-
Locke Arnold speaks at the Farm Bureau political forum.
Locke Arnold cannot even remember how many times he has run for District 5 commissioner, but he will not stop trying to get his message out to the people.
“We have problems,” Arnold said. “We spend too much money that we don’t have. We just raised taxes. We are hiring too many people.”
Arnold has run for this seat four times since 2019, including two special elections. He has always had an eye on what the commissioners can do to get a handle on the county operations.
“The courts do not run the county. The sheriff’s office does not run the county,” Arnold said. “It is supposed to be run by five people. You delegate the work to other people, but have to be able to step in when they show they cannot do the job.”
Arnold said the landfill accepting construction and demolition waste into the household cells beginning in 2020 was a major mistake, the kind he hopes to avoid in the future.
“Whoever allowed that to happen made a serious error in judgment, and it comes back to the commissioners,” Arnold said. “It cost us millions, and it is going to cost us millions to fix.”
Arnold has always had a unique idea for a new jail, one that has between 1,000 and 2,000 beds and houses prisoners from outside the county, turning the tables on the need for our county to do so elsewhere over the last few years.
“I took a tour of our jail and I will give that jail between an 18 and 22 on a scale of 1-100 right now,” Arnold said. “We are past the people making the decision. You elect the commissioners to make good decisions. Whatever decision you make, you are not going to please everyone. They are scared to make people mad. If we build a big jail, we can house prisoners here and make $73 million.”
Arnold said the growth of the county is a major issue for the next commission.
“I understand (Highway) 365 and the growth there, but we can’t allow these people to build stick houses that a good wind would blow over,” he said. “There is only so much land.”
Arnold said he would be a hands-on commissioner.
“It all goes back to the commissioners,” Arnold said. “The law is the law. These commissioners are out of touch with what is going on. They want to get their $15,000 a year or their benefits or whatever, and they say they are doing the best they can. Sometimes you have to think outside of the box. We have commissioners who have no business minds whatsoever.
“Somebody has got to rock the boat a little bit,” Arnold said. “Nobody is doing anything and everyone is getting paid, and the taxpayers are paying for it.”