A two-way race is set for the Union County Judge seat between incumbent county judge Mike Loftin and Cliff Preston, both hoping to serve the residents of Union County in the position.
The county judge seat will be determined Nov. 6 during the General Election. Early voting will begin Oct. 22.
According to Arkansas code, the powers of county judge include: presiding over the county quorum court, without a vote but with the power to veto; authorize and approve disbursements of appropriated county funds; operate the system of county roads; administer ordinances enacted by the quorum court; have custody of county property; and to hire county employees, except those persons employed by other elected officials of the county.
Loftin, who has held the position of Union County judge for eight years, said the county judge also has responsibility in economic development and noted his accomplishments in that area.
“Over the last eight years, we’ve brought in 625 new jobs with over $1 billion spent here on expansions or new facilities,” Loftin said. “When I ran (for county judge) the first time, I promised to do what I could to bring jobs and we have done that … most recently with the Conifex sawmill, who has over 150 employees.”
Loftin added that since being in office, he has learned a lot. Loftin said he was trained for the position by former county judge Bobby Edmonds, who was retiring when Loftin ran in 2010.
Preston, who currently represents District 10 on the Union County Quorum Court, said he is fully aware of the responsibilities of the county judge and is “ready to tackle the job.”
Preston said his reasoning for running “was about making sure the structure of county government is how it’s supposed to be and I believe the taxpayer has to be the key and first and represented well.”
He added that he decided to run to set the county government straight with the taxpayers being on the top, Quorum Court being in the middle and the officials being on the bottom.
Loftin said he believes he is the best person for the job because of his experience in the position.
“I have enjoyed my eight years being county judge and I would like to continue to serve in this capacity so that I continue to improve on the services that we provide,” Loftin said. “I want to see Union County prosper.”
Loftin said he wants to continue working on the infrastructure in Union County, including roads and bridges, noting that county roads take up over 50 percent of his time each day.
“We have made big strides on improving our infrastructure,” Loftin said. “The people deserve a decent road to drive on and we have constantly improved on that.”
Preston pointed out that having road construction experience is not a requirement of the county judge, and that past county judges did not have road construction experience.
“But I believe that I have certain skill sets that will be very beneficial to the job of county judge,” Preston added. “I think you need to have a county judge who can go out and communicate with people
“Also, I believe that we will have the best people working on the roads and bridges,” Preston said. “I want to get the best people to do that job and I want to unleash them on their task. We have some great workers. They need a plan and they need higher standards and that’s what I’m willing to give.”
Concerning infrastructure, Preston said he is working in his campaign with a state engineer from the state highway department, a 37-year-old veteran of the county shop and a former county judge.
“We’re riding roads and we’re coming up with a plan,” Preston said. “I’m going to have two patch trucks going the whole time to make sure that you don’t have to overlay a whole road every time. If you can patch them quick enough, they’ll last longer.”
If re-elected as county judge, Loftin said he doesn’t plan on making any big changes, but “there may be some subtle changes.”
“We’ve done very well over the last eight years as being a good steward of taxpayer’s money,” Loftin said. “We have not dipped into our reserve except for this year for the asphalt and that money came from being a good steward of tax dollars.”
Preston said if elected to the position, giving power back to the Quorum Court is one of his highest priorities.
“One of the things I want to do is make sure that the people are represented and are represented well,” Preston said.
Preston said he would add a section on the Union County website that lists the Quorum Court members and what district they represent.
Preston also said he wants to create a committee inside the Quorum Court that will help make decisions on roads and bridges.
“What that does is it allows for there to be more people to look over plans and say, ‘OK, I believe that this is something worth doing,’” Preston said. “It gives more accountability to the people who are making these decisions and it also gives the taxpayers a bigger voice to say, ‘OK, here are the things that we’re concerned about.’”
Preston added that he thinks opening up the lines of communication with the county judge is important, “and if we can add more people to that communication so they’re accountable, that’s important to me.”
Preston said he also wants to encourage the Quorum Court to move their meetings to the evenings.
“We should give (the public) the opportunity to come,” Preston said. “If the public decides not to come after we move it, then that’s on the public, but we have to give them the opportunity to be there.”
Loftin said moving the meetings to the evenings has been tried before.
“There was no more participation with the meeting at 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m.,” Loftin said. “Matter of fact, there might have even been less participation from the community with it being that late in the afternoon versus 10 in the morning.”
Loftin said he believes that he has been transparent while in office.
“Everything we do in county government is a matter of public record,” Loftin said. “My door is open, you don’t have to have an appointment to see me. You can walk in any time. I may or may not be here, but if I’m not here, my staff will get in touch with me and if I’m close, I’ll come back to the courthouse.”
When it comes to running their campaign, both Loftin and Preston said they want people to vote for who they think the best person for the job is.
“I never intentionally have quote ‘been negative,’ but if I say I’m going to change the culture and I say that I want a fresh start, then I have to say what I’m going to change it to and what I’m changing it from,” Preston said. “So if there are things that I see that I don’t believe are done right, then I have to say, ‘these are the things I won’t do.’”
“I’m going to run on merit,” Loftin said. “That’s the only way I’m going to run, is run a clean campaign. No mud slinging on my part.”
Kaitlyn Rigdon can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].