Benton County Officials Draw Foes On First Filing Day

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

— A race for Benton County judge developed Monday in the first hour of filing for candidates for the May preferential primaries.

Dale King of Garfield, a former justice of the peace, filed as a Republican candidate for county judge. Bob Clinard of Rogers, the incumbent, also filed as a candidate for the Republican Party nomination in the May 20 primary. Ronnie L. Smith of Garfield also filed as a candidate for county judge.

AT A GLANCE

Primary Candidates

Filing for the May 20 preferential primaries opened at noon Feb. 24 and continues through noon March 3. The following candidates filed Monday:

Benton County Filings

Republican Party

County Judge

• Bob Clinard*

• Dale King

• Ronnie L. Smith

Assessor

• Glenn “Bear” Chaney*

Circuit Clerk

• Brenda DeShields*

County Clerk

• Tena O’Brien*

Collector

• Gloria Peterson*

Coroner

• Daniel Oxford*

Treasurer

• Deanna Ratcliffe*

Justice of the Peace

District 1

• Mike McKenzie*

• Ron Easley

District 5

• Kevin Harrison*

District 6

• Pat Adams*

District 8

• Shirley Sandlin*

District 9

• Susan Anglin*

District 11

• Steve Curry*

District 13

• Kurt Moore*

District 14

• Brent Meyers*

Constable

District 1

• Ronald Garratt

District 2

• Keith Brummett*

District 3

• Sam Reyna*

District 4

• Gordon Fisher*

• Charlene Newell

*Denotes incumbent

Source: Benton County Clerk’s Office

"I've been thinking about this for the last four or five months," King said while filing Monday. "I thought I ought to go ahead and run."

King said he has lived in Benton County since 1958 and he plans to campaign on a platform of bringing trust to county government. King served a single term on the Quorum Court from 2010 to 2012.

"I want people to be able to recognize their county officials and have trust in them," he said. "I want the people to think we're working on their behalf. Everybody I talk to doesn't trust the government and that's bad."

King said he wants the county to find a solution to the problem of providing rural ambulance service and to get work done on county bridges and roads in a timely manner.

Clinard, seeking a third term as county judge, said he thinks the next two years will see a greater focus on the county's courts system and the need for a new courts building. He said the county will continue to work on roads and bridges and on the rural ambulance issue, but ambulance service will likely continue to be a subject of debate.

"This next term is going to be highly involved in determining the future of our county court facility and the long-term planning there," Clinard said. "We've got another nine years of the half-cent sales tax for county roads and it's important that we allocate that toward where it's needed. Rural ambulance is not resolved yet and I think there's going to be an ongoing, year-by-year discussion of ambulance service."

Smith ran as an independent candidate for judge in 2012. He said the requirements for filing as an independent have become too burdensome with just under 2,000 signatures needed to file by petition.

Smith said he's concerned about the county's fiscal well-being and questioned Clinard's knowledge or control of day-to-day operations.

"We have to curtail spending somewhere," Smith said. "I question this $1 million building the county has bought in Rogers versus the $1-a-year rent on the city-owned building we were in. I'm more frugal than that. We should also not be taking money from our savings for raises and bonuses like they did last year."

Another race developed Monday when two candidates filed for the District 1 seat on the Benton County Quorum Court. Mike McKenzie, the incumbent, will face Ron Easley in the May 20 Republican party primary. Both men are from the Rogers area.

Several other incumbents filed for re-election Monday, including Glenn "Bear" Chaney, county assessor; Brenda Deshields, circuit clerk; Tena O'Brien, county clerk; Gloria Peterson, collector; Daniel Oxford, coroner; and Deanna Ratcliffe, treasurer.

O'Brien said she is seeking a fourth term in office to continue providing service to the residents of the county.

"I enjoy public service and the opportunity to be a part of county government," she said. "Public service is something I highly value."

Chaney said he wants to continue the work he's begun as assessor, including the work on the next countywide reappraisal, set for 2016.

"We're in the middle of it right now," he said. "The countywide reappraisal will go on the books in 2016 and we're working to get the neighborhoods delineated to make it more uniform and to be able to treat everybody the same."

Chaney said he also wants to continue working on new programs, like allowing businesses to assess business personal property online.

"We'll continue to strive for the best service we can for our citizens," he said.

Filing for the May 20 primaries continues through this week and ends at noon on March 3.

NW News on 02/25/2014