom she wrested the seat in 2004 and turned back a challenge from him in 2006.
“He’s a Republican this time,” said Minton, the wife of Randy Minton, who is running against Davy Carter for the Republican nomination for the House seat currently held by Rep. Susan Schulte, who is term-limited.
Jannette Minton has been chairman of the Lonoke County personnel committee, which has been trying to commission the JESAP study of all county jobs, responsibilities, pay and benefits and then compare it to like jobs and compensation in neighboring counties and in private industry, she said.
“Right now, everyone starts at same salary and benefits regardless of position and experience,” she said.
“There will be a written job description and a four-step salary scale based on experience, education—on rhyme and reason,” she said. That should help motivate employees and help the county hang on to experienced workers.
“Equitable pay and fairness,” she said.
Minton also hopes for a Repub-lican majority that will back her notion of bulk purchasing of supplies such as toilet paper, copier paper, cleaning supplies—pretty much everything. She believes the county can save money with bulk purchasing.
A former junior high school special education teacher at Cabot, Minton says she favors the one-year, penny sales tax to build a new jail. “We’ve got to have a jail,” she said. “This one is a lawsuit waiting to happen. It’s not safe for inmates, deputies or guards.”
Ridgeway, a social studies teacher and coach at Cabot Junior High School North, says one reason Minton defeated him the first time was because he supported redistributing the county sales tax to help pay for jail improvements. Nonetheless, he supports the penny tax on the primary ballot to build a new jail this time around. “They haven’t done anything for four years,” he said.
“As a citizen I’ll support it. Something has to be done. There’s no money in any other budget (for it).”
Ridgeway, who ran previously as a Democrat in the heavily Republican area he represents, says he lost by 400 votes the first time, 100 votes the second time and that he expects to win this time.
Before losing his JP seat to Minton, he had served two terms on the quorum court. “I thought I was a pretty good JP representative for my area,” he said. “I thought I’d be there a lifetime.”
Ridgeway has served as a Ward alderman for four years. He’s a Navy veteran, against new taxes and he’d like to see an ordinance approved that would exempt seniors from county taxes.
“I’ve knocked on 300 doors,” he said.
JP DISTRICT 3
Odom, 63, says he’s been on several jail committees over his 18 years on the court.
He provided leadership to pick a jail design, a way to build it and a way to fund it—the penny sales tax proposal on the ballot.
“I got interested initially because old county administration didn’t want state Hwy. 321 built,” said Odom, who has headed the county’s road committee most of the time on the court. “I lobbied three weeks to get Hwy. 321. I led the movement to get rid of nepotism in the county and to move meetings to nights when citizens could come. He started the movement that culminated with JPs paying for their own insurance, he said. Before that they had free health insurance at taxpayers’ expense.
“I worked diligently all these years to work on the transportation situation in Cabot. County Judge Charlie Troutman appointed me chair of transportation committee.”
Odom said the committee helped get the Third Street bridges built and the new frontage road to the Cabot Wal-Mart and a road to the Austin cloverleaf.
He said he had been chairman for the past three years of the county building and jail committees.
“The county has scrounged $1 million to put on third (Lonoke County Circuit) judgeship, to up-date the old John Deere building into a courthouse annex to alleviate overcrowding.
“I’ve supported all volunteer agencies in our communities,” he said.
“Our district was the first in the county that got all the roads chipped and sealed,” said Odom. “I’m running on my record.”
RECRUITED TO RUN AGAINST ME
Odom said he had been singled out because “I won’t vote partisan politics right down the line.” He said the Republican women on the court had recruited Lisa Shotts to run against him.
A Cabot-area native, Odom’s family has been in the area almost 100 years, he said. “I’m a farmer by choice, an entrepreneur farmer.”
He has a bachelor’s degree from University of Central Arkansas with a major in math. “I worked with Alltel as a long-range planner,” he said, but he’s been full-time on the farm since 1973.
This is Lisa Shotts’ first run for office, she said.
Shotts, 47, is a registered nurse and educator. “I’ll be training people on the insulin pump,” she said.
“I’ve always been very interested in politics. I’m conservative and raised my kids with Fox News.”
She said she has a son in premed at the University of Arkansas, a son studying the ministry at Ouachita Baptist and a 16-year-old daughter.
“This is a good opportunity to serve the people,” she said. “I’ve been blessed with a lot of blessings.”
She said Odom had been on the court for a long time.
“We’re trying to get a conservative vote on the quorum court. He’s not always a conservative vote.”
She and her family have lived in the Cabot area about 16 years. Her husband, Joe Shotts, is a doctor at the Cabot Medical Clinic.
“I’m really running on an honest conservative vote for Cabot’s future,” she said.
Shotts said the existing Lonoke County Jail is out of compliance, has been for some time and that residents are going to have to deal with it now or deal with it later.
“Hopefully we’ll build it with room for expansion with our growing city,” she said.
JP DISTRICT 4
Donna Pedersen, 49, has served on the court for two-and-a-half terms, filling in for her husband Pete Pedersen when an election challenge kept him out for the first half of a term. Gov. Mike Huckabee appointed her to that vacancy.
Among the accomplishments she is proud of, “we’ve got the new courthouse annexed without raising taxes, added new judgeship, had to find her a new court house.”
“I’m just running on my conservative record,” she said. “I’m a true conservative. I don’t even like the word ‘tax,’” she said.
Nonetheless, she supports the jail tax proposal on this primary ballot. “I hate to vote for a tax, but we’re going to have to have one. We put it on the ballot and let the people decide. The jail is in dire straits.
“Our jail is our number-one priority right now. They could come and shut it down anytime.”
Pedersen works for Mayfair Solutions, a collection agency.
The Pedersens have one son.
Tim Lemons, 45, an engineer for 18 years with a degree from Louisiana Tech, is making his first run for office. He owns Lemons Engineering of Cabot.
He’s been a board member of the Cabot Chamber of Commerce, Lonoke County’s representative to Metroplan, served on the Cabot Parks commission, volunteers for the Special Olympics and Relay for Life.
He and wife Janice have been married for 24 years. They have a daughter majoring in nursing at UCA and a son majoring in civil engineering at the University of Arkansas.
Lemons has lived in Cabot for 21 years. “The quorum court can best be described as the city council for the county. I feel my experience as a small business owner will be of great benefit,” he said.
“I will make finding a resolution to our traffic problem a priority. I will work closely with the cities, the county, the state and the federal government to resolve this important issue. As an engineer, I feel that my background and contacts on the state and federal level will be assistance to easing our traffic problems.
“As a fiscal conservative, I am against new taxes. However, in this case I support this sales tax. If the jail tax does not pass, the property owners in Lonoke County are almost ensured an increase on our already high property taxes. An increase in property taxes will last forever. The proposed one-cent sales tax for the jail will last for only one year. Also, since it is a sales tax, anyone who purchases goods in the county, whether they live here or not, will be paying for the new jail. The Republican Party agreed to support this tax.
“I believe the family is the foundation of our community. Conservative family values are most important to me. Second, I offer proven progressive leadership. And last, I offer a fresh positive outlook.”
JP DISTRICT 6
Alexis Malham, 54, has served five terms on the quorum court since 1992. In 2006, she won a three-way race against independent Harry Roderick and Democrat Chris Skinner .
This time, Roderick is running against her as a Republican.
Why does she want to serve again?
“The work is not done,” she said. “Basic stuff.”
She lives in the county and the roads and ditches are a major problem and part of the area is prone to flooding.
As a JP, Malham has fought for years to change the county’s policy of paying a large portion of the health insurance premiums of the employee’s families. She says its one thing to pay for the employees, but that it’s not good stewardship of the county’s finances to pay for their families’ insurance.
Malham says other counties don’t pay that. “It’s easy to spend other people’s money,” she said.
“Why have an insurance committee,” she asks, if the court is going to ignore its recommendations.
Malham says the county paved other roads and made a new road to Wal-Mart while people in her district need basic road services.
She also wants to help the county build a new jail.
Of the proposed jail tax, she said, “If the people support it, it’s a great deal. It has a sunset and we do have to do something.”
She said she helped set the vote for the primary ballot, instead of a special election where a small group could push it through.
“This is the fairest way,” she said.
“I’m a conservative voice on the quorum court for the people I represent,” she said. “We need safe roads and I supported the sheriff for his new patrol cars.
“I’m for lower taxes, less obtrusive government and want to make sure we use our taxpayer money wisely.”
She works part-time in retail at the mall. She’s married to Mike Malham, Cabot’s head football coach.
Roderick, her opponent, is retired from the Air Force as a master sergeant after 21 years. He was a loadmaster flying on the C-130s based at Little Rock Air Force Base.
Now he’s a representative of Lockheed Martin and works part time as an unpaid deputy for the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office.
Roderick says people recognize his house by the six flags he flies out front on Campground Road.
“We have lived in the community for 22 years and in our current location for eight,” he said. “We have a lot of road problems, no shoulders,” he said, and the county needs to take care of that.
“Most people around here didn’t know who their justice of the peace was.”
Roderick said he would be the voice of the area and have an open door policy. He’ll put a suggestion box out for people who just want to drop off some feedback.
“Every time they turn around, they want to increase taxes,” he said. “I’ll get a good handle on how the county spends its money. The county is growing, revenue coming in—what are they doing with the excess revenue?”
“I’m for the jail tax. They should have done that a long time ago. The jail should have been condemned. We need a good facility that could actually turn a profit.
“Being a part-time deputy, I see the sheriff almost daily has to decide if he has to release someone to take someone else.”
He said the county has to give the sheriff the tools to do the job.
Roderick said he would put inmates to work on county roads, fixing stop signs for instance.
