The Dent County Commission did not meet March 2. Both commissioners were away attending training meetings.
During the regular session of the commission on Monday, March 6, District One Commissioner Wes Mobray was appointed acting presiding commissioner for the meeting, due to the recent resignation of former Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles.
A field representative for Congressman Jason Smith, Grant Wilson, spoke to the commission about an upcoming hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means committee, of which Smith is chairman.
“Tomorrow, the congressman is going to be down in Oklahoma City where they will be holding their second public field hearing with the house ways and means committee. They are actually going to the stockyards in Oklahoma City,” said Wilson.
According to Wilson, Congressman Smith wants to emphasize hearing directly from the working class.
“They’ll be going down there to more or less continue what he’s outlined for the ways and means committee to be doing, which is hearing from actual people who are suffering through the inflation crisis, the trade crisis, and everything that is affecting people from the working-class background. In this case, particularly agricultural backgrounds, farmers, small business owners.”
Wilson says having the hearing at the stockyards instead of near or in the nation’s capital may provide some new perspectives for committee members.
“I think there’s some who have been getting eye-opening experiences. The first ways and means field hearing was actually in Petersburg, West Virginia. Which, granted, that’s not a long drive from Washington, D.C., so it wasn’t too big of a deal for some of them. But I will note in that field hearing in West Virginia, there was only one democrat that showed up to it. All of them were republicans, and only one democrat came out. I think he was actually from (the area),” said Wilson. “But now I know there will be about six democrats that will be at the one in Oklahoma City. I think some of these politicians that are from the east and west coast are getting a taste of what it is like in the heartland.”
Wilson said that Smith’s priority is to ensure that resources are allocated to congressional districts in need, not just federal and corporate interests. He said holding the hearings in the districts make it easier to hear from those who may not have the financial means to get to Washington, D.C. to testify.
“That’s the biggest thing the congressman wants to promote, to be able to make sure that not everything that’s being done is just exclusively for D.C., it’s actually going to these different congressional districts, so that members of ways and means are able to hear from people right in those areas who are suffering.”
According to Wilson, the hearing was planned for 8 a.m. March 7. The hearing was livestreamed on the House Ways and Means Committee's Youtube Channel.
During commissioner reports, District One Commissioner Mobray reported that county road 5610 is temporarily closed until it can be repaired. Mobray said flooding had washed out the roadway.
“It is completely washed out,” said Mobray. Both Mobray and District Two Commissioner Gary Larson said there are alternate routes around the area. “They can go back out to A Highway or up to 72.”
Mobray also said that crews are patching roads and stockpiling rock. According to Larson, the county has to make sure and have a stockpile of rock on hand for road repairs, due to difficulty sourcing the material within the county.
Mobray reported that he and Larson had both attended commissioner training with the County Commissioner’s Association (CCAM).
During his report, Larson reported that he also had crews making a run to Rolla to stockpile rock. He said crews were also checking and patching roads, and that brush is being cut on County Road 2070. Larson said the recent and upcoming rains cause issues with roadway maintenance.
“I just want to remind people that I know they may think they’re road needs graded, but we’re going to have to wait until this next storm. When you grade a road and then it rains like that, it does more damage than if you just leave it alone. We will be out grading as soon as we can,” said Larson.
Larson also reported on the CCAM meeting.
“MODOT was there, they talked about projects that are happening,” said Larson. “There were several good talks we attended, but some of it was just basic information.”
Larson said there was a report by the Lieutenant Governor, as well as a discussion on marijuana taxation.
“When you go to these trainings, you really learn a lot from what they have, but you learn more from talking to other commissioners about how things are going in their county. Me and Wes sat and talked to some of them, we’re amazed at what some other counties do, or don’t do,” said Larson.
County Clerk Angie Curley reported that the deadline to register to vote in the April election will be March 8. Absentee voting continues, with a mailing deadline of March 22. She also reported that voting equipment would be tested at her office at 9 a.m. March 31.
