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GGGG Meetings

The Garland Good Government Group meets twice each month.  Our open meetings are now held on the second Thursday of each month.  Our business meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month in Room "B" at the Garland County Library at 1427 Malvern Avenue in Hot Springs, AR.  All meetings begin at 6:00 PM and end at 7:30 PM.  Special called meetings are occasionally held and are noticed by e-mail to members only.

Speaking at our April 2010 Meetings

State and County Candidates Spoke at Our Forums April 8 & 15

Moderator Tom Wilkins (Apr 15)                                       State Senate Candidates: Dr. Gene Shelby, Q Brynum Hurst

 County Judge Candidate Rick Saunders, Assessor Candidates Brenda Short and Shelly Waddle, JP Candidate Jorge Garcia

County Treasurer Candidates Terry Smith, Tim Stockdale            Circuit Clerk Candidates Vicki Rima, Joy Pensinger

Moderator Dick Antoine (Apr 8)

County Treasurer Candidate Jo West Taylor     Gary West and Bill Wavering, candidates for JP position no. 9

Speaking at our March 2010 Meeting

Glenn Gallus, Tea Party Leader

Candidate for U.S. Congress

Glenn Gallus provided us with the patriotic speech he recently gave to a nationwide audience of TEA Party members via closed circuit.  He also announced his formal entry into the upcoming race for U.S. Congress.

Speaking at our February Meeting

Graham F. Sloan, Executive Director

Arkansas State Ethics Commission

Director Sloan presented a timely PowerPoint presentation on political action committees (PACs) and provided a schedule of useful training information to over a dozen candidates for public office in our area which will include such items as fundraising, reporting requirements, etc. 

City Director Peggy Maruthur selected as GGGG 2009 "Public Servant of the Year"

GGGG Executive Vice President, Dr. Blake Robertson presents  City Director Peggy Maruthur with a certificate and plaque honoring her as GGGG's Public Servant of the Year for 2009.  The award is presented annually to the public servant that receives the most votes for best representing the public interest. Actions throughout the year consistent with the GGGG mission statement are also considered.  In addition to representing the public interest, other criteria include transparency, ethical values, openness, and accountability.  Congratulations Director Maruthur.  Keep up the good work.

District Judge David Switzer spoke at the January 2010 GGGG Meeting

The GGGG was honored to have District Judge David Switzer as our guest speaker for the January 14th meeting.  Judge Switzer has implemented several cutting edge ideas in prevention, intervention, and treatment (PIT) programs, use of electronic media, monitoring of violators, and various other changes which are will likely be implemented by other courts across Arkansas.  The judge again proved to be an extremely entertaining speaker and was greatly appreciated by all those in attendance..

GGGG Hosts U.S. State Dept and International Journalists

The GGGG hosted the U.S. State Department and International Journalists from Malaysia, Singapore, People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong at the Garland County Library Auditorium. We were also honored to have County Judge Larry Williams, National Park Superintendent Josie Fernandez, Representative Bill Sample, five representatives from the Hot Springs School District including board president Bob Freeman, Tea Party Chairman Glen Gallus, and many others. Our International visitors paid us the ultimate compliment when they said, "of all the many places we have visited in the United States, you have made us feel the most welcome." It was obvious that our visitors enjoyed their visit and we certainly did enjoy having them here. See story and photos on the "News" page or click here.

Our September Meeting was somewhat different because we hosted the U.S. State Department and six International Visitors from Nicaragua.  The visitors were all winners of the democratically elected mayors representing the largest cities in Nicaragua.  After celebrating their landslide victories for over a week, President Daniel Ortega declared that a recount was in order for those mayor's races.  After thousands of ballots were discarded (later found in trash cans), Ortega declared other winners as mayors for those cities.  Turns out these winning (now losing) candidates aren't going to go away quietly.  In fact, they told us they are going back to Nicaragua and start a "Watchdog" group like the Garland Good Government Group.  We were honored that they would use us as a model to form their own group.  Best of luck to all of you.

       Mayor Bush welcomes guests from Nicaragua                      GGGG was host to local and International Officials

Reporting on the recently concluded legislative session of the Arkansas General Assembly

Speaking at our May 2009 meeting was                        

  Representative Gene Shelby

Kudos to Dr. Gene - He was GREAT

Click here to see the press release for our March speakers 

Speaking at our February 2009 meeting was                    

Sheriff Larry Sanders                Justice Ray Owen, Jr.                     Justice Bud West                           Capt. Mel Steed                

Garland County Sheriff              Finance Committee Chair            Public Health & Safety Chair       Garland County Chief Jailer 

Click here to see the press release for our February speaker

Speaking at our February 2009 meeting was

Dr. Charles Hathaway

Dr. Hathaway is Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) and chaired the public safety task force which provided comprehensive information relative to making communities safe.  Refer to the report below for more information.

Past and Future Meeting Speakers:

Speakers for Open Meetings:

August 2007 - Hot Springs Police Chief Bobby Southard

September 2007 - District Judge Lynn Williams

October 2007 - Garland County Sheriff Larry Sanders

November 2007 - Garland County Judge Larry Williams

December 2007 - Charles Gangluff, Public Safety Consultant to State and Federal Officials  [Click here for his website]

January 2008 - Circuit Court Judge David Switzer

February 2008 - Steve Arrison, Chair - Arkansas Parks & Tourism and Executive Director of Hot Springs A & P Commission

February 2008 - Special Meeting at HS Transportation Plaza - Kent Myers, Hot Springs City Manager

March 2008 - Josie Fernandez, Superintendent of Hot Springs National Park

April 2008 - Jo West Taylor, Garland County Treasurer

May 2008 - State Senators and Representatives in a Panel Format

June 2008 - Debate Challenge plus Major General Bill Lefler, Chair - Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission

July 2008 - Life Story of Josie Fernandez, Superintendent of Hot Springs National Park

August 2008 - Discussion on Jail Tax and other items on the special election

September 2008 - Circuit Judge Switzer and Public Safety election analysis

October 2008 - County Judge and Sheriff plus Formation of Public Safety Advisory Committee

November 2008 - Election Day, no meeting

December 2008 - Citizens Public Safety Advisory Committee

January 2009 - Lance Hudnell, new City Manager of Hot Springs

February 2009 - Dr. Charles E. Hathaway, Chancellor UALR and Chairman Pulaski County Public Safety Task Force

March 2009 - Justices Bud West and Ray Owen Jr plus Sheriff Larry Sanders and Chief Jailer Mel Steed

April 2009 - Garland County Public Safety Advisory Committee

May 2009 - State Representative Gene Shelby

June 2009 - State Representative Bill Sample

July 2009 - Dedicated to Jail Planning and Programs

August 2009 - PowerPoint Presentation on City Water Planning

September 2009 -  Water Issues Roundtable

October 2009 - U.S. State Department and International Visitors (6 Nicaraguan mayors)

November 3 (Tuesday), 2009 - U.S. State Department and International Visitors (Asian Journalists)

December 10, 2009 - Holiday Party

January 2010 - District Judge David Switzer, Presentation of GGGG "Public Servant of the Year" Award

February 2010 - Graham Sloan, Arkansas State Ethics Commission Executive Director

March 2010 - Glenn Gallus, Garland County Tea Party Chair

April - State and County Candidate Forums hosted by Dick Antoine (Apr 8), Tom Wilkins (Apr 15)

May 2010 - Federal Candidate Forum

From our February 12, 2009 Garland Good Government Group meeting:

UALR Chancellor Emeritus and Pulaski County Public Safety Task Force Chair,

Dr. Charles Hathaway was our guest speaker

Dr. Charles E. Hathaway, retired UALR Chancellor, headed a group of criminologists, sociologists and educators who performed an extensive study on what is needed to make communities safe from crime.  Although the study was originally performed for Pulaski County, the aspects he shared with the Garland County audience apply here as well.  The audience was comprised of not only GGGG members but most Garland County Elected officials were also present.  Dr. Hathaway was quite candid in his report including discussing how politics can interfere with getting a jail built.  He said that our area is fortunate that the cities and county work together better than in Pulaski County.  He also noted that we are much ahead due to having our public safety experts preparing to attend the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections training in Colorado and through public meetings.  He noted that our crowd was much larger than the public forums he spoke to in Pulaski County.

Dr. Hathaway proved to be extremely knowledgeable plus being an excellent speaker.  We were all very appreciative that Dr. Hathaway and his wife traveled to Hot Springs solely for the benefit of our citizens.  Thank you Dr. Hathaway, you have helped get us started in the right direction toward building an appropriately sized and sited jail with the proper programs to improve the public safety of our entire area.

For those who did not have an opportunity to attend or want more information, you can see the entire plan at  http://www.ualr.edu/publicsafetystudy

From the minutes of our May 6, 2008 Garland Good Government Group meeting: State Senators and Representatives were our guest speakers. 

The open meeting at the library was a "meet and greet" your State Senators and Representatives type meeting with six of our area legislators in a panel format.  Each guest gave a four or five minute opening statement telling the public what they had accomplished or hope to accomplish on our behalf and informed us what committees, boards, commissions, or agencies they serve on and in what capacity.  These fine folks then indulged us by graciously answering questions from the public.  Questions ran the gamut from the city's problem with the National Park Service to illegal aliens, from school efficiency, abstinence policies, and school consolidation to term limits, taxes and tax credits, undesirable night clubs, drinking hours, city annexations, auditing of the A&P, recycling, and attorney general opinions.  The panel was even asked if they were sorry now that they reduced the grocery tax.  Surprisingly, no one asked a question concerning the proposed new statewide lottery.

The audience agreed that our area is fortunate to have this particular group representing us because they were all articulate, knowledgeable, and expressed a sincere desire to represent their constituents.  It was also nice to learn that his group was accustomed to working together and each seemed to know the expertise of their fellow legislators.

A rather brief business meeting was held off premises following the open meeting.  Brief reports were provided concerning proposed actions of the Hot Springs city board and the Home Show where GGGG had a booth last weekend.  It remains obvious that the public is strongly behind our efforts to recall director Weatherford and the Mayor.  Again, more new members signed up. We are continuing our work to develop a "plan for Hot Springs."  Thanks again to all of our individual members who worked so hard in ensure that the citizens of Hot Springs had their RIGHT TO VOTE restored. Continue to watch this website because we are still working to accommodate our growing ranks.  Our momentum remains amazing.  Come join us. WE ARE STILL ON A ROLL.

Our July 1 Meeting: Hot Springs Transportation Plaza

Our Guest Speaker - Josie Fernandez

Colonel Josie Fernandez, Superintendent - Hot Springs National Park

Colonel Fernandez was dressed in "civvies" for her presentation to the Garland Good Government Group because her speech had nothing to do with her position as an Air Force Colonel or as Superintendent of the Hot Springs National Park.  In keeping with the Fourth of July meeting theme, her presentation was on patriotism and what it means to be an American.  Josie actually also became a United States citizen on the Fourth of July. Those members and guests who were fortunate enough to hear her presentation were obviously moved by both her speech and her appreciation of being an American citizen.  Her talk certainly reminded us all of how we can become complacent and forget how thankful we should be to be citizens of this great country.  Thanks Josie for a most inspiring presentation.

The public is welcome at all open and business meetings.