(Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of podcasts and articles featuring the candidates running for Cleveland County Judge. The interview can be streamed on Apple Podcast, Spotify or over www.clevelandcountyherald.com)
RISON - Jim Houston of the Rye community hopes to use his years of experience in industrial operations management to create more efficient operations in county government and spur economic development in the county.
Houston is one of four candidates seeking the Republican nomination for Cleveland County Judge. The other three candidates are Stephen McClellan of New Edinburg, Rosemary Sinclair of the Staves community, and Rickey Spencer of Kingsland.
Houston acknowledges that many people may not know him having lived in the county for about 20 months. However, he said he has been busy knocking on doors to introduce himself, hear feedback from residents and share his vision for the county.
A native of Drew County and a graduate of Drew Central High School, Houston had an extensive career in industrial operations and also served for two terms on the Faulkner County Quorum Court.
Houston said his career in operations took him to cities across the U.S., Mexico and even into Southeast Asia. With some encouragement from his wife, Houston said he returned to the states for a job in the Conway area before retiring. Since he no longer had any constraints to stay in the Central Arkansas area, Houston said he and his wife decided to move to the Rye community to be closer to his children and grandchildren in Monticello and Warren.
It didn't take Houston long to get involved in local politics. He has taken an active role with the Cleveland County Republican Party with one of his primary duties being to help line up speakers for the group's monthly meetings.
Having grown up in a Democratic household like most Arkansans at the time, Houston said it was when he saw the amount of taxes taken out of his paycheck that he started to look at his political options.
"When I started working and I started looking at the net amount that was in my payroll, you know, in my paycheck, I said, 'You know, okay, we got to do something about taxing.'," he said. "And so I've been an advocate of of lowering taxes and that's where I found a similar mindset to reducing taxes was within the Republican Party." Houston said he was part of the conservative Tea Party movement that emerged in 2009 advocating reduced government spending and lower taxes.
While he had assisted some political candidates with their campaigns, Houston said he was encouraged to run for justice of the peace in Faulkner County to represent the Mayflower area. He was elected to two two-year terms on the court, serving on the roads committee.
Biggest Issues
When asked about what he felt were the biggest issues or challenges facing Cleveland County, Houston answered jobs. “One of the biggest issues I see is the lack of employment here and the lack of jobs,” Houston said. “I think there are ways that that we can look at expanding the employer base here, but it’s going to take some out of the box thinking.”
Houston said he heard about the state geologist investigating some deposits of magnetite and other possible rare earth minerals in Cleveland County, and visited with him about the viability of mining that magnetite. He said the geologist told him it is located about 3,500 feet below the surface and there is currently no technology available to reach that depth without simply digging a hole that deep.
But he said the geologist did tell him there is a type of clay closer to the surface that is used in the production of porcelain. Houston asked about the possibility of recruiting a business that could turn that clay into porcelain products like sinks, tubs, etc.
“That’s something that could be looked at and reviewed for the county,” he said.
In addition, Houston said he has “this personal thing” about converting unused chicken houses into businesses. “I’m just enamored with the non-productive chicken houses,” he said.
Houston’s idea is to recruit small businesses/manufacturers to use the structures for small factories. Since the main structure is already in place, Houston said it could cost as little as $4 to $10 per square foot to retrofit it for manufacturing. He said they could even set up walls inside to provide multiple spaces for businesses. “But it it's going to take somebody thinking outside the box and I think that can be done,” he said.
During his days overseeing operations in Southeast Asia, Houston said he would contract smaller manufacturers to provide materials or components used in manufacturing the products his company was producing He said those contract manufacturers often reflected the skill sets that were plentiful in that area, noting that same strategy could be applied to Cleveland County.
Houston also advocated for developing what in essence are marketing materials to help pitch the county to business prospects.
While manufacturing is one avenue to bring in jobs, Houston said he believes the county needs to expand its retail base to keep tax dollars in the county. “So you have $100, it's $10 in sales tax that we're losing for everybody that goes shopping every week,” he said.
Roads
Houston said he has heard from many residents out on the campaign trail who are not satisfied with the condition of their roads.
To address that, Houston said he would like for the Cleveland County Road Department to become 'self sufficient” in terms of having the equipment to do the job and then making sure the operators are properly trained to use the equipment.
In visiting with the Bradley County Judge, Houston said he learned Cleveland County will, on occasion, borrow a piece of equipment from Bradley County. While he likes the concept of sharing equipment, Houston brought up what would happen if that equipment broke down while Cleveland County was using it? Would Cleveland County be responsible for having it repaired?
For that purpose, Houston said that, if elected, he would take inventory of all the equipment that belongs to the road department and assess its condition and value. In addition, he would also assess the skill sets of those operating the equipment.
“You know, I want to know what the skill set levels are of the people that (run the equipment),” he said. “If we’re going to put them on a $300,000 to $400,000 grader, do they have the skill sets to run that grader properly? Do they know how to pull a ditch? Do they know how to properly grade a road?”
Investment Fund
Houston said he prefers to continue to take the same approach with the county’s $1.6 million “investment fund” which was started with seed money from the sale of the county’s nursing home license to a private entity.
“I look at that the $1.6 million veiy much like compound interest,” he said. “You know, if it’s there and it’s generating income for the county, I'm of the opinion that we should leave it there and continue to shop around to get the best interest rate possible. Save that money and keep it there just in the event of a natural disaster.
“When you think about compounding interest or you think about how money works, if you start pulling from that principal, the amount of money that you get from interest payments goes down and you’re going to get down to the point that you can’t save it or replace it,” he said.
Campaign Pitch
If making his campaign pitch, Houston said he wants to apply some of the same practices he learned in the business world to county government.
“I want to take a look at the business processes,” he said. “I want to take a look at everything we’re doing, and apply my business practices that I know, I experienced and so forth, and do everything I can to make the county a better place.
“Some processes will run on automatic. They won’t be fixed They won’t be changed. Some processes will be changed,” Houston said. “But I want things to be better. I want it to be a better place.
“I’ve heard many comments about (late County Judge) Gary Spears. He was a great businessman, he was a great judge. I want to expand on that,” he added.
“Again, my career is not here in Cleveland County, but I want to take what I have to help improve Cleveland County,” he said.