L&T Publisher Earl Watt

Why haven’t you signed up yet?

With less than a week to go before the deadline for candidates to sign up, there is only one name so far for three Seward County Commission seats.

When three commissioners resigned in December, 13 people stepped up to fill the empty slots, and three were selected to finish the last year of the unexpired terms, and whether or not you agree with how those three have served, they deserve our thanks for being willing to serve.

And not just them but the other 10 who also put their name on the list. Each of the three district had choices, and that is critical to a functioning democracy.

After all, if there are no candidates, how do we, the people choose our representatives?

All 13 provided the precinct committee men and women choices.

But that process is a very limited version of democracy. Only a handful of people get to vote. Once district only had three precinct people who chose its commissioner.

Those same three seats are now open to a public vote where all registered voters in Districts 2, 3 and 4 will have a say in who the commissioner for the next four years will be.

And yet, with less than a week to go, there are no candidates in two of the three districts, and in Dist. 4, only Jose Lara has signed up, leaving the voters no options.

That’s not a slight to Lara. To the contrary, Lara has put his name on the list and should be applauded.

Each district should have at least two candidates so that voters have choices.

This also means there will be campaigns, and that, too, is critical to the democratic process.

By having campaigns, voters get to vet the candidates to see what positions they will take on the issues facing Seward County.

And yes, there has been more than enough drama the past year, and that may chase off candidates who want to be part of an organization that is already heading in the right direction.

One person recently told me they would much rather serve on the Liberal City Commission instead.

That is no surprise. The city is moving in a positive direction with public momentum behind many of the initiatives that have been proposed. And the city didn’t propose or advocate for a massive tax increase like the county did.

Since that out-of-touch move by the county, the citizenry has been investigating the fiscal decisions of the county as well as statements made by leadership.

And what has been uncovered has been stunning.

Other statements made by county leadership claiming that coming to work for Seward County will only lead to a new employee failing, or claiming to intentionally leave positions open because of the toxic environment are challenges the next commission will have to address. The current commission can also address them, but so far we have heard of no plan to rebuild public trust since the people were ignored during the massive tax increase discussions, have seen little to nothing done to reign in misinformation coming from county leadership, and have not done anything short of lip service to allow the public to have a say in whether or not Seward County will allow wind farms.

Even when given options to be more transparent or claiming that public notification is not necessary, like publishing the amended budget and holding a public hearing, the commission was advised by administration that neither was required.

That advice was not only wrong, it was tone deaf to what the county is facing. Even if it were optional, which it was not, the commission should have wanted it done anyway to rebuild the eroded trust.

The county did eventually publish the amended budget and hold the hearing, but only after complaints were offered to county counsel and that not doing it could risk the agreed upon settlement with tax payers.

This is not the ideal backdrop for candidates to want to sign up and fix, but that is why we need candidates more than ever. Elections are the ultimate healing steps in a democracy. The power rests in the hands of the people, but only if candidates are willing to stand for the people and represent their desires.

And that’s why we need you.