Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Huckabee In Area For Community Forum Programs

Gov. Mike Huckabee and first lady Janet Huckabee will spend Thursday in Arkadelphia as part of the governor's community forum program. They will be joined by almost a dozen Cabinet members.

The community forum program allows the governor to spend full days in Arkansas cities on a regular basis, meeting with as many groups as possible. The most recent community forum was held April 26 in Rogers.

During community forums, the governor starts his day with a 7 a.m. meeting with local business and government leaders. The forum days include meetings with public school administrators, ministers and area civic clubs. Each community forum ends with a town meeting.

"A community forum day allows me to visit a lot of people and hear their concerns," the governor said. "It gives area residents a chance to ask whatever questions they have about state government without having to come to Little Rock. By Thursday night, there should be nobody in Clark County who hasn't at least had an opportunity to speak with me and key members of our staff and Cabinet.

"Visiting Arkadelphia is special since this was the first city where Janet and I lived after getting married. We were also there the morning after the March 1, 1997, tornado that devastated large parts of the city. It has been amazing to watch the progress Arkadelphia has made the past four years as it has recovered from one of the worst tornadoes in Arkansas history."

The governor and cabinet members will begin their day with a breakfast at the Ouachita Commons, the new Ouachita Baptist University cafeteria. It's one of the finest on-campus dining facilities in the country. Huckabee is a Ouachita graduate and his daughter, Sarah, is the freshman class president at Ouachita.

"The 7 a.m. meeting will be an excellent opportunity to talk about our economic development plans as a state, especially as they relate to Clark County and the rest of southwest Arkansas," the governor said.

At 8:15 a.m., the governor will meet with ministers at Berry Chapel on the Ouachita campus. Huckabee pastored a local church when he was a student at Ouachita.

"Ministers have a special perspective on the community and I always want to hear their concerns," Huckabee said.

At 9:15 a.m. the governor will visit students at Arkadelphia High School on Arkansas 8 West and see the construction projects taking place at the school.

"I look forward to events involving students," the governor said. "There are exciting things happening in our public schools. Whenever I'm in a community, I try to point out the work being done by students, teachers and administrators."

At 10:15 a.m. the governor will meet with public school administrators from four area districts at the new Arkadelphia Town Hall at 700 Clay Street. The Town Hall is one of the anchors of the downtown revitalization effort.

"There was no bigger issue in the recently completed legislative session than improving public education," Huckabee said. "I now need to gather input from those on the front lines about what we did at the state Capitol."

At noon the governor will address a combined meeting of area civic clubs at the Garrison Activity and Conference Center on the Henderson State University campus. The governor will give a major address concerning the accomplishments of this year's legislative session.

Beginning at 1:15 p.m. the governor will take a walking tour of the Henderson campus.

"Henderson is one of our state's most important institutions and has a long history of educating Arkansans," the governor said. "The face of the campus has changed with a massive building program in recent years. I'm excited about seeing the changes that have been made."

At 2:45 p.m. the governor will address more than 100 public school teachers who are attending a meeting sponsored by the Dawson Educational Cooperative in the Caplinger Airway Science Academic Center on the Henderson campus."Achieving the $3,000 raise was the priority of my legislative package," Huckabee said. "It will be fun to visit with teachers and talk about the additional steps we plan to take to make the profession more attractive."

At 3 p.m. the governor will cross the ravine to the Ouachita campus for a reception in the Speer Pavillion along the banks of the Ouachita River.

The day will conclude with a picnic and town meeting on the lawn of the Clark County Courthouse at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will be served, a band will provide entertainment and Huckabee will answer questions from those in the audience.

"I hope everyone in the area will make an attempt to attend the picnic as we celebrate the progress that has been made in the four years since the tornado," Huckabee said. "It's a chance for people to let us know what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong. During community forums, we like to do more listening than talking. You learn how to improve government by getting away from these marble halls at the state Capitol and listening to folks out in the state. Our trip to Arkadelphia will allow us to do just that."