SALINE CO.—The Saline County ballot is a busy one in a couple of areas, and woefully lacking in others.
The big draws in this election cycle are of course the sheriff’s race (see pages 1 and 7) and the office of county clerk and recorder (pages 8 and 9).
But beyond that, Saline Countians have the opportunity to select six full four-year term county board members, and two unexpired two-year term members, this latter necessitated due to deaths or departures of previous board members in the past term.
And while to some Saline voters that might seem to be an easy decision, selecting six from 11 candidates on the four-year, and two of four on the two-year, is a more complicated task than it seems…and that’s because of the politics involved in many of the candidates’ alignments.
On the ballot for the four-year are Democrats Jay D. Williams, Greg Segraves, Brandon Henshaw, Katie Clayton, and Roger Angelly.
On the ballot for same on the Republican side are current board chair Carey Harbison, incumbents Joe Jackson, Jeff Murrie and Karla Carrigan; John Prather and Rod Wallace.
ChickenEggs
If the Dem lineup appears to be a nest of hatched ChickenBob (Robert Wilson, attorney/CPA and former mayor of Harrisburg/city attorney) eggs, that’s because it is.
While Williams and Henshaw haven’t necessarily been known to openly be Wilson acolytes, and Segraves’ alignments are largely unknown at this juncture, that doesn’t mean that Wilson didn’t talk all three of them into running, especially Williams, as he apparently got all cleared up whatever it was that posed a conflict for him serving on the board two years ago (he gave up the position because he was employed by a federal body, and the seat on the county board was a violation of the Hatch Act).
However, Clayton and Angelly are, unfortunately, decidedly misaligned.
Regular readers will recall that Roger Angelly was one of those mentioned on the Todd Fort tapes, obtained by Disclosure via FOIA, in jailhouse phone calls made when Fort was being held on sexual assault charges in 2010. Angelly was a resource for assisting Fort in getting his bond money just a few weeks after his July 19, 2010 incarceration on the charges that ultimately lead to the demise of his career.
Fort’s attorney at the time of his arrest was Wilson.
Clayton is a frightening prospect for the county board, and the most unlikely…but in Saline, you can never tell. Her backing has largely come from police officials, with whom she’s reportedly been rubbing elbows (and some say other body parts) for an extensive period of time despite her youthful age. Her desire to get into the political arena appears to be more based on a power trip than anything else, and it’s been reported that she’s been hobnobbing with the Saline County elite over several months in order to ensure that goal. Therefore, without having the county’s best interests in mind, this creates a liability issue on the part of Clayton’s “service” to the county if she were to receive the backing of the electorate…and the electorate is reminded of this going into the voting booth.
Republicans
The Republicans this go-round are the more grounded of the bunch, and the incumbents have shown themselves to be solid players as it regards county business. Harbison, Jackson, Murrie and Carrigan have all displayed sense and sensibility in their service to the county, and despite numerous heated debates in which each of them played a part, they kept a level head and prevailed. Prather would be a smooth addition to the lineup.
Wallace, on the other hand, might prove to be a little more than the county might be able to handle at this point, since his entrance to the ballot was prompted by a bit of self-serving attitude. While this isn’t always a bad thing, and has caused a number of well-qualified regular citizens to step up to a public office, in the case of Wallace, Saline Countians have already seen what drives him in his quest to seek the seat, and they’re not too happy with his motives (which basically revolve around dismay at his tax bills).
Regular readers will remember what occurred earlier this year prior to the Primary, during which his daughter was also running for office (treasurer), and the incidents of head-butting that went on during county board meetings. Whether that will be an advantage or not to the newcomer to the Saline political scene will be revealed on election day.
Two-year; others
On the two-year terms, McKinnies and Hefner, both Democrats, are the incumbents.
Allan Porter came to be interested in the seat after numerous appearances at the county board, petitioning his governing body to aid in preventing loss of property due to Peabody Coal mining the Rocky Branch area of the county to the west of Equality. Both Porter and Street are Republicans. It will be a complete crap shoot as to who will come out on top in the selection of two from the four; likely it will depend on the voter turnout and name familiarity.
In unchallenged local offices on the ballot, treasurer Danny Ragan, a Republican, will retain his seat; and regional superintendent of schools Larry Fillingim, Democrat, is unopposed.
Judges
Many of the First Judicial Circuit’s judges are seeking retention on this cycle, which occurs for each judge in a circuit every six years.
In Saline County, Judge Walden Morris is up. Jim Williamson of Johnson County; Phillip Palmer and Randy Moore, both of Williamson County; Bill Thurston of Pulaski County; and Joe Leberman of Pope County, are all up for retention.
A ‘yes’ vote must be carried across the electorate by 60 percent or greater for the judges to be retained. A ‘no’ vote reduces that chance of retention; however, leaving that part of the ballot blank increases the chance of retention because under this circumstance, not voting assists the ‘yes’ votes, as the ‘no’ votes must exceed the ‘yes’ votes.
Those who are uncertain of how to vote on judicial retention are always encouraged to vote ‘no.’ Six years in office, without having to actively campaign on a platform or declare a party, is entirely too long for any public official to hold an office. Judges throughout the state get complacent and in exchange, often make sloppy decisions and many actually “legislate from the bench” and make case law if an odd or uncertain case is brought before them. Judges are supposed to be only referees, applying the law as it comes to them in the form of legislation, not decide contrary to the law or the Constitution.
While these kinds of decisions are rare in the First Circuit, they do happen infrequently. Most of the real offenders are already out; former judge Ron Eckiss, whose legislation from the bench in the First was somewhat legendary (and earned him a “most despised” title in many quarters) bowed out before attempting retention in 2010, so the word is out that people can actually vote ‘no’ to retain judges…and one of these days, one in the First Circuit might actually be booted.