Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Daniels has good days, bad days as county judge

Gurdon's Rotary Club had Clark County Judge Ron Daniels as the guest speaker at Thursday, January 23 meeting.

Daniels said since he has been in office there have been good days and bad days.

"This can be expected though when you are taking over something that someone else has been in charge of. Everyone has there own way of running things," he said.

"I have placed a new road foreman over the county road department. Louis Bledsoe was the street department manager of Arkadelphia for years and did a great job there. I know he will do the same for the county. He is liked and respected by the road crew and knows his job.

"I have also placed one of Gurdon's hometown girls as my Administrative Assistant. Dianne Ross was working at the sanitation department, but I knew she would do a great job for me as my assistant.

"I have lots of ideas and plans for Clark County. I want every citizen to know that they matter and I want to hear from them.

"My biggest concern right now is to get our roads fixed. They are in such bad shape that I hope I am not out of budget by August. We are working up around Amity right now hoping to get them going again. I have had some problems with roads in the Vaden Community. There are several bridges in the area we hope to do some work on and I am planning to have the State Highway Department to look at the Ouachita River bridge at Nix's Ferry to see if they can do anything to fix. I know people complain about the log trucks crossing these bridges, and they do put a lot of strain on them, but these people are just trying to make a living and I hope to get the roads and bridges fixed so the loggers can work and the people in the community can feel safe. I am working with Sheriff Troy Tucker right now to try and regulate the road travel in the area.

"Another big concern of mine is the landfill in Smithton. The last county judge was for the landfill, but I stand opposed. Until they can prove to me that Smithton is the absolute only location for this landfill, they cannot convince me that it is a good thing. I have heard rumors that they may even build and side rail for the railroad cars to be able to bring in trash from all over. We do not want that at all," said Daniels.

Daniels suggested that concerned citizens can call International Paper Company in efforts to keep them from selling the land to the landfill company.

He also reminded citizens that he is avaialable at all times and would be glad to discuss any issues anyone has with the county. "I am glad to be in the position I am in. I want to help everyone and my door is open", said Daniels.