FAYETTEVILLE — Past experience and visions for the future played leading roles Wednesday night when candidates for prosecuting attorney and county judge were quizzed by voters.
Denis Dean and Lisa Parks are running for prosecuting attorney for Arkansas’ 4th Judicial District, which covers both Madison and Washington counties.
Mark Scalise and Tim Shepard are two of the candidates for the Republican Party nomination for Washington County judge. The third candidate in that race, incumbent Patrick Deakins, was invited, but did not participate in the League of Women Voters forum held at the Fayetteville Public Library.
Dean applauded the standing-room only crowd at the event when he introduced himself.
“Don’t you just love Fayetteville,” Dean said.
Dean said he brings 18 years of experience in the prosecutor’s office to his candidacy, including prosecuting some of the most high-profile cases in the district in recent years. The prosecutor must seek justice for everyone in the community and see it is administered fairly and equally, he said.
With the growth in population, the risks of crime in the community are increasing, he added.
“We haven’t seen a massive influx of problems,” Dean said. “Crime is down, but we need to remain vigilant.”
Parks stressed her role as a public defender and attorney for the state Department of Human Services.
“The prosecuting attorney’s office needs new leadership and a new approach,” Parks said.
She said her experiences with alternative courts like drug court and veterans court have demonstrated to her the need for change that can get people out of jail and away from the criminal justice system when they are in need of other types of services.
“We’ve got to get people in there instead of just sitting in jail,” she said of the alternative courts. “Over half the people in our jail are preadjudication.”
Both candidates said they favor trying new technologies and ways of increasing the efficiency of the office.
Both Scalise and Shepard said they want to change the style of leadership at the county, saying partisan politics is preventing people from finding the best solutions to problems of meeting infrastructure needs and making government efficient. The county judge is the chief executive officer of county government in Arkansas.
“You have to be willing to reach across the aisle,” Scalise said. “You have to work with people you may not agree with and find the common ground.”
Shepard said the county needs to be more open and transparent. He said the county must do more to make information about government more easily accessible. He promised that if elected he will hold regular “town hall” meetings across the county so voters can speak directly to him and other county officials.
“We should not silence people just because of a difference of opinion,” Shepard said. “We have to defend everybody’s right to freedom of speech.”
Michelle Wolchok, president of the Washington County chapter of the league, said forums are one way of getting information to voters. Wednesday night’s event was livestreamed by the library, and a video will be posted on the library’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
“A lot of people think the March election is just a primary election,” Wolchok said before the event. “But there are several important nonpartisan judicial races, races for school boards and municipal bond issues that will be decided. All of them will dramatically impact the community.”
Laleh Amirmoez is a Fayetteville resident and U.S. citizen, having come to this country from Iran in 1979. She said she votes regularly and events like Wednesday’s forum are helpful to her in making her choices.
“I value them greatly,” she said.
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Primary Election
The primary election is set for March 3. Early voting begins Tuesday. The contest for prosecuting attorney is a nonpartisan judicial race that will be decided in the March election. The winner of the Republican Party primary race for county judge will face Democrat Dana Deree in November.
Source: NWA Democrat-Gazette
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