BENTONVILLE — Benton County Judge Dave Bisbee used his company to perform more than $15,000 worth of remodeling work on the county assessor’s and collector’s offices at 300 W. Poplar St. in Rogers.

Bisbee said he chose his company because the first estimate he received was too high at $16,560. He also said the work needed to be completed by the first week of January. The county paid $15,443 for the work, which was not completed as of the end of business Friday.

Bisbee owns Valley Homes, Inc., although he said he is in the process of giving the company to longtime employee Gary Wierman. Wierman applied for and received a building permit from the city of Rogers on Dec. 11 to perform the renovations. That was four days before Wierman submitted an estimate for the work, according to a timeline Bisbee gave last Wednesday.

When asked about the dates on Saturday, Bisbee said, “you have got me stumped.” Bisbee also said Jim Edens, the county construction supervisor, handled all of the paperwork. The only thing Bisbee said he knew about was the amount of the estimate.

Edens said Wierman submitted a verbal estimate for the project before getting started. The written estimate is dated Dec. 15, four days after the work commenced because Edens later requested the written documentation for his files, Edens said.

The building permit lists the address for Valley Homes as 14068 Pyramid Drive, Bisbee’s home address.

Arkansas Ethics Commission Director Graham Sloan said Bisbee’s actions did not violate state statute, but he questioned whether the judge’s actions were prudent.

“The mere fact that you have entered into a contract or caused the county to enter into a contract with your company is not a direct violation of our statutes,” Sloan said.

“There is stuff sometimes that does not look right or does not pass the smell test but that does not violate our statutes. But, just because something does not violate our statutes, that does not make it good public policy.”

Justice of the Peace Robert Stephenson of Siloam Springs said he has contacted the Arkansas Contractor’s Licensing Board to file a formal complaint and plans to ask Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Van Stone to look into the matter.

“Right is right and wrong is wrong. The mere appearance of a conflict of interest is a conflict,” Stephenson said. “I cannot and I will not abide by it, and I will request a full investigation into the matter.”

Bisbee said money from the work went to Wierman, and neither he nor his company benefited financially.Wierman used Bisbee’s company for the contractor’s license and the insurance, Bisbee said. Neither Wierman nor his company, Custom Cabinetry of Rogers, has a contractor’s license, said Burkett Wootton, a senior investigator with the licensing board.

“Where is the news in this? What is the value here?” Bisbee asked Friday when questioned about why he used his company to do the work instead of finding another contractor. “If I am going to be the county judge and do business, it is going to have to be with someone I know or else we are not going to be able to do anything about

The Arkansas Secretary of State lists Valley Homes as a for-profit corporation in good standing. Bisbee is the company’s registered agent and president. Bisbee’s wife, Linda, is listed as the company’s secretary. The only other officer listed is the tax preparer, N.R. Vantine.

Justice of the Peace Craig Brown of Rogers said Bisbee should not have allowed Wierman and Valley Homes to do the work for ethical reasons.

“But when you do not have ethics, then you just do not give a damn,” Brown said.

Brown, who owns Quality Glass in Rogers, donated the glass used in the Siloam Springs Health Department to avoid the look of any impropriety on his behalf, he said. Finding A Contractor

Bisbee said he chose to use Wierman and Valley Homes for the remodel job only after receiving an estimate from Ryan Sumrall. Sumrall is the contractor who remodeled Circuit Court Judge Doug Schrantz’ courtroom and the Siloam Springs Health Department in 2009.

Bisbee said that County Collector Gloria Peterson and County Assessor Bill Moutray thought Sumrall’s bid of $16,560 was too high.

Last Wednesday, Bisbee said the collector and the assessor asked him to get another bid on that day, a Tuesday, and they wanted him to start work by Friday and to work through the weekend so the job would be done by the first week in January.

Peterson confirmed Bisbee’s accounts. Moutray said he did not speak to Bisbee about the bid.

“I was not in on the bidding at all. When the price was told to me, I said it was too expensive and that is all I remember saying,” Moutray said.

Moutray said he only told Peterson the price was too high, not Bisbee. When asked about the discrepancy on Friday, Bisbee said he only spoke with Peterson, not with Moutray.

Moutray confirmed that he wanted the remodel to be finished quickly.

“I only made the comment that we had to be up and running by the first of January because our assessments start,” Moutray said.

Jim Edens, the county’s construction supervisor, told Bisbee he would be unable to secure another bid for the project in such a short time frame, Edens said on Wednesday.

It was at that point that Bisbee told Edens to give Wierman and Valley Homes a call, both Edens and Bisbee said during a joint interview.

After submitting a $15,000 bid for the project on Dec. 15, Wierman went to work under Valley Homes, Bisbee said.

Bisbee sought approval from the Quorum Court for the expenditure on Dec. 17.

“He (Wierman) was the low bidder. I had absolutely no financial gain from it,” Bisbee said. “If I am going to try to steal, I am not going to do it over a $15,000 job.”

Wierman said Bisbee has not made a dime off of the remodel job.

As of noon Friday, Wierman had not completed the remodeling project, Bisbee said.

Bisbee also said that Wierman has a checking account separate from his business accounts.

On Dec. 30, the county Treasurer’s Office wrote a check payable to Valley Homes in the amount of $15,443.12. The address listed on the check is Wierman’s home address, 8131 Elm Lane, Rogers.

The back of the check is not endorsed. It lists only an account number.

On Jan. 2, Wierman filed a W-9 tax form with the County Comptroller. The W-9 lists the business name as Valley Homes, Inc., along with Wierman’s name. The address listed on the W-9 is Bisbee’s home address, 14068 Pyramid Drive, Rogers.

Bisbee said all of the corporation’s mail still goes to his home address because it is the address reflected on the corporate records. Bisbee said he simply gives all of the corporation’s mail to Wierman when he receives it.

Both Moutray and Peterson agreed as elected officials for Benton County they would not use companies they own to perform work for the county, regardless of whether they were being compensated.

“No, I would not,” Peterson said. “In fact, I have had employees that said they had friends with supplies we could use in our remodel and I said we could not. It is just not good.” Whose Company?

Bisbee said he has been in the process of giving the company to Wierman. Bisbee said it’s a process he has been working on for the last year and he hopes to have it completed by the end of February.

Bisbee told the Committee of 13 during its March 10, 2009, meeting he was giving the company to Wierman.

Bisbee said that in May, he and his wife met with their attorney, Howard Slinkard, to finalize Valley Homes’ annual minutes.

In a copy of those minutes, sent Friday to the Daily Record by Slinkard, Wierman is named a vice president of the corporation and is given authority to “bid on, negotiate for and execute contracts for the corporation and that his signature as vice president shall be sufficient to bind the corporation in all such matters.”

The Secretary of State has no record of Wierman being named vice president of the company in the annual franchise tax report filed with them on May 20, said Natasha Naragon, public affairs coordinator for the Arkansas Secretary of State.

When asked why the Secretary of State has no record of Wierman being named vice president of Valley Homes, Slinkard said that “officers could change every year and the Secretary of State’s office would not know. They do not want to know it and they do not care.”

According to Arkansas Code 4-27-1622, all corporations are required to file an annual franchise tax report. That report is to include the names of all principal officers at the time of filing, Naragon said, noting that Wierman’s name does not appear as a principal officer in that report.

Linda Bisbee applied to have the company’s contractor license renewed on Aug. 31, 2009. The license was renewed on Oct. 9, Wootton said.

Justice of the Peace James Wozniak of Bella Vista said the situation has ethical problems.

“If his name is still on the company, he still owns the company and he should not have done this,” Wozniak said. “Until he is 100 percent out of it and all of the papers

News, Pages 6 on 01/13/2010