BENTON COUNTY is fortunate in this year’s primaries. Candidates seeking office have a lot of solid, relevant experience on their résumés. There’s three-term incumbent Keith Ferguson running again for sheriff. There’s Dave Bisbee, the long-time state legislator, running for county judge. There’s Tim Summers, the seven-term justice of the peace and master of the county budget, running for the Legislature. And there’s Mary Lou Slinkard, who probably has the longest record of public service of them all. She’s been county clerk for 27—yes, twenty-seven—years. Over those decades in office, she’s established a reputation for being effective and competent. Now that she’s decided to run for the open legislative seat in House District 100, voters have a chance to do themselves a favor by choosing her in the May 20 Republican primary. Why leave a presumably safe office like county clerk for the uncertainties of running for a seat in the Ledge ? Mary Lou Slinkard has seen a lot in her years in county government. While she’s managed the county clerk’s office well, she’s also seen some things that could use fixing. Since the fixing needs to be done on the legislative level, her race for the House is really an extension of the work she’s been doing all these years.
What does she see that could be done better ? For starters, the marriage law the Ledge just clarified during the last special section still has some tricky details that could use some more tweaking. Election workers could use more training. Mary Lou Slinkard has some insight into both problems because she’s run into them in her work as county clerk.
There’s more. She wants to see the remaining 3 percent sales tax on food removed. (Hooray again !) She’s not only in favor of the Freedom of Information law, she’s got a solid record of supporting open government and providing information to the public.
During her years as county clerk, Ms. Slinkard worked with legislators to pass other laws designed to correct problems she’d confronted. Now she’s prepared to be part of the Legislature herself. Voters in District 100 can be thankful they have a candidate with so much useful experience. Based on her record, Mary Lou Slinkard would be a real asset in the Legislature just as she’s been in county government.
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