PAUL FORTUNE, KEN SHAW & WESTY MEISENHEIMER SEEK REAPPOINTMENT TO CADDO LAKE NAVIGATION DISTRICT BOARD
Paul Fortune, Ken Shaw and Westy Meisenheimer are seeking reappointment and are expected to be on hand when County Commissioners take up the matter Monday morning.
Harrison and Marion County each appoint five members of the board. Members serve for a two-year term. Harrison Countys other two CVND board members are local attorney Bailey Moseley and dentist Dr. Martin Clark.
All of our Harrison County CVND board members are outstanding people with close personal ties to Caddo Lake, commented Ron Munden, whose photographic assignments at Caddo helps him appreciate the work CVND does to keep boat roads open and well-marked. They work well together and do a great job.
In the past year, CVND projects have included experimenting with floating boat road markers as possible replacements for the wooden ones currently in use. CVND also had Carney Canal dredged, opening the scenic Carter Lake area to large boats year-round to the delight of the growing Caddo Lake nature tourist trade.
Currently, CVND is studying the possibility of doing similar dredging work on Smith Slough.
Fortune, a builder and contractor, is a second-generation resident of the Caddo Lake area. Hes found that his experience in the construction business much of it involving projects around the lake has been particularly useful in working with contractors to develop cost estimates and objectives for various CVND projects. He likes the hands-on aspect of being on the CVND board, too.
Recently, Fortune, fellow board member Ken Shaw, and neighbor George Spears were on the lake setting out experimental marker buoys including a model fabricated by fellow board member Bailey Moseley.
Shaw, who lives on the lake, is a retired International Paper Corporation executive who also serves on the North East Texas Regional Water Planning Group. Meisenheimer is an investigator with the Harrison County District Attorneys office.
In past years, both Harrison and Marion County elected officials have tended to reappoint active CVND board members who wished to continue serving. Some observers, however, are concerned that political considerations could possibly play a role in the boards future makeup. According to Munden, hes heard a number of people express concern that CVND will lose its effectiveness if it becomes politicized.
Hopefully, the Commissioners Court will recognize that we have a good team that is up to speed on CVNDs responsibilities and challenges and will see fit to reappoint those of us whose terms are expiring, Shaw said.
Our current Harrison County board are well qualified and do their jobs without controversy and without politic, Munden added. It would be a shame to break that up. I hope everyone encourages their County Commissioners to vote to reappoint all three of them.