Tuesday, March 30, 2010

TUESDAY MARCH 30, 2010
6:20 AM

Jerry and I went to Benton yesterday to pickup a truck that the city had bought from a dealer in Benton. I liked the pickup except for none thing. The seat was very hard. The city purchased the truck from the state bid.

On the way we stopped in Sherwood to check on a recall for one of our garbage trucks. We had a good visit with the owner of the company that supplied the truck body. It turns out that our truck will have to have the repairs made. The company will contact the city when they receive the parts to repair the body.

On Friday of this week I will be going to Wynne High School to speak to some resource classes. The instructor told me that I would speak to a different group every twenty minutes from 8:30 to 11:00. It is always interesting to answer questions from young people about city government. I look forward to meeting with the students. (Remember I spent 30 and 1/2 years with high school students.)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

THURSDAY MARCH 25, 2010
9:10 AM

It has been quiet with the city for the past several day. There have not been any major problems or situations to deal with.

I did talk with Alderman Baldwin this week and he plans to meet one hour before the council meeting with the city council members and discuss the Wynne Water Utilities. I also talked with
Alderman Hirons and he plans to ask for a vote on this issue at the April city council meeting. He said, and I agree, it is time to make a decision on this matter.

Pat is going to the heart doctor in Memphis today. I hope that they can get her heart regulated. Amy plans to go with her to the doctor and Pat is going to spend the night with her and return to Wynne tomorrow.

Monday, March 15, 2010

MONDAY MARCH 15, 2010
1:00 PM

I spent the weekend in Memphis with Amy and Pat. I spent most of Saturday watching basketball games. I saw some very good games. It was too cold to be outside much.

Sunday Pat, Amy, and I went to Iuka to visit family. We visited with mother for a while and Amy and Pat went to a shower for our niece. They said the shower was very good and they had a good time visiting with friends and family. I did not go to the shower. I stayed with mother. David came out and we got caught up on what we have been doing. He has been busy since the first of the year with his practice. He said that he has had a very good tax business so far this year.

I watched Mississippi State on Friday night and Saturday night. They won both days but came up one point short in overtime for the conference championship. I had to listen to that game, because mother does not have a TV. They did not make the NCAA tournament, but will play in the NIT. They had a good year, but they did not have very many wins over good teams.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

TUESDAY MARCH 9, 2010
7:30 PM

I am at home after attending the monthly meeting of the Wynne City Council. The meeting only lasted 15 minutes. There were only two items on the agenda. Item one: The council accepted a bid from Henerd Equipment for a new chipper for the street department. I applied for a grant last year and was awarded $30,000.00 to purchase a chipper. The bid for the chipper was $29,842.00. Item two: A citizen requested permission to place mobile home on a lot that was not zoned for mobile homes. The Wynne Planning Commission had turned down his request and tonight the council voted to follow the planning commission and not allow the variance.

This short meeting will make up for some of the long meetings we have held in the past.

Monday, March 8, 2010

MONDAY MARCH 8, 2010
2:30 PM

I have an opponent in the election this year. Philip Bankston has filed as an independent candidate for mayor. That means that the election for mayor will be in November.
MONDAY MARCH 8, 2010
6:18 AM

The Wynne City Council will meet tomorrow night for the regular monthly meeting. The agenda is very short. There are only two items to be discussed. Last year I applied for a grant to purchase a new wood chipper. We were awarded the grant and we will accept bids today and award the bid tomorrow night. We also have a request to place a mobile home on a lot in ward 2. The meeting should be short.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

SUNDAY MARCH 7, 2010
8:05 AM

I am at Amy's in Memphis. I came over to celebrate Pat's birthday. We celebrated by helping Amy rake her leaves. It took quite a while, but we all enjoyed the warm weather and working together. Her yard really looks good with all of the leaves gone.

After our work we all went to supper and celebrate Pat's birthday. We had a real good time. After supper we went to Memorial Park Cemetery. The cemetery is quite large and is very impressive. Amy said that she had conducted several burials there during her time working in the funeral business.

Friday, March 5, 2010

FRIDAY MARCH 5, 2010
10:50 AM

I filed this morning to run for mayor for another term. I have enjoyed my service to the citizens of Wynne over the past few years. I hope that they will give me the opportunity to serve another term.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

THURSDAY MARCH 4, 2010
5:40 PM

I have just returned from a memorial service for Mrs. Dallas. She was a very sweet lady. She has been in bad health for the past 12 to 15 years. Her son and Mr. McCallum conducted the service, both did a very good job of remembering Mrs. Dallas.

The East Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Board met this morning in Wynne. None of the officers were present, so I volunteered to conduct the meeting. This board has struggled with flow control for my 12 years as mayor. After a lot of meeting and discussions over the past year the board changed our rules and adopted regulations that require all class one trash to go to the district controlled landfills. The City of Weiner met with the board this morning and asked for a wavier from this regulation. The board listened and had a good discussion about their situation. The board agreed to study the problem and try to come up with a solution that both sides can agree on and not cause problems for other cities and counties in the district. If we do come up with a solution, it will take at least 60 days to get the regulations changed. Government can be slow.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

WEDNESDAY MARCH 3, 2010
7:00 PM

I wrote earlier tonight about my trip to North Little Rock. I drove my Camaro as I usually do when I go out of town. This morning I was removing the cover for the Camaro as the kids from the Village were waiting to catch the school bus. One of the little girls asked me if the Camaro belonged to my daughter. I told her no, the Camaro was mine. She then asked about my old truck. I told her that it was in the garage. One of the little boys wanted to see my truck. When he looked at it he said that it was a nice OLD truck. I agreed with him.
WEDNESDAY MARCH 3, 2010
6:00 PM

I spent most of the day in North Little Rock attending a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Arkansas Municipal League. We had a very good meeting and held some important discussion about problems and solutions for those problems. I have enjoyed my service on this committee. I have gained important information about the problems that affect city government in Arkansas. I have been able to have input in the discussions and have had to make some difficult votes on several issues over the years. I have also enjoyed the friends I have made from around the state that I have served with on this committee.

A few weeks ago I wrote about on of my mayor friends who had lost a son. The man responsible for that death was charged with murder. Today I talked with my friend and ask him if he knew the motive for the killing of his son. He told me that the person charged in his sons death planned to kill three people on the night his son was killed. He also killed a woman on the night of my friends son death. He did not kill three, he was stopped before he had another opportunity to kill again. My friend said that his son just happened to be in the path of this killer. No connection with the killer.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

TUESDAY MARCH 2, 2010
10:15 AM

Jerry and I met with the city council street committee last night. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the direction the street department should go in the maintenance of our streets.
The amount for this work in the street department has not been increased in about twenty something years. During most of those years the street department contracted the overlay of street using about 3500 tons of asphalt. The cost of asphalt has more than tripled during my term as mayor. Two years ago this committee recommended that we use chip and seal rather than the small amount of asphalt we could afford.

There have been a number of comments from alderman and citizens about this process. There have been positive and negative comments. There is another option, using the same amount of money, that we could use. This process is filling and sealing only the cracks in the streets. The committee had a good discussion on the options. They agreed to look at all three options and meet again in April and make a recommendation about how to proceed this year.

Monday, March 1, 2010

MONDAY MARCH 1, 2010
3:15 PM

I talked about a problem that I had to deal with this morning on my blog that I wrote early this morning. I said in my blog that I only had one side and that I would get the other side and then make a decision on how to solve the problem.

I have now gotten the other side and made a decision on how to deal with the problem. I am glad that this problem in on its way to being taken care of.

Mr. Dallas' former wife passed away this morning in Texas. Please remember this family in your prayers as they go through this difficult time. (Mr. Dallas is a City of Wynne Alderman)
MONDAY MARCH 1, 2010
4:30 AM

Friday was a difficult day at work. I have an unusual problem that I have to deal with. I have started the process and will continue over the next several days to take care of this problem. At the present time I only have one side of the problem. I am going to get the other side of the problem this morning. I will then make a decision on how to properly solve this issue.

Today starts a big day in the life of many citizens of the state. The filling period for elective office starts today at noon and ends next Monday at noon. It will be interesting to see who decides who will decide to seek office in the state, and who will seek office in Wynne and Cross County.

Pat has been in Wynne this weekend. It was good to have her home for a few days. She has enjoyed visiting with Amy in Memphis the past few weeks. Amy seems to be doing very well.