With apologies to Pete Townshend and The Who, with regard to the Jefferson County Quorum Court meetings, meet the new frustration, same as the old frustration.
Anytime the headline for a story about the Quorum Court contains the word “chaos,” you can bet nothing has changed. And what? It was this way all of last year and now half of this year has been snarled for good measure, with no end in sight.
This latest version had no pretense of starting on a good note because the angry emails were already flying before the scrum even began. By the time they all sat down, it was only a matter of time before a contingent of the Quorum Court stormed out and headed upstairs for their own meeting. But County Judge Gerald Robinson said he was game and joined the rogue meeting — because he is the county judge, and it’s his job to preside over meetings.
“If they want to play cat and mouse, we’ll play cat and mouse,” said Robinson. “Let’s go upstairs.”
Sigh. As if a view of Saracen Lake was going to change the lack of decorum and cooperation. It didn’t.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The thing the renegade elements of the Quorum Court don’t understand is that most people will never get up in arms about county government other than for the county judge to keep the roads graded. So for these folks to throw tantrums on a monthly basis just makes them look silly. The neck hurts from shaking our head.
One of the instigators of all the angst is Lloyd Franklin Jr. He was voted out of office way back in March, but he doesn’t leave until the end of the year. Will things calm down then? Well, we’re not sure it could get any worse. Our advice on the subject has been and will continue to be that if these folks dislike the judge so much, they should run for county judge and take his job away from him. Otherwise, they should act like they’re one of 13 people whose job it is to take care of county business.
There is also a lawsuit in the works, so there’s a possibility that that will throw some cold water on the hot tempers.
In the meantime, as The Who’s song warns against, every month the public attends a Quorum Court meeting hoping for something different, they indeed get fooled again.