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We
welcome your letter to the editor.
Letters
should be no longer than 300 words and must be signed and include
a phone number. Longer letters may be edited for clarity and space.
Submissions should be typewritten if possible.
Deadline
for submission is noon on Monday.
Perspectives
by Patti M. Clark
NH Publisher
Missed
Chances
Candidates irresponsible
when they don’t take advantage of learning opportunities
In less than a month,
Owen County residents will go to the polls. The number of candidates
they’ll have to pick from probably represents the greatest
number of choices they’ve ever had when it comes to a primary
election in recent history.
That’s awesome for this community.
A two-party election system is one of the most important parts
of the democratic process. As the Republican party gets stronger,
more and more primaries on that side of the ticket will occur.
In addition, as more and more people become interested in the
leadership of the community, they’ll step up and run for
one of the many local seats that are up for grabs.
But running for office is more than filling out a form, paying
your filing fee and then sticking signs in yards around the county
and waiting until election day. Deciding to run for office means
a candidate must take every opportunity to learn as much about
the office as possible. That means attending meetings, doing research
and talking with those who currently hold the office, even if
that means spending some time with an opponent. The people of
Owen County deserve no less than elected officials who have a
sound understanding of what they’ll walk into if they are
elected to an office.
Every week, there’s an opportunity for those who are interested
in running for office — and if elected, leading this community
— to learn more about what’s expected of them.
Just last week, the monthly fiscal court meeting was held in the
courtroom, at 6 p.m. on April 11.
None of the candidates — other than those who already serve
on the fiscal court and District 2 Democratic magisterial candidate
Richard Hampton — attended that fiscal court meeting.
Out of five judge-executive candidates — two Democratic
and three Republican — only the current judge-executive,
Billy O’Banion, and magistrate Gary Minch were in attendance.
O’Banion is seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat
while Minch is looking for a nod from the Republican constituency
in the community.
Not present were Democrat Kevin Anderson and Republicans Doug
West and Stephen Miller. While West has served as a judge-executive
in the past, the position and the issues affecting this community
have changed significantly in the 12 years since he left the office.
O’Banion and Anderson will meet in May’s election
on the Democratic ticket while Minch, West and Miller square off
on the Republican ticket for the judge-executive’s race.
The winners of the two contests will meet in November to determine
who will serve as Owen County’s judge-executive for the
next four years.
Twelve Democratic and two Republican candidates are vying for
the four magisterial seats. In two of those districts, the Democratic
winner will face Republican opposition in the fall. Of those running
for magistrate, only Hampton, who is running in District 2; Bobby
Gaines, current magistrate in District 2; Eugene “Bugs”
Vannarsdall, current magistrate in District 3; and Carl Banks,
current magistrate in District 4, were in attendance at last week’s
meeting.
Magisterial candidates not present were: J.T. Olds, Jerry Jones,
Mike McDonald, Stuart Bowling, Tommy Dews, Teresa Davis, Matt
Toftness, Eric Goodrich, Noel True and Ray Smith.
Jones and McDonald are Democratic candidates in District 1. The
winner of the May primary will face Olds in November to determine
who will serve that area of the community.
Bowling, Gaines and Hampton are running on the Democratic ticket
for the District 2 seat. Since they have no Republican opposition,
the winner in the May primary will serve as magistrate for the
next four years.
Dews, Davis and Vannarsdall are running on the Democratic ticket
in District 3. The winner in May will face Toftness, a Republican,
in November to determine the magisterial representation for that
district.
Banks, Goodrich, True and Smith are running as Democrats in District
4. The winner next month will serve as magistrate of the district
for the next four years.
If the candidates had missed just one of the three fiscal court
meetings that have been held since the filing deadline in late
January, there would be fewer reasons to be concerned, but last
week’s absence wasn’t a one-time event. Few of the
candidates have made the effort to attend even one fiscal court
meeting since they filed to run for office. That’s irresponsible
of the candidates. How can they respond to questions from the
public about what they’ll do in the office if they have
no idea what’s currently taking place?
This election is one of the most important events that will occur
in this community and will determine the direction this county
takes for the next few years. Those elected will decide what steps
are or aren’t taken to move this community forward —
or to hold it back.
They owe it to the residents of Owen County to attend the current
meetings and find out what’s going on, not depending on
just word-of-mouth or rumors about how the county is or isn’t
being run.
There will be one more fiscal court meeting before the May primary,
at 6 p.m. May 9 in the courtroom of the courthouse. Community
residents should plan to attend that meeting and see which of
the candidates make an effort to be there as well before they
cast their votes on May 16.
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