County Commission | The Magazine October 2018 | Page 4

President’s PERSPECTIVE
A
Hon. Tony Cherry
President
Find your place in
ACCA this year
Success will not be
complete without
contributions
from all of us
Editor’s Note:
This is the prepared
text of Tony Cherry’s
inaugural address.
4 | OCTOBER 2018
s we come to the conclusion
of our 90th Annual
Convention — a time for
reflection and for evaluation — I
am humbled to be one of only 90
county commissioners who, in
almost a full century, have been
entrusted with the responsibility of
leading this enormously-important
organization.
I do not embark on this journey
without having fully dedicated
myself to ensuring that I will
fulfill your expectations but, more
importantly, that I will contribute to
the improvement of this Association
and our great state. It is an honor
that I will cherish for the rest of my
life. This ain’t too bad for a guy from
Choctaw County!
Despite all the negative
headlines, the social media critics
and those who second-guess every
decision that we make — all of
us are here in this room tonight
because we have a passion in our
hearts for public service. Whether
we are elected officials, county
employees who come to work every
day ready to help people who are
many times ungrateful — or if we
are the spouse who stands shoulder-
to-shoulder and supports us along
the way. No matter what role we
play, our responsibility is to serve
those around us and to seek out
ways to make life a little bit better
each and every day.
I believe there is no better place
to impact the lives of our neighbors
than at the county commission. I
truly believe that.
Each of us has been given the
opportunity to serve on the front
lines. We see our constituents every
day; we know their problems,
and we are given the awesome
opportunity to pick up the mantle
and actually do something rather
than sit on the sidelines. I am going
to ask you to join me and “get in the
game,” to borrow a phrase from our
Coach, Steve McKinnon, because
there is plenty of work to go around.
Each of you has a spot on the team,
and we need everyone.
Before I give you my thoughts
on the year ahead, I want to
recognize four people who have set
a remarkable legacy for all of us to
follow. Four people who have, in
their own individual ways, been the
cornerstones of our Association.
And tonight, before we look ahead,
it is essential that we look at those
who have laid the foundation upon
which our future successes will be
constructed.
In 1995, our Association stood
at a critical crossroads. There were
some who wanted to take us in a
different direction. They wanted
the Association to veer from its
mission to speak with only one voice
– and for the common good of all
counties. And on that night — in
this very room — the Association
took a bold step in electing the first
probate judge president in more
than 25 years. My friend and mentor
Hardy McCollum stood here,
poured out his heart for the future
of this organization and set us on the
unified course that we follow today.
He called on us to remember that
we are “Family” and that families
disagree, and families sometimes go
in different directions, but — in the
end — families always come home.
He was president a quarter of
a century ago. But I do not believe
he has been absent at a single
convention since then. He has