DARDANELLE — When Mark Thone took over for Brad Wear as Yell County judge at the beginning of the year, Thone was aware that his new job would consist of putting out fires. He didn’t know he would be doing it literally.
Thone’s first week on the job, a fire was started at the Dardanelle Jail by an inmate who didn’t get his way, Yell County Sheriff Bill Gilkey said.
“That was something I never thought I would have to face before,” Thone admitted, “but nobody was injured, and our lieutenants performed outstandingly and got all of the prisoners out.”
Besides dealing with the fire cleanup, which officials said probably won’t cost more than $2,000, Thone thinks his biggest challenge will be the budget and the county roads.
Thone has the man he replaced cheering for him.
“We’ve known each other all our lives,” Wear said. “I’ll do anything I can to help him.”
Wear thinks Thone may need it — especially when it comes to the budget.
“The biggest challenge is when you see what needs to be done and then you look at the budget,” Wear said. “It just doesn’t match up.”
Wear said he saw the cost of things like culverts and diesel gas rise significantly throughout his six years in office, and he expects that to continue.
Wear was honored at the end of last month for his years of service to Yell County. A lifelong Dardanelle-area resident, Wear served as county judge from 2004-2010 and counts renovations to the county’s two courthouses and many road projects as his biggest accomplishments.
But his favorite part of the job?
“It was getting to meet the people around the county,” Wear said. “Most of them just want someone to listen to them, and there are good people everywhere.”
From six years of serving the public, Wear said, he has a feeling people can’t understand unless they’ve been there. He now plans to go back to his first love — farming.
“I’m building a couple of laying houses with Tyson and spending more time with my family,” Wear said.
Wear said he was honored to receive the 2010 Dardanelle Person of the Year Award. He is raising his family in Dardanelle and has no plans to leave.
“We are active in the school and in athletics here,” he said. “I’m also serving on a few boards still.”
Wear said he will remain a member of the Special Services Board in Ola and the Solid Waste Management Board for as long as Thone needs him to.
“[Wear] really cares about people,” Thone said. “When he made decisions here in the judge’s office, he considered how it affected people more than just what he wanted to do.”
It is a trait Thone said he hopes to emulate.
“Everything has been going good so far,” he said, “and the people of Yell County have been wonderful.”