NWA editorial: Taking the helm

Kinion, Moehring recommended for county judge

For today's political endorsements, we turn our attention to the top administrative post in Benton and Washington counties, the county judge. The post still retains a small measure of adjudicative authority, but the county judge is largely the chief administrator of key parts of county government, perhaps none more critical than oversight of the Road Department and the county's properties. The person presides over meetings of the Quorum Court, each county's legislative and budget-setting body, and can be in a position to provide leadership on a wide variety of local issues, although some officeholders are stronger in that area than others are.

WASHINGTON COUNTY

With Democrat Marilyn Edwards' decision to forego a campaign for re-election, the Washington County judge's post drew contenders from the Republican and Democratic parties: State Rep. Micah Neal of Springdale and Fayetteville Alderman Mark Kinion, respectively.

But in June, Neal surprised a lot of folks by withdrawing from the race he had a strong possibility of winning. That set in motion a process of nomination in the GOP that led to the party's selection of Joseph Wood of Fayetteville to replace Neal on the ballot. So voters on Nov. 8, and in the early voting period that starts today, will pick between Wood, a deputy secretary of state in the office of Mark Martin in Little Rock, and Kinion, a mortgage lending officer who has represented Ward 2 in Fayetteville since 2011.

Wood is a dynamic speaker who undoubtedly has the skills necessary to benefit any organization in which he's providing leadership. He says he's a pro-church, pro-family, pro-life, pro-Washington County candidate. He's lived in Washington County for nearly 20 years. He's vice chairman of the GOP in Washington County and served three terms as vice chairman of the state GOP.

Democrat Kinion is a city resident but with deep ties to rural Washington County. He's a native of the area.

Both men have focused on the importance of roads and shoring up support for and training of Road Department staff. Kinion has developed a deeper understanding of the inner workings of county government, but Wood probably comes out on top the general arena of leadership.

Our editorial board's recommendation boiled down to a sense of which candidate wants to be county judge of Washington County more, and that, in our view, is Kinion. He's fully invested himself in the campaign and deserves a two-year shot to make the improvements needed within Washington County government.

Wood's previous announcement of plans to run for secretary of state in two years and the fact he didn't file for the office originally raises questions in our minds. He also told us when he heard Neal had dropped out, among his first reactions was to tell his term-limited boss, Mark Martin, that he should seek the post. Martin, Wood said, declined, but encouraged Wood to run instead.

Maybe that's all fate or Providence, but Kinion didn't need a series of unexpected events to decide he wanted to run for county judge in Washington County. We recommend voters give him a chance.

BENTON COUNTY

The contest for Benton County judge has three candidates, one more than Washington County's, but it's got far less suspense.

Libertarian Ronnie L. Smith, who has sought the office unsuccessfully before, and write-in candidate Jeff Broadston are the challengers to the man most folks would place bets on to be the next county judge. That Republican nominee is Barry Moehring, a justice of the peace who defeated incumbent Bob Clinard last spring.

Moehring is the right candidate to vote for on Nov. 8.

He's big on planning, and wants to bring that approach to the needs of Benton County. He'd like to develop a transportation plan that ensures limited resources are spent most efficiently and will help the people of the county get a handle on where their roads rank in terms of use and future maintenance or improvement. He says that plan should be less focused the number of miles paved each year and more on the kind of transportation problems the county needs to solve.

He said he wants to pursue a kind of diplomacy that will help move Benton County in a unified direction.

And while we don't necessarily agree with his push to keep the courts facility downtown, we can appreciate his drive to balance future needs with current resources.

We don't think Moehring needs our endorsement to win on Election Day, but our take is he's the best choice to serve Benton County for the next two years.

Commentary on 10/24/2016

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