The third time was not the charm as an attempt to pass a 2025 budget to run Jefferson County government failed again on Monday night at a special meeting, leaving county employees unpaid since the first of the year and counting.
After a contentious 100 minutes that saw County Judge Gerald Robinson repeatedly banging his gavel in an attempt to hold order, one vote was taken and then another, with the final vote of 5 votes for Robinson’s budget, 5 against it and 3 abstentions, which were cast by justices of the peace who said they weren’t ready to vote.
Voting yes were Justices of the Peace Roy Agee, Dr. Conley Byrd, Jimmy Fisher, Ted Harden and Patricia Johnson. The no votes were cast by Justices of the Peace Alfred Carroll, Melanie Dumas, Brenda Gaddy, Reginald Johnson and Margaret Williams. The three who abstained were Justices of the Peace Reginald Adams, Danny Holcomb and Cedric Jackson.
Three people were allowed to speak at the beginning of the meeting, with Karen Blevins, director of the office of Emergency Management, speaking first, saying she had worked for the county for 28 years and had always been involved in the budget process.
“This is the worst I’ve ever seen,” she said, adding that some of the raises received by those in other departments were unfair, an assessment consistent with comments made by Robinson, who has called the raises illegal.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“If anyone needs a raise, it’s the employees in the basement,” Blevins said, referring to the location in the courthouse where her office and the 911 operators are located. “If these employees go another day without pay, we will lose more of them, and that puts Jefferson County residents at risk. We’ve lost six so far.” Blevins later said the six — a number that became eight after the news of the meeting filtered through the courthouse — had not quit but had told her they couldn’t afford to keep working for no pay.
Robinson sent an email to the justices of the peace before the meeting, pointing out what he said were some concessions to those who have been opposed to his proposed budget. On numerous occasions throughout the meeting, Robinson said that if the budget was passed on Monday night, employees would immediately start being paid, retroactively to the first of the year, and that they would also receive $500 each to offset any fees or penalties they may have incurred because of not being paid.
Robinson said also that people whose jobs were at risk would be “made whole” at the February meeting when the Quorum Court could adjust the budget. The move was necessary because some positions and raises had not been approved property in 2024, it was explained. Some members on the Quorum Court said the February meeting was too far away. To that, Robinson said a special meeting could be called for next week or even later this week.
Harden then made a motion to accept Robinson’s proposed budget and the motion received a second. For the next 45 minutes, however, decorum evaporated, with people from the packed crowd yelling out and justices of the peace and the county judge talking over each other.
“Point of order,” Carroll said.
“You’re not recognized,” Robinson responded.
Before a vote could be taken, Carroll made a separate motion to extend the 2024 budget until the Quorum Court was in a position to pass a new one for 2025. More discussion ensued, with County Attorney Terry Wynne and Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter both saying that because the justices of the peace never passed a policy and procedure ordinance in 2023 and 2024, there could be problems with any and all legislation supposedly passed during that period.
“Everything this court did for two years is subject to question,” Hunter said.
In the end, over Carroll’s loud protests, Robinson ignored Carroll’s secondary motion and asked for a voice vote on the initial motion to approve Robinson’s proposed budget.
When the votes were tallied and Robinson heard that the motion had failed, he quickly gaveled the meeting to a close, amid loud protests from county workers who will apparently continue not being paid. One woman’s voice could be heard over the clamor as she looked into a video camera and spoke loudly to a television reporter.