Reece and Barr vie for Carroll County Judge

This Carroll County election has many municipal, county and even state elected officials running unopposed. But the race for the top administrator in the county, county judge, has drawn two candidates. Current Carroll County Judge Sam Barr, who has held the position since 2009, is being opposed by Charlie Reece, current mayor of Green Forest.

Reece is running as a Republican, Barr a Democrat. But Barr said, “I don’t think you can accuse me of being either one, a Democrat or Republican. I feel honored and blessed to have been able to work for Carroll County. In 2009 when I first took office, we had an ice storm. I manned a chainsaw myself for six hours so people could get out and get groceries.”

Barr said the county responded well to the largest natural disaster in the state’s history, the 2009 ice storm.

“We didn’t hire an outside contractor,” Barr said. “We worked out a little more than $3 million in restoration work.”

Barr said FEMA paid about 75 percent of the recovery costs, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management 12.5 percent, and the remaining 12.5 percent was paid for by the county.

Barr said his primary responsibility is taking care of county properties and roads. “The Quorum Court has final say on how much money we get, how many people we can use and what we pay them,” he said.

In the past there has been some resentment in Eureka Springs that the part of the county west of the Kings Rivers pays the most property taxes, but doesn’t receive a proportionate return in services. Barr said he tries to be fair with everybody.

“If they search my records, they will see I’ve tried to distribute the work and the money as fair as I could on both sides of the county,” Barr, who oversees 27 county employees, said. “I just try to help anybody I can. If I have the money and they need it done, I try to get it done no matter who it is.

“I get up and go to the road department every morning to visit with the boys before they go to work, and then I come to the office about 8 a.m.,” Barr said. “I feel like our people have done more roads than have ever been done before.”

The other man who wants the job

Charlie Reece has been mayor of Green Forest for seven years, and says extensive business management experience will serve him well as county judge.

“We need good management,” Reece said. “That is pure and simple. I can do a lot to improve managing of people and tasks. I was a regional director of operations for Red Lobster, and at times managed up to 4,000 employees and $100 million in sales. I was later President/CEO of Mama’s Café in San Antonio. It was on the brink of bankruptcy and I brought them back to solvency in one year. Then I was asked to come back to work for Red Lobster.”

Reece was elected mayor in 2009 and had no opposition in the most recent election. He said when he was first elected, things were chaotic in the city, such as council micromanaging administrative tasks that should have been left to the mayor.

“The council was doing things they weren’t supposed to and not paying attention to what they should do allocating money and approving contracts,” Reece said. “The city was on the verge of not meeting payroll and now we have $3.5 million in reserves. I made a deal with the voters in Green Forest to get rid of 3.5 mills of property tax if they would vote for a sales tax. They voted it in, and with those sales taxes allocated to police and fire, we have purchased body cams and a new fleet of vehicles for the police, new fire trucks and turnouts [fireproof clothing] for our volunteer firefighters. We have been really successful with that sale tax increase.”

As county judge, Reece said he would work to improve management by updating software in the county “to bring us into the 21^st century.” He would institute personnel reviews on a regular basis that could be used to help improve performance. He also pledged to have regular meetings with citizens throughout the county.

“I will always listen to people,” he said. “That is one of my skills. It is essential to talk with citizens if you are a public servant.”

Reece said voters have been asking him about his position on the county joining the federal Flood Insurance Program that provides coverage in flood zones. This has been opposed by the Carroll County Quorum Court in the past because of concerns about being told by the federal government where and how to build on private land.

“But 65 of the 75 counties in Arkansas already have it, so I would like to know if there is a good reason why Carroll County shouldn’t have it,” Reece said. “I want to talk to counties that have taken it and see how it has worked for them. We need to do something. It should be up to the voters.”

Barr said he doesn’t have a say in the issue.

“That is up to the Quorum Court,” Barr said. “The Quorum Court are the lawmakers of the county and I don’t have a vote. I just preside over the meetings. From what I understand, I’m not supposed to say anything at the meetings unless I’m asked a direct question.”