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Let’s look in the mirror for a moment Then it’s straight ahead for AAC
of Arkansas.
Te Association of Arkansas Counties is looking back for just a mo- ment after the completion of the latest addition to the complex under the leadership of the current executive director, Chris Villines. Founded in 1968, the association has a long track record of achievement, from legislative advocacy to constituent services. Articles of Incorporation for the AAC were filed April 10, 1968. But
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how did AAC get its start? We’re going to tell that story from a 1993 interview conducted by AAC staff with Jim Pledger and A.A. “Shug” Banks. Pledger was Yell County treasurer for many years, charter board member of the AAC and long-time president of AAC. He served in sev- eral capacities in Gov. Bill Clinton’s administration, including director of the Department of Finance and Administration for several years. He later went on to serve as director of the Arkansas State Fair. Judge Banks served as Mississippi County Judge for 20 years (1961–1980), was a charter board member of the AAC and served as the first president of AAC from 1968 through 1980. Judge Banks died in 2001. Mr. Pledger died in 2006. In that 1993 interview, Jim Pledger said that the idea for the Associa- tion of Arkansas Counties was “born on the beaches of Hawaii.” In the mid-60s a national county government conference was held in Hawaii. In attendance were Judge A.A. “Shug” Banks of Mississippi County and several other Arkansas county officials. It was during this meeting that the idea and the determination to provide the officials of Arkansas with some kind of organizational structure was born. Te first attempt to make this idea a reality came during the 1967 legislative session. However, it failed. As you might imagine, there was much opposition to the counties becoming organized and establishing an organization that would provide representation for all county officials statewide. Tis setback did not deter those county officials such as Judge Banks
and Mr. Pledger who were determined to create a representative orga- nization for county government. In 1969, Senate Bill 142 was filed by Sen. John Bearden and Sen. Olen Hendrix that would create the AAC. Te legislation passed through the Senate, but was then held up in the House. It appeared that it would come down to a tie vote in the House and that the speaker would have to vote so as to determine the outcome of the legislation. It also was heard that the speaker’s support for the counties was wavering and that the vote might go against the county of- ficials. A quick delegation of a couple of county judges was put together, and they paid a visit to the Speaker of the House — Judge Ray Sikes of Little River County — and Judge Banks. Te story goes that the speaker at that time was rumored to be considering a run for the governor’s office. With this knowledge in hand, Judge Sikes reminded the speaker of a couple of facts. Tose facts being that “a person who supports you might figure you have the election won and decide to stay home on election day and mow his yard instead of going to the polls to vote, but a person who opposes you will swim a river to vote against you.” Upon contemplating this sage advice, the speaker wisely voted for the legisla-
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elieve it or not, back in the late 70s on the very spot where our current AAC building sits, there was an old rundown frame house with a pigpen in the back complete with pigs. Pigs! One block away and within sight of the State Capitol
Seems To Me...
tion, and the rest is history. It became Act 92 of 1969 codified as ACA 14- 20-107. (Judge Ray Sikes died in 1989, just about a year before his grandson, Jeff Sikes, first came to work for AAC in 1990. Jeff most recently served as the legislative director for the AAC and is leaving the employ of AAC at the end of July for other opportunities.) Most officials currently in office would not recognize the AAC as it is now from the association of old. Te association now has a nice headquarters and provides many services that it did not and could not provide in those early years. In the beginning, the association was primarily a lob- byist organization for county government with only three staff persons. It took several years to get the various member associations cohesive enough to even put on a successful conference. According to the ’93 Pledger interview the first convention in 1972 was “only somewhat suc- cessful.” Te convention was a one-day affair at the old Lafayette Hotel in Little Rock (now transformed into upscale condominiums known as Lafayette Square). Seminars were held during the day, and a banquet was scheduled for that night. It seems that most of the county officials at that time were not used to overnight meetings in Little Rock, so they simply went home after the meeting was finished. Te banquet was set up to accommodate about 200, but since most officials had already left for home, only 25 showed up. To make matters worse, U.S. Rep. Bill Alexander was the keynote speaker and had flown in from Washington specifically for the banquet. It may seem funny now, but it seemed quite a disaster at the time. Tis is a marked contrast from our annual confer- ences of today. It is worth noting that for the last dozen years or so AAC has had well over 500 county and district officials in attendance at the Annual AAC Conferences, which run from Wednesday through Friday morning. And in August 2013, the conference boasted an attendance of more than 700. Te differences in the quality and attendance during the conferences are not the only differences between the AAC of old days and current days. In the beginning, as might be imagined, our lobbying efforts were
Eddie A. Jones County Consultant
nowhere near as successful as they are now. It took many years to bring all the different associations together and to get them to think in terms of solidarity among all county and district officials. It also took the legislature a few years to really recognize the AAC as the agreed upon representative for all of county government statewide. It took the passage of Amendment 55, landmark legislation that reorganized county govern- ment in Arkansas, to change the AAC into the organization it is now. Today, AAC represents almost 1,400 county and district officials and
nine various associations all under one umbrella. After the passage of Amendment 55 in 1974 and the subsequent passage of the enacting leg- islation, Act 742 of 1977 as amended, county officials were thrust into a new and more complicated system of county government. Quorum courts had new roles and the various constitutional offices were modi- fied to one degree or another. Te old fee system of funding officials was
COUNTY LINES, SPRING 2014
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