Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rodgers Still Helping Others As She Nears End OF Representative's Race

By JOHN MILLER

Nothing has changed for Sandra Rodgers.

She's still working to help others while campaigning for the seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives from District 28 as a Democrat.

While knocking on doors, attending functions and holding down a full-time job, Rodgers also has worked to help get a rural water project underway for Fulton, McNab and Saratoga. However, all she did, she said, is to help the Southwest Arkansas Water System get funded. The people of the region were credited with doing the hard work.

According to Rodgers, Alice and Phillip Knighton were the two who spearheaded the effort for the water system, which will affect about 1,400 households in the three communities.

"I helped out with letters and give them some guidance," Rodgers said. "They were already headed in the right direction."

Last year, she helped with a Christmas pageant fundraiser to purchase a jaws of life for the Nevada County Rescue Unit.

"I've always worked hard to make Nevada County a better place," Rodgers said. "That's what I'll do for the state if elected."

The candidate has not changed her platform in any way since winning the nomination in a runoff June 11, nor the May 21 primary.

She said juvenile crime is still one of the main areas she will focus her attention on if elected Nov. 5 in the general election.

Rodgers also plans to work in economic development and to examine the state's Medicare system, along with working on issues pertaining to education.

In discussing the crime issue, Rodgers said the juvenile code needs to be overhauled, as does the state's criminal code in general because of violent crime.

There needs to be tougher laws on having weapons in public places, she said. At this time, it's a misdemeanor to take a weapon into a courthouse.

She favors utilizing half-way houses and group homes as a partial solution to the juvenile crime problem. Many of these offenders, Rodgers said, need a structured environment because they don't have one at home.

In talking about education, Rodgers said operating schools should be under local control and not the state or federal government.

She also supports school vouchers.

"This system needs a lot of changes," she said. "The power should be in the district's control."

Rodgers has worked 12 years as a legal secretary. She also worked for the South Central Drug Task Force for six years, and in so doing, worked with the Arkansas Department of Finance Administration (ADFA), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and FBI.

She has also written grants and her work has helped send numerous drug dealers to Arkansas prisons while she worked with the task force. During her time with the task force, five dealers were given life sentences, while others were handed long-term prison sentences.

Currently, Rodgers works with her husband, Danny, who is the deputy prosecuting attorney in Nevada County.

"I want to represent all the people," she said. "The people's input will be my output. I plan on calling people with expertise in different areas for advice during the session.

"I'll do all I can for the people of Hempstead and Nevada counties. I have a genuine interest in the people here."

Though it's been a "long, hard campaign," Rodgers said she has enjoyed the meeting and greeting of the past year on the trail. "I love it," she said. "I like visiting and having a good time, but I'm looking forward to November."

Should she be elected, Rodgers plans on working to make decisions which will put the district in a better position for the 21st Century and not just the present time. "I will look at how my decisions affect the future," she said.

"There will be a great opportunity for change this session," Rodgers continued. "I hope we can make changes for the better. I'm anxious to get started."

Rodgers grew up in Hempstead and Nevada counties, graduating high school from Laneburg and attending Henderson State University, where she studied pre- engineering.

She and Danny moved on Rocky Mound Road so she could be closer to her mother, Elsie Reyenga.

"My roots will always be here," she said of the Nevada-Hempstead region.