Dysfunction junction

I’ve always been fascinated by public cage matches. And boy howdy, it sure appears to me the Washington County government is having a dickens of a time playing nice in its adult sandbox together.

An in-depth piece of enterprise reporting by reporter Scarlet Sims about the infighting, insults and slights (perceived and real) spelled out just how contentious things have become in and around the courthouse of late. I believe the polite term being bandied about was “dysfunctional.”

Juliet Richey, the county’s planning director, was quoted saying “a dark cloud” has descended over the county during the past year and a half.

Justice of the Peace Eva Madison said money issues have been tight (in which of the 75 counties aren’t they nowadays?) and her fellow members on the quorum court have struggled to cut while increasing reserves. “We can’t say yes to everybody.”

But the differences of opinion and personality clashes appear to run deeper than just monetary problems.

Richey stepped out on a limb of sorts when she reminded everyone at the last court meeting that the affairs of the county needed to take priority, adding there have been personal attacks, legal actions and finger-pointing accusations that have caused pain all around the county’s seat of government. “There have been many people hurt on all sides, and in my opinion, a plummet in the morale of many employees of the county. I have seen people I know without a doubt to be fine people attacked and spoken to with a lack of respect that filled me with a deep feeling of sadness and dread.”

As dramatic as that may sound, I tend to believe the distraught planner that hard feelings and resentments have indeed steadily escalated, probably since the bridge-building scandal. That fiasco stretched clear from the county judge’s office down through midlevel managers and the quorum court to the hourly employees who toil on country roads.

And, of course the flames of ire and mistrust will always be fanned when those elected to be accountable feel the need to make the county’s $62 million budget balance. Justice Harvey Bowman of Springdale said next year’s projections show a potential shortfall between expenditures and revenue of some $2 million. He said all county spending beyond what is necessary had to stop.

County Attorney Steve Zega told Sims that some elected county officials just don’t much cotton to some elected members of the quorum court, and the animosity’s mutual. In fact, the heat became palpable through caustic comments made during some meetings. Some department directors say they won’t go back, even if they need money, just to avoid conflict.

The attorney called much of the bickering little more than “self-created drama,” adding that things likely could improve if the focus of county business remained on the citizens of Washington County rather than conflicted personalities.

Justice of the Peace Bill Ussery of Springdale said he didn’t believe the court was respectful enough to the people it serves.

County Tax Collector David Ruff said mistrust seems to permeate the quorum court. “They don’t trust anybody. It’s been very dysfunctional—the whole process.”

If all this weren’t enough, there was Circuit Clerk Kyle Sylvester saying poor communication also has been causing difficulties. He believes justices of the peace should share ideas and discussions with other officials throughout the year rather than only when budgets are being hammered out. “I don’t even know if most of the JPs know what my office does,” he told Sims.

County Judge Marilyn Edwards and her chief of staff, George Butler, both seem as exasperated by the turmoil and mayhem as everyone else. The quorum court has heard repeatedly from different department heads over the course of the budget cycle, reportedly without anything substantively changing until the last-minute announced cuts.

Butler, the former county attorney, said the budget as it stands remains on an “unsustainable path.”

He said he sent an email to all the justices of the peace saying he felt more public input was necessary before cutting the road budget by $1 million next year. After all, roads in booming Washington County are, well, sorta vital to the people.

Illustrative perhaps of the larger problem here, Butler’s message was met with less than enthusiasm by Justice of the Peace Bowman, who viewed Butler’s message as “caustic,” adding that county employees should “soften their rhetoric and criticism of the Quorum Court.”

And Butler responded that Bowman was “part of the problem.”

Oy vey, my friends. I’m not certain there’s a big enough sandbox for this group of full-grown kids to play nicely in together.