Lynch Pen : Voters should inquire about their county finances
Posted on Wednesday, May 7, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/tnebc/Editorial/4401/
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue their war of words as we wait for a Democratic Presidential Nominee to be crowned. After all of the debates (forums ?) and the hours of television coverage, there are still as many unanswered questions about these two presidential candidates as there are about the Republican candidate who has already won his party’s endorsement. It is amusing to hear desperation rise up in this heated environment and Mrs. Clinton obviously has Americans pegged for what we are — uninformed, selfish, easily-swayed voters. Her latest idea of temporarily removing the federal tax on gasoline sounds great but won’t that just cause us to increase our consumption and send more money overseas ?
The higher price of fuel (gasoline, diesel and heating oil ) has drastically affected all of us — truckers, farmers and ordinary commuters — but some one needs to look at the oil companies with a very close line item analysis of their operations. Her other idea of pulling some of our oil reserves out of the ground and dumping the oil on the market goes against the view of the experts on oil. The true experts are the oil traders and when they are interviewed on CNBC they seem to all say the same thing — there is plenty of oil. There is a shortage of refining capacity which drives up the price of gasoline, diesel and heating oil, according to them, but no shortage of oil. I do not profess to be an expert on economics, but I can accept the fact that oil is priced in American dollars and the Euro is worth over 1. 5 times the dollar. It stands to reason, in my thinking, that until the Euro declines in value against the dollar, oil is going to stay “ relatively high. ”
My purpose in stating the preceding information is because it “ plays well in Peoria ” to have quick and easy solutions to America’s economic woes, but the candidates don’t elaborate on the details no matter how many times they get the television camera’s attention.
Here in Benton County, with our campaign season going full blast, I continue to wait for a county judge candidate to talk about the county’s finance in some meaningful detail. One of the candidates and I continue to spar about budgets and county financial details. The question is around how much the voters really want to know about county budgets. My belief, after serving on the Quorum Court and running for county judge twice, is that people do care and they do listen to factual information. And, if our candidates have a reputation of budget knowledge, it needs to be demonstrated in forums. In conversations with another candidate, he has repeatedly proven he has researched details of county finances but we don’t get to hear much about his research in forums. We know at least one candidate has been exposed to the county budget because he is currently a member of the Quorum Court.
Candidates who note that they are always talking to the same audience are basically correct, so why say the same thing over and over ? If the primary benefit of a frequent forum schedule is to allow the news media to inform those unable to get to a forum, wouldn’t it benefit everyone to bring out new details of their programs at each forum ?
You might not agree with me, but when I completed my undergraduate degree work at the University of Arkansas and began the interviewing process, we were instructed on how to prepare for interviews with companies. Research the specific company’s sales, leadership, products, markets and where you could contribute to the company. That process served me well in the business arena and I used the concept as a standard when I interviewed potential employees. Those that really wanted the position came to an interview ready to sell themselves. Is that too much to ask of those who tell us they want the position of county judge to serve us ? My expectations may be a little higher than many potential voters, but the political / private service field has been an active part of my life for the last 16 years and I truly believe that we can apply business knowledge to the field of politics and use the same yardsticks as the measure of performance for elected officials.
If you have had an opportunity to hear the two candidates for county tax collector you have probably heard more about the specifics of the job and the amount of money flowing through their hands than any other political contest. Both candidates (Gloria Peterson and Tracy Sewell ) are currently working in the office and know those numbers are important.
As with anything in life, we must set priorities. If we, as voters, demand more specifics and expect details to justify positions we will get what we expect. If we don’t, we won’t.