2010 could be watershed year for county

With seats opening up among several of the county's top elected positions, 2010 looks to be a watershed year when it comes to Mississippi County politics.

The open seats start at the top, with county judge. Longtime Judge Steve McGuire has announced his plans to retire, creating an open race.

And with the death of former Sheriff Leroy Meadows earlier this year, the sheriff's race is also wide open. James Sanders was appointed to fill the remainder of Meadows' term, but is forbidden by law from seeking election.

Other county posts also figure to feature open races for the first time in years in 2010.

It's a situation that makes the 2010 elections some of the most important in recent memory, as the direction our county takes in years to come will be determined.

For that matter, for all facets of local government, the next several elections could produce watershed years. Taking a look across the faces of those who hold elected offices — whether it be quorum courts, city councils or school boards — you see a lot of folks who are likely at the end of their years of public service.

In other words, the next decade will likely see major changes in the leadership of many of our communities. Some of it has already started.

What will be interesting is to see what kind of leaders this next generation will produce.

Will we get the next generation of "good ol' boys" — men and women content to do things the way they have always been done?

Will we get obstructionists — candidates whose chief purpose is to stand in the way of someone else's plans?

Will we get prima donnas — office-holders who are more enamored by the public spotlight, and are only blithely aware of their constituents and job responsibilities?

Will we get experienced leaders — people who will bring their genuine talents and skills to a new level of public service?

Will we get consensus builders — leaders who possess the people skills to forge compromises, and unite people?

Will we get visionaries — people who can see beyond the way things are, to the way things could be?

So far, at the county level, we've got four candidates for sheriff and two candidates for county judge. Running for sheriff are Tommy Bennett, Dale Cook, Ed Guthrie and Jackie Hill. Running for judge are Randy Carney and John Alan Nelson.

There may be more candidates out there, but the six mentioned above are those who have notified the local media of their intentions.

And that brings us to another point. When it comes to press coverage, the Courier News has agreed to publish an "announcement" story when a candidate announces his or her candidacy. Coverage of all other campaign events after that will be considered paid advertisements. The exception would be events or articles when all candidates are included.

So far, all of the candidates are Democrats, which is pretty common for Mississippi County. That means the election will likely be decided in the May 18 primary (and any subsequent runoffs), rather than the November general election.

It should to be a fun campaign to watch. That is, it ought to be. My hope is that the candidates running (and their backers) keep their heads about them. Political races are a competition, and in any competition, fans of one side or the other are prone to cases of tunnel-vision when it comes to their guy (or girl). And it's this kind of tunnel-vision and single-mindedness that leads to political nastiness, and it must be resisted.

We need to be able to have a civil debate in our communities. This is no more true than in the next eight months, with the future direction of our county on the line.