This interview was recorded in the Henderson County Courthouse Annex on Wednesday, June 30.

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This week's special guest on the County Report is Pct. 4 Commissioner Mark Richardson. He is in his first term. Commissioner Richardson has lived in Henderson County his whole life and his family has lived in the Baxter Community since 1855.

I. Becoming A Commissioner (2:48)

Commissioner Richardson was elected in a special election following the death of Commissioner Ken Geeslin and is in his first term. He is not new to county government, however, and has been a part of Pct. 4 for 21 years.

II. About Pct. 4 (6:42)

Commissioner Richardson discussed the size of the precinct. Because the precincts are drawn to try and balance population, Pct. 4 tends to be larger in area than the other precincts.

"It is a big span," he said, "when you get a call and you're on one end of precinct and a tree falls on the other end of the precinct it can be a good drive."

"In a lot of the rural areas, you don't have a lot of population. You have big acreage and there may be one home to a hundred acres," Commissioner Richardson said. "There are some places out in our precinct that are 2,000 and 3,000 acre tracts of land."

III. Road Challenges in Pct. 4 (14:18)

Commissioner Richardson discusses the specific problems faced by his precinct, including the different types of soil across the county. Pct. 4 has a large section where the predominant soil is sand.

The Commissioner said in the sandy section of his precinct, gophers can cause major damage to roads.

"A gopher can bore under the road and then when we get a big rain, it washes that hole out from the size of a gopher to the size of a basketball," he said. "It undermines the road and when a heavy truck like a trash truck comes across it, it caves in all the way across the road."

IV. Challenges to the County (19:33)

Commission Richardson identified unfunded mandates from the State Legislature as a major challenge.

"We try to do the best we can with taxpayer money," he said.

V. Pct. 4 Staff (25:26)

Commissioner Richardson took time to praise his staff at Pct. 4.

"I've got a great group of guys there," he said.

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