Q&A With Camden Mayor Chris Claybaker

Editor’s note: This interview, conducted by editor Bill Paddack, appears in the latest magazine edition of Talk Business & Politics, which you can read here.

Ask Camden Mayor Chris Claybaker what he likes to do in his spare time and he answers quickly and decisively.

“I’ve got a Harley, and I put about 15,000 miles on it every year,” he said. “That’s my stress relief.”

Claybaker, 63, was elected mayor in October 1995 when Camden changed from the city manager form of government. He’s served ever since and is seeking reelection this year. He’s the city’s first – and only – popularly elected mayor since 1959.

He and his wife, Cindy, have two children and six grandchildren.

After graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1976 as a political science major with a minor in journalism, Claybaker worked as a reporter for the Camden News, covering city council and the police beat. He later was editor of the Magnolia Banner-News before working in the oil and gas industry, providing a range of land services to independent and major oil companies.

But for almost 19 years now, he’s served as chief executive of the southern Arkansas city that is the county seat of Ouachita County. Talk Business & Politics asked him to share some thoughts about his role as mayor.

TB&P: You’re a longtime mayor and former president of the Arkansas Municipal League. What kind of personal characteristics make a good mayor?

Chris Claybaker: This should be an easy question; however, one that is often overlooked when running or voting for the position. I’d say the most basic characteristics should be integrity, character, a desire to help people and vision. Of course, there are secondary characteristics that help in serving as mayor, such things as thick skin and a slowness to anger.

TB&P: I imagine being mayor is kind of a 24/7 position. How do you balance your administrative and executive duties and your commitment to the community with your personal and family life? And any advice along those lines for new mayors?

Claybaker: When I was first elected, the then-mayor of Magnolia, George Wheatley, gave me two pieces of advice: get involved with the Arkansas Municipal League and take vacations – out of town when possible. Well, I got involved with the Municipal League, which helped me become a better mayor and helped me understand that I was not in this by myself. And through my involvement with the League, I was able to experience one of the top five events of my life. I became president of the Arkansas Municipal League.

The vacation part of the advice took a little more effort. I was mayor for two and a half years before I took a day off. I thought that I had to stay close. I guess I feared that the town would fall apart if I was not there to hold it together. When I finally was convinced to take some time off, I went to Hot Springs for a long weekend during the horse races. During the sixth race at Oaklawn on Saturday, my name was called out over the loudspeaker. When I reported to security, I was told that Camden was flooding. The State Police ferried me back home. It was another year before I ventured away from Camden for some more time off.

I now take at least 10 days off each year on a motorcycle trip, usually to the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina or the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. I will also take three- and four-day weekend trips to see the grandkids in Little Rock and Nashville, Tenn.

TB&P: Talk a little if you will about your role. I assume there’s a lot of working to get grants for infrastructure needs and improvements, working with economic development officials to attract and maintain businesses, etc.

Claybaker: My job is to provide the best basic services possible for the least cost to the taxpayers, making sure they get the most out of local government with minimal interference in their everyday lives. Those basic services include police protection, fire protection, streets, parks, solid waste and utilities.

If that were not enough, a good mayor is deeply involved in economic development. We are currently working on three prospects that could make a major impact on South Arkansas for years to come. We have been working on one of those projects for almost three years. I also spend a lot of time on grants. Grants give you the flexibility to do those extra things that tax revenue won’t allow. I’ve been pretty lucky with the grants, obtaining almost $20 million in the last 18 years, which has allowed us to develop our riverfront along the Ouachita River with a boat ramp, boat docks, a waterfall and an amphitheater, where we sponsor “Movies on the River” every summer.

TB&P: What do you consider to be your biggest achievement as mayor?

Claybaker: When campaigning for re-election, I always talk about the Riverfront Development and the Adams Avenue Redevelopment Project that was accomplished through our Brownfields Initiative, an initiative that we undertook with partnerships and grants from state and federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Economic Development Administration, the Corps of Engineers, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Ouachita River Commission.

Adams Avenue is one of the main entrances into Camden from El Dorado where most of the crime seemed to occur and that was lined with dilapidated structures. Through these state and federal partnerships we were able to transform this area of Camden – our economic development agency [the Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development] is located in a state-of-the-art building that was built in the center of the redevelopment, and we saw a 74 percent reduction in overall crime in Camden from 1996 to 2012.

TB&P: What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received?

Claybaker: Don’t be afraid to show initiative or to try something new. Or as I tell my department heads, “Don’t box me in.” But probably the best practical business advice I received was found in an old Harvard Business School textbook my dad had that said a business should have at least 10 percent of its budget in reserve. That’s probably pretty good advice for government, too.