After 10 months of study and discussion, the Washington County Quorum Court defeated an ordinance that would have required non-agricultural structures to meet the basic state fire and building codes. Fire and building safety codes save lives, but other political considerations were deemed more important by a majority of our esteemed JPs. The vote was 5-8.Republican JP Butch Pond of Round Mountain led the opposition, claiming that it was just too expensive to build to code and have it inspected. Sharon Beasely also spoke against the ordinance and said the government should stay out of people's business and allow them to live in a death trap if they wished. "I have a right to build my own tin shack," she said. "Abraham Lincoln lived in a log cabin and that's good enough for me."
JP Steve Zega said the ordinance would ensure that the shelter meets the basic standards and protect the shelter that people buy and invest in. “The purpose of code enforcement is to ensure that the house you buy doesn’t kill you. This is a need, a need that has increased exactly proportionately with the growth of this county,” he said. County resident Sharon Green spoke in favor of the ordinance because it would protect home buyers from shady developers who are cutting costs that no one will notice until it’s too late.
The yahoos voting to kill it and encourage the proliferation of substandard homes were Joe Patterson, R-Springdale; Ann Harbison, D-West Fork; Mary Ann Spears, R-Farmington; Jack Norton, D-Morrow; Butch Pond, R-Round Mountain; Jessie Bryant, D-Fayetteville; David Daniel, R-Springdale; Tom Lundstrum Sr., R-Springdale.
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