The holiday season was in full swing Monday afternoon at the county Finance Committee meeting as Justice JoAnne Henton passed out gifts and the justices in attendance said “Merry Christmas” to one another.
Henton said, “ Being a justice on the Quorum Court for the past two-years has really been a very learning experience and most definitely I’ve enjoyed it and it’s been a rewarding experience and I most definitely look forward to serving the next two years with all you handsome men… I have something for you and I appreciate everything that everyone did for me during my fall.”
Acting Finance Chairman Bill Nelson added, “ Justice Henton, we thank you very much. That is mighty nice of you and we appreciate you.”
Justice Rick Ash, who doesn’t serve on the Finance Committee, brought in a bid on a van for the Coroner’s Office for the southend of the county.
Ash stated that County Coroner Mike Godsey just wanted a base model in either black or a dark blue car. The base price on the full size Dodge van is $21,279 from Red River Dodge. Ash also mentioned that Godsey would want to add a petition to seal off the back of the van from the front.
Justice Barry Ball stated that the Road Department has bought some Dodge pickup trucks from the same place and it worked out really well.
Justice Ken Kennemore made motion and the bid is headed to the full court.
Ash said that Sheriff Dale Cook called him last week stating that he had $15,000 in his vehicle purchasing account for the 2018 year and also after an accident with a vehicle flooding out and there is an $11,000 check out there that hasn’t been received yet. So, he wants to buy a new truck. Ash stated the company that Cook buys them from has four 2018 models on the lot.
Nelson stated that if he has the money and wants to do it then the QC should allow him to purchase it.
Justice Neil Burge made the motion to send it to the full court and Kennemore seconded.
Ball asked to speak and talked about his time on the QC.
Ball said, “I have been on this court for 10 years and I have thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve learned a lot. The first thing that I learned as I came on in ’09, about the third meeting we had we were about to lose the hospital and I wanted to find out what was going on and so I asked how much does it cost to run the hospital and they said $479,000. I was like that’s a lot for a whole month and they were like no that’s two weeks. So I got a rude awakening real quick it cost a lot of money to run the hospital, but anyways we worked that out and did real well with it.”
Kennemore, who is also leaving, stated it has been fun.
Henton added, “We are going to thouroughly miss the both of you…we are also going to miss the judge. I wish she could run and I’d finance her whole campaign because she has done an excellent job.”
Nelson responded, “ Maybe we can talk her into running four years from now… Judge, if I could have handpicked somebody to take [the late County] Judge [Randy] Carney’s place I couldn’t have done better than you.”
Kennemore added, “ Before I ever knew her when she took the job as Judge Carney’s assistant my wife said, ‘Judge Carney hired Terri Brassfield from us,’ because she was working at the school at the time and Tiffany said, ‘You got a good one there.’ She said she was mad because he hired her and she didn’t lie. Her reputation precedes her.”
Burge added that they served on the school board together and he wasn’t surprised at what she could do.