6 minute read
Collectors honor retiring member
Collectors honor retiring members at December conference
Top: Ralph Burns (middle) presented the retiring collectors with Capitol Citations from the Secretary of State’s office. The county collectors are (from left to right) Marsha Phillips (Craighead), Steve Simon (Faulkner), Rita Chandler (Pope), David Rush (Washington), Gary Gregory (Little River) and Marcell Jacks (Cleveland).
Middle Left: AAC Executive Director and retiring Pope County Collector Rita Chandler pose for a photograph.
Middle Right: Coach J.C. Comet was the guest speaker, using sports metaphors throughout his speech to usher the retiring collectors into the next “quarter” of their lives.
Bottom Right: Columbia County Collector Cindy Walker, the outgoing president of the Arkansas County Tax Collectors Association, says a few words to honor the retiring members, as Little River Collector Gary Gregory and Cleveland County Collector Marcell Jacks look on..
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Meetings
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discussion on a complicated issue, for the chair to summarize with clarity the question being voted on. • Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know. Hopefully, you’ll have done your research before the meeting starts, but there’s always a chance that someone will hit you with an issue you know nothing about. If this happens, remain calm. Use the old trick of repeating the question or using a phrase such as “that’s a very interesting point.” This gives you a few seconds to get your answer straight in your mind, reducing the possibility of stuttering or sounding unsure. If you don’t know the answer, admit it. Say, “I wasn’t aware of that particular issue, does anyone else here have any knowledge about it?” If nobody else speaks up, ask the questioner to see you after the meeting to give you some background.
It could well be something important. Even if it’s not, you’ll look good in front of your audience. • Thank your audience. Always thank attendees once the meeting is finished. It is common courtesy, and people appreciate it.
Here is something else that is very important — keeping a good and accurate record of the meeting. We call it “taking minutes.” It’s a boring job, but someone’s got to do it. Under Arkansas law the secretary of the quorum court is the county clerk unless the court, through ordinance, decides to hire someone else from the staff of either the county clerk or the county judge [ACA 14-14-902(a)(1)(2)(3)(A)(B)(C)].
Taking minutes may not be the most glamorous job in the world, but it’s absolutely necessary to avoid conflict and mixed messages later on. Here’s how to produce a good set of minutes.Minutes need to be:
• Accurate. They must be a true record of what occurred. That means no drifting off during finer points of
discussion. • Clear and unambiguous. Minutes cannot be open to interpretation or discussion. Otherwise, they’re pointless. • Consistently structured. Decide on a structure (bullet points or numbers are the most common) and stick to it. Your minutes will be a lot easier to read, and they will look a lot more professional. • Brief. You should summarize discussions and decisions rather than attempt to get them down verbatim.
It’s also vital that whomever takes the minutes understands the subject. A confused note taker will produce confused minutes. If something is not clear, ask for clarification from the speaker or the chair. It could save a lot of time, confusion or disagreement later on.
The AAC has a Justice of the Peace Procedural Manual under the “Publications” tab on its website. The manual contains a Procedural Guide for Arkansas County Quorum Court Meetings, found in Chapter 6. This is recommended reading and study for every quorum court justice and every county judge.
I leave you with this last thought for a smooth and effective public meeting. The “attitude” and “temper” should be checked at the door. Arthur Gordon relates this personal story, “At a turbulent meeting once I lost my temper and said some harsh and sarcastic things. The proposal I was supporting was promptly defeated. My father who was there, said nothing, but that night, on my pillow I found a marked passage from Aristotle: ‘Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.’”
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