Alan Clark

Alan Clark lives in Lonsdale, Arkansas.[2] Clark's career experience includes working as the vice president and chief operating officer of Clark’s Building and Decorating Center. He has served on the board of directors of the National Lumber Building Materials Dealers Association, on the Garland County Quorom Court, as the president of the Mid-America Lumberman’s Association, and as the president of the Central Arkansas Ace Team.[2][3]

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a pro-life pro-second amendment businessman who has a passion for children and families. I lead the Arkansas state legislature in child welfare reform and have a passion for education issues, especially reading. If we teach children to read the whole world is opened up to them.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I will continue to fight for families and children and lead the fight for child welfare reform. I will continue to fight for all of our children to read and for parents to have the rights to make decisions for their own family's education. I will continue to lead the legislature in constituent service and fighting for my constituents when they run into problems with state agencies.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Child Welfare Reform

Education

Reading

Dyslexia

Career Education

Economic Development

Citizen Water Rights

Justice for all regardless of income

Parental Bill of Rights

School Choice

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

The people I look up to is a long list. But I remember my Mom reading me the story of Davy Crockett when I was very young and his motto of "Be sure your are right and then go ahead." That has always stuck with me.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I can 't say there would be 1 book. There probably is and I haven't read it. The Federalist Papers. Lots of the writings of our founding fathers. The Book of Proverbs. Jesus's words in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Although George Washington and Thomas Jefferson weren't of the same party I have read little of either I did not agree with, The same goes for John Adams, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin. I find the words of Alex de Tocqueville on the United States quite amazing. I found little if anything of Ronald Reagan I disagreed with.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty

Persistence

Empathy for working people, especially the working poor

And understanding of how the economy and business really works

A true belief in and knowledge of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights

A sense of justice and a hatred of injustice

A thick skin

A sense of humor, especially about one's self

Curiosity about the world

Respect for others, genuine respect for where they come from and how they think

The ability to problem solve, compromise and give a little

Love for people

Energetic and hard worker

Ability to work with others and be part of a team

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Persistence

Honesty

Tenacity

Listener

Hard worker

Patience with people

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Represent your distinct, know what they are thinking, know what they would do if they knew what you know, be ready and willing to go back and explain your vote,

Be out in the district as much as possible.

Return phone calls.

Help people whenever you can.

Find problems in government and fix them if possible.

What legacy would you like to leave?

That all Arkansas children can read proficiently and that we are known for protecting children from child abuse without unnecessarily interfering with families and putting families back together where possible. All while making Arkansas a better place to work and providing Arkansans with better jobs.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I remember watching the first lunar landing on TV. I was 8, just short of my 9th birthday.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Clark's Building and Decorating Center

Mom and Dad started the business in 1973 when I was 12 and I still work there as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Behind the Bible because that is too cliche

The Richest Man in Babylon

It is written in fable form which I love and wish it had been 1000 times as long and the subject was how to acquire wealth and be successful in business. That short little book is far better than anything else I have read on the subject.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Robin Hood.

If he is fictional :-)

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

I Won't Back Down -Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Working when I should be sleeping.

Every state besides Nebraska has two legislative chambers. What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?

The House representing smaller areas is more sensitive to local school districts and towns. Senate areas being larger tend to cause the senate to look more at the big picture.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes and no. I think my own experience on the local county quorom court helped get me ready for the process. But so did serving on an Ace Hardware board, a local Ace hardware dealer board, and a lumbermen's board. I think it provides some benefit but not an overwhelming amount. Having dealt with people and big decisions is more important. But even then it is most important I think that we draw from people of all walks of life.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

Right now it is the COVID challenge and the economic fallout that is going on and will continue into the future and the health consequences. Beyond that, we must teach our kids to read. That is the foundation of economic development and all education. We must deal with our infrastructure needs. We must deal with the decay of the nuclear family and the resulting problems to overall society, education, the justice system, and our economic system. We must find better ways to deal with welfare and health care. We must develop water and sewer better for our citizens and for economic development rather than using them as a feudal political tool.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?

The governor should lead and encourage ideas from the legislature. The governor should look for buy-in for his ideas and look for the legislature to refine them and make them better rather than rubber stamp them. Ideally, it should be a situation of mutual respect and if not at least a system of checks and balances.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Relationships are the foundation for accomplishing anything in the legislature. People who respect you, feel you respect them, and are rooting for you if they are not firmly against your idea are essential to accomplishing anything of substance in the legislature.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

I would favor the state legislature doing all state and federal redistricting within the state with certain rules set out such as incumbents shall not be drawn out of their districts, or into others. District should make as much geographic and political (people of like economic, social, and political commonalities as possible and sensible.

If you are a current legislator, what appealed to you about your current committees?

Chairing Judiciary was a dream because I can accomplish so much on child welfare reform from there. Once on the committee I discovered there were so many other justice issues I was interested in. I hate that I cannot serve on both Education and Judiciary. I spent 6 years on Education, chair the Education Caucus and have a passion for improving education in our state. I have found that anything dealing with kids I have a passion for and love the Children and Youth Committee and the Child Welfare Investigatory Committee which I founded and chair. I love Joint Performance Review which I still serve one and chaired for 2 years because you can investigate anything. That is where I led the first investigation into child welfare. I chaired City County Local and still serve on it. I like it because I was able to attack the water rights issue from there and we deal with local issues there. I served on the Energy Committee for 2 years and throughly enjoyed that because I was to get many questions answered on energy I had for years. I serve on Agriculture and vice chaired it for 4 years and enjoyed working with our farmers and Farm Bureau. I serve on Budget and Audit and like both for the reasons the title implies. I like to be sure the money is spent right. I love legislative council which I have served on for 6 years because it runs government in conjunction with the governor when we are not in session.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

State Senator Terry Rice is always calm, cool and collected. He is often quiet but when he speaks you listen. We vote the same most of the time but when we disagree I know before I ask I will respect his reasons for voting differently. He thinks everything through and is committed to doing the right thing, regardless of how much pressure may be applied. When stabbed in the back and he has been big time, he didn't say a cross word or accuse people. He just did his job and went about his business.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

I would not rule it out. But it is a tremendous honor to be in the state senate and I love it. I am able to make a difference and help people and I do not know if I could be this happy in any other job. You probably have to be a bit of an egomaniac or narcissist to be one of 135 state legislators in the state and to think that you are the one special enough to be elected to statewide or federal office.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

There are so many touching stories, especially in child welfare. So the most touching could be a family who has their child who probably wouldn't if I hadn't intervened. But I think the most touching to me at the moment is a friend who has ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and shared with me how when he uses medical marijuana, for a few moments he gets a little bit of muscle use back that he had lost. Yet we had too few producers and the highest prices in the country.

I never, as a fundamental evangelical thought I would be crusading for more marijuana producers.