From the Director’s Desk

County Lines

County Lines ([ISSN 2576-1137 (print) and ISSN 2576-1145 (online)] 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 Christy L. Smith at 501.372.7550.

Executive Director / Publisher Chris Villines Communications Director/ Managing Editor Christy L. Smith Communications Coordinator/ Editor Holland Doran

AAC Executive Board:

Debbie Wise – President

Brandon Ellison – Vice President

Rhonda Cole – Secretary-Treasurer Jeanne Andrews Terri Harrison Debra Buckner Sandra Cawyer Kevin Cleghorn Terry McNatt Debbie Cross Brenda DeShields Ellen Foote Jimmy Hart Gerone Hobbs Bill Hollenbeck John Montgomery Heather Stevens David Thompson

National Association of Counties (NACo) Board Affiliations

Debbie Wise: NACo board member. She is the

Randolph County Circuit Clerk, vice president of the AAC Board of Directors and chair of AAC’s Legislative Committee. Ted Harden: Finance & Intergovernmental Affairs Steering Committee. He serves on the

Jefferson County Quorum Court. David Hudson: Vice Chair of NACo’s Justice and

Public Safety Steering Committee. He is the

Sebastian County Judge and member of the

Rural Action Caucus Steering Committee. Barry Hyde: Justice and Public Safety Steering

Committee. He is the Pulaski County Judge. Gerone Hobbs: Membership Committee. He is the Pulaski County Coroner. Kade Holliday: Arts and Culture Committee and

International Economic Development Task

Force. He is the Craighead County Clerk.

AAC DIRECTOR’S DESK ‘Strength in numbers’ axiom is evident with opioid lawsuit

My wife and I attended a wedding recently. It was a wonderful outdoor event with the clouds shielding the sun just enough to Chris Villines keep temperatures comfortable. We are at AAC the age that many weddings have lined our path, and one Executive Director wedding metaphor we’ve heard many times is the “cord of three strands.”

For those of you who have forgotten this metaphor — because you all have heard it, it is a simple life-truth based on Ecclesiastes 4:12. It is often applied to weddings. The verse reads, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Of course, it is often applied in the marriage ceremony as being two strands standing for the couple, with the third being God woven into the marriage.

What is interesting about this scripture is that it is contextually seeded in labor, not marriage. To use it only in connection to marriage is short sighted. Strength in numbers is an axiom known through the ages.

This idea of a bond made stronger through unity is something the state of Arkansas and her citizens are now witnessing firsthand, as evidenced by the cover shot of this magazine. The counties, cities and state of Arkansas are strategically unified in a landmark opioid lawsuit that has been filed in Crittenden County.

While part of me laments the idea that we have let so many opportunities for unity pass us by, I am reassured of the hope at all levels of government to take good care of our citizens in critical times like these. Over the last few months we have had numerous requests for interviews on this lawsuit. Media outlets from CNN to Newsweek to HBO have contacted us to visit about our unique approach. To answer their questions as different groups focused on the same purpose has been an enlightening experience.

Counties, cities and the state have very different damages because of the opioid abuse in Arkansas, but there are so many shared spaces of gray area that it becomes difficult to see where the city issue ends and the county one begins, or the state. To solve the jail overcrowding and misapplication of incarceration for substance abuse is largely a county problem. To solve homelessness caused by heroin abuse in the urban back alleys is largely a city problem. And to give the tools to our medical providers to educate them on when opioid prescriptions might not be appropriate is largely a state problem.

We are all positioned differently but focused on the same goal. Each of these three levels of government has different tools they can contribute to help eradicate opioid abuse. Mother Teresa once said, “I can do things you cannot; you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”

This is the landscape of the Arkansas affront to the opioid epidemic. And while I am disheartened by the problem, I am at the same time so very proud to be a part

of this cooperative effort. A key word being bounced around right now in our political world is “civility.” We crave the idea of treating one another with regard, especially in the political arena where polarization has obliterated peaceful discourse. What we are doing right now in Arkansas in this lawsuit is a model for unity and civility.

It is simply three layers of government working together to find the solutions for our common society. Government has long paid the price for opioid abuse, and with the march toward fentanyl and heroin we stand at the precipice of a drug disaster that could dwarf any we’ve seen before. Civility is borne of one common goal, to eliminate to the best of our ability this scourge on our state.

The unity of counties, cities and the state in this process has galvanized resolve, and we look forward not only to explaining the problem, but also to working through the prevention, education and treatment needs we will find as we form solutions. As someone who has worked “The unity of counties, cities and the state in this process has galvanized resolve, and we look forward not only to explaining in government for almost 20 years, I find myself thankful the problem, but also to working through the prevention, education and for the many treatment needs we will find as we form solutions. ” people we work with who realize that while our processes may be different, when we focus on the end results and work together, civility reigns. This cord is made strong, not by three strands, but by the hundreds and thousands of strands woven together in our state. What we can accomplish … what we WILL accomplish … is a testament to this strong braid.

Arkansas’ Premier Pavement Maintenance & Safety Contractor

● Pavement Maintenance Services ● Municipal Road Striping ● Airport Pavement Maintenance ● Guardrail Maintenance ● Traffic Control Services

Call (479)262‐6160

www.custompavement.com