Albena Link

You won't find a tougher group gathered around a table than the Quorum Court, and Albena Link fits right in.

Oh, sure, the Justices of the Peace get along nicely with each other, but each of the 11 JPs has an agenda to represent his district, and the county as a whole.

Albena doesn't speak up at the table just to be difficult. "I say what I think, and I try to be nice about it." Once a topic is discussed, if someone else has a better idea, "I have no problem changing my mind," she said. "We make better decisions if we're better informed."

Getting informed is what brought Albena to the Quorum Court in the first place. After she and her husband Scott moved here in 2000, he served on the Western Ambulance District and the Airport Commission. She went to the meetings, and kept the minutes.

"Things I heard didn't always make sense, and I wanted to learn more about the area," Albena said. "And I thought the Quorum Court needed more input from citizens."

She started attending Quorum Court meetings in 2001, and she enjoyed learning how things got done--and how they might be done better.

County voters are not usually kind to newcomers, but when Albena ran for the Quorum Court in 2006, she tried to meet people face to face.

Some of those she met said they couldn't vote for a Republican, but she was apparently able to convince enough voters that "party has nothing to do with it." Although she describes herself as "very conservative," Albena maintains, "The Quorum Court should be without affiliation. It's all about the residents and what's best for the county."

Albena had majored in business administration in college. After her two children reached school age, she began working for McGraw Hill Publishing Co.

Her job evolved with the needs of the company, and she continually took on more responsibility. She had as many as 30 people working under her direction.

Her role eventually turned towards dispute resolution, reconciling major accounts for the company. "I was already used to looking at accounts, finding problems, and improving systems," Albena explained.

She used a combination of "diplomacy and firmness," along with rigorous documentation, to deal with clients who said they were billed for shipments they didn't receive.

"I had the advantage of knowing what I was talking about," she said. She brings business skills to county government, which she thinks should operate more like a business. "Sometimes government agencies treat money like make-believe," she said.

Throughout her business career, Albena said she never felt at a disadvantage because of being a woman. However, when she moved to Arkansas, she realized her little convertible wasn't going to hold up on these roads, and she went car shopping.

Scott went with her, and even though she made clear that this was her purchase and her decision, when she asked questions, the salesman directed all his answers to Scott. Needless to say, she bought her car elsewhere.