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County Lines is the official publication of the Association of Arkansas Counties. It is published quarterly. For advertising inquiries, subscriptions or other information relating to the magazine, please contact Randy M. Kemp at 501.372.7550.
Will retiring
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Eddie A. Jones ejones@arcounties.org
Baby Boomers
MANAGING EDITOR Randy M. Kemp
leave counties bust?
Eddie A. Jones
AAC Executive Director
Association of Arkansas Counties www.arcounties.org
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Eddie A. Jones David Morris, Assistant to the Director Jeanne Hunt, Executive Assistant Mark Whitmore, Chief Legal Counsel Jeff Sikes, Legislative Director Randy Kemp, Communications Director Cindy Posey, Accountant Brenda Hildebrandt, Accountant Brenda Emerson, Receptionist / Special Projects Coordinator AAC E-mail addresses: (initial of first name)(last name)@arcounties.org Debbie Norman, Manager, Risk Mgmt Services Freda Taylor, Administrative Assistant Debbie Lakey, Workers’ Comp Claims Manager Cathy Perry, Administrative Assistant Kim Nash, Workers Comp Claims Examiner Cindy Calvert, Claims Examiner Becky Burnett, Administrative Assistant/Receptionist Barry Burkett, Loss Control Specialist RMS E-mail addresses: (initial of first name)(last name)@aacrms.com If you want to write, call, or visit your AAC headquarters, here is the information you need: Association of Arkansas Counties 1415 West Third Street Little Rock, AR 72201 (501) 372-7550 phone (501) 372-0611 fax
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emember the beginning of your county government career? I was elected to county office in 1980. I must have been oblivious to all the problems – because as I look back... It was a wonderful time; I was surrounded by people my age or slightly older (some quite a bit older... but we seemed close in age). We worked hard together, had county fish fries, county picnics, played co-ed basketball, and started our families. OK – just let me reminisce and wallow for a minute. But you can do the math – we’re closing in on the 30 year mark! There are thousands of county workers and officials (and workers in other sectors as well) around my age who are becoming eligible for retirement. When I do my “informal survey” of the attendees at our affiliate association meetings and at AAC conferences, I see mostly Baby Boomers. Just who are the Boomers? They are those of us born between 1946 and 1964, and we are 77 million strong. The so-called leading-edge Boomers were born between 1946 and 1955 (that’s me), while those born between 1956 and 1964 are referred to as late Boomers. The two groups differ in some very fundamental ways. Leading-edge Boomers, for instance, were eligible for the draft, but the draft lottery had ended by the time the late Boomers came of age. Leading-edge Boomers remember the family’s first black-and-white TV, while late Boomers grew up with a houseful of appliances. Leading-edge Boomers fought for a woman’s right to work, while late Boomers coped with working mothers. The cultural revolution of the late ’50s and the 1960s – with its emphasis on rebellion, romanticism, novelty, experimentation, and distrust of the “system” – had a huge influence on today’s Boomers. This is a source of great amusement to the generation that produced the Boomers – our parents – who have watched their children embrace every stage of life as if we were the first Americans to experience adolescent angst, fall in love, get a job, give birth, raise children, have a mid-life crisis, and reflect on the meaning of life. Let’s face it – Shakespeare wrote about all this stuff centuries ago. The Boomers do, however, share some interesting traits. We are individualists; we are nostalgic; we are young at heart; we are altruistic and spiritual; and we continue to pursue self-discovery, and self-improvement. But we ARE going to retire… even though many of us will continue to work at something… albeit not for a living but because we want to be useful. The reason for this article is not to figure out what makes the Boomers tick – but to simply look at what impact the retirement of the Boomers may have on the county work force in Arkansas, if any.
www.arcounties.org
COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2009-2010
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