HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Around 100 Reno County residents spent time at the Stringer Fine Arts Center Monday night learning a little bit more about the candidates for Reno County Commission.
Seven of the eight candidates on the ballot were in attendance.
Cris Corey and Randy Parks were there for the District 1 Republican race, which will be decided August 2.
Democrat Michael Jobe was there for District 4, but Republican Mark Reese was not in attendance. Those two will face off in November, but are running unopposed in their respective primaries.
All four candidates for the new District 5 were there, Don Bogner, Tom Collins, Penelope Poitras and Mike Warren are all running as Republicans, so that race will be decided August 2, as well.
Speaking generally, all of the candidates understand that there are areas of the county they don't know about yet, because they aren't already serving. They aren't interested in second-guessing the actions of current commissioners or of the county administrator.
They also have a keen awareness that there are some departments that are led by officials that are accountable to the voters themselves, like county clerk and sheriff and treasurer, and that it's important to build relationships with those people so that you can come to an agreement on their needs.
Also, there are a lot of county functions that are just pass through from the state and those have to be taken care of first because you have to follow statute. After that, public safety and infrastructure come next, with other pressing needs related to economic development and workforce availability, like childcare and mental health and substance abuse issues that they will also have to figure out how to prioritize.
In the main, the seven on the platform Monday are interested in serving the county, and not in longer-term and larger political ambitions, and none of them want to raise taxes.
Hutch Post plans to have each candidate whose race will be decided in August in for a one on one interview prior to the primary.