TAC Blog

NEW ORLEANS — One year after opening his presidency of the National Association of Counties with a guitar in hand and an original song celebrating county government, Wise County Judge J.D. Clark closed his term this weekend with the same message that defined his year: Every county has a story worth telling.

Clark passed the gavel to Commissioner George Dunlap of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, on Monday during NACo’s 2026 Annual Conference & Expo in New Orleans, concluding a year championing the role counties play in everyday life.

“Our focus every day is to make our communities better places to call home,” Clark told conference attendees during welcoming remarks on Thursday.

“There are 3,069 counties, parishes and boroughs across this country,” he said. “Different sizes, different maps, different challenges, but the same mission, the same heart and the same impact.”

Each NACo president selects a signature initiative for their one-year term. Clark’s spotlight, County Storytellers, encouraged local leaders to share stories of the people and experiences behind county government to breathe life into their policies and statistics. The effort inspired NACo's We Are Counties project and the Texas Association of Counties’ own Texas County Storytellers campaign.

Clark reflected on his presidency during Sunday’s general session by framing his remarks like a compilation vinyl record.

Side A, he said, featured NACo’s greatest hits. Among them: Securing full funding for the federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, persuading the U.S. Department of Justice to extend the deadline for web accessibility upgrades for a year, expanding Operation Green Light to honor veterans, improving transparency in FEMA reimbursements and preserving local flexibility in federal housing legislation.

Side B focused on the work still ahead. Clark called on counties to continue pressing for disaster mitigation reforms, permitting reform, increased surface transportation funding for county-owned roads and bridges, and reauthorization of a long-awaited farm bill.

“Budgets are tight, costs are up, demands are up, and the folks back home are counting on us to deliver anyway,” he said. “But here's the thing about counties: When the music gets hard to play, we don't walk off the stage. We keep the beat going.”

A year after beginning his presidency with a guitar and a song, Clark ended it on a fitting final note. County government is ultimately about people, he said. Policies and programs matter, but the conversations, partnerships and shared experiences behind them are what help local officials solve problems and strengthen communities.

Clark reminded attendees that NACo’s success comes from them. “Everything that happens here at NACo, it happens thanks to you,” he said. “This is your association. You set the agenda. Without your dedication, we would not be the association we are today.”