Mr.James Baker-Impactful local Democrat

James H. Baker, 

Impactful Democrat from/for Baxter County and Arkansas

Mr. Baker

James H. Baker was born October 27th in 1930 in rural Baxter County.   His father farmed the Big Pond area (now the Stahl Soccer Complex).  James went to elementary school there at the nearby Big Pond school.  When he was in the fifth grade the school superintendent, B.B. Foster, came and spoke to the kids about his job and the value of public service. That stayed with him and became an aspiration of his.  After graduating from Horace Mann High School in Norfork he went to work.  Times were Depression-era tough so the family went west to Colorado to farm, and work part-time with the railroad (and anything else) for income.  They were able to return in 1944, and James took up work at the Chevrolet dealership greasing cars, changing tires, etc.  He later moved up to manage the Parts dept. where he saved enough to start his own Mobil gas station. 

As he aged and his family grew, he thought of the need to have a retirement plan.  The Post Office and the Corp of Engineers were federal programs with good retirement options but  veterans had preference.  The other possibility was the Missouri Pacific Railroad, but that was even more tightly selective.  In 1960, he sold the station and, remembering Foster's words, and his desire for a retirement plan, decided to run against County Judge Issac Thomas who’d only had one term.  Some strategizing was utilized to redirect a third candidate so the Democratic vote would not be split up.  That first campaign was successful, leading to ten terms lasting twenty years.  His Democratic administration is the second longest in the past century.  Following him was Democrat Joe Dillard-who did have the longest term.  In all of the 20th century,  Baxter County had only two years of Republican administration.  Baker’s twenty years were the years Baxter County was the fastest growing county in Arkansas resulting in increased services such as roads, medical care, law enforcement, among others. Judge Baker pointed out that such dramatic expansion was difficult for example, homes are approved, built and then afterwards taxed but meanwhile infrastructure is being demanded for that growth before the taxes had been collected to fund that growth.  Thankfully he oversaw several successful bond campaigns for major projects like the hospital and nursing homes.  

Some of his specific accomplishments were removing the jail from the third floor of the courthouse and construction of the jail and law enforcement building named in his honor.  Major hospital expansion, Baxter Manor nursing home, courtroom renovation, construction of the County Services building, building the Emergency Center, the Mental/Public Health Bldg were some of the construction projects he shepherded along.  He was on many boards, VP of the Judges Association and Secretary of the Economic Development District.  He actively supported passage of Act 9 and 445 to build county roads of which many were built.  To make more roads possible he expanded the rock quarry and crusher operations and updated County road building equipment.  Notably he also implemented computerized voter registration.   Additionally there was the purchase of acreage for a future County Maintenance Shop.   Overall,  he was responsible for implementation of County Planning commission goals.  Almost all of the above fell under the Planning Commission goals, but in addition, natural disasters led him to gain federal emergency funding after three tornados and two floods.  Today’s infrastructure we take for granted is largely the result of his leadership and care for Baxter County.  

In 1975, the governor appointed him to serve in the Arkansas Association of Counties.  With 75 counties, each with different personnel and priorities it was a major challenge to represent such everchanging people and needs. In 1989, he was named the  Executive Director, a post he held until his retirement in 2001 at age 70.  Foster would have been proud to see the forty years of public service provided by that little fifth grade boy.  

Baker, who now lives in Sherwood, outside Little Rock, returned to Mountain Home in 2016 to speak at the Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society meeting.  At the beginning of his remarks he mentioned that he had shaken the hands of several of the attendees, but if he had been running for office he’d have shaken EVERY hand.  An off-the cuff remark that followed was “Politicians need to learn to run in-season AND out-of-season.“  That gem is one for us Democrats to remember as we work ahead for success in 2026 and the future of Baxter County. We are now in the out-of-season time, so think how you can help, volunteer and put your strengths to work as we lay the groundwork for success in the future.

-Mike Breton

Notes- following links are to Mr.Baker’s presentation at the 2016 Historical Society meeting.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVJIlSyqmTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKDGNyj49JQ

His three boxes of clippings are available at the Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society.