BENTON COUNTY — With the improvement in the weather, the relaxed schedule of ice breaking allowed me to make my annual pilgrimage to a Quorum Court meeting.
Even though it was only a Committee of 13 meeting, it gave me an opportunity to see some of the members still present since my days there. It was interesting, but the agenda item to discuss the county judge’s handling of the remodeling project was tabled before it actually got off the ground.
This was probably the most sensible thing to do since the investigation by the Arkansas State Police will provide ample opportunity for clarification of the situation. However, at the end of the meeting few spectators were left. Perhaps there was a great deal of interest in the judge’s action and the public wanted to hear how their representatives felt about the matter.
This seemed to be the week for political activities to resume on my schedule because on the following night I attended a meeting of the Benton County Republican Assembly. This is really the very conservative arm of the Republican Party and was a quarterly meeting of the rather small group of Republicans who would like to see the party return to its Constitutional roots. It was of additional interest that a visitor (as I was) had been invited toshare a little information on the Tea Party. The Tea Party movement is not really a political party as such. Mark Moore, who writes a column frequently appearing in this paper, has a thorough understanding of the direction of the Tea Party’s activities and you might have a thorough understanding of their activities from his articles.
There were numerous groups, or organizations that were mentioned during the discussions at the assembly’s meeting that seem to have the same general direction - namely change the way our nation’s congressional group ignores the Constitution and the citizens in its activities.
Who, or what, will be able to bring all these groups together to form a unified front remains to be seen.
It might be like church denominations, unable to agree on who is to lead them, therefore unwilling to be a part of the other group’s program. It seems unfortunate to me that we are facing a crisis with our unemployment and financial issues, the prospect of a healthcare bill that is as divisive as any legislationin recent years, a Congress that few people trust, and we still can’t get a majority to reject both Republican and Democratic parties’ leadership.
One of the more interesting points discussed was which “major political party” the Tea Party would associate itself with for the purpose of evaluating their candidates. The Tea Party claims it has no desire to form a third party but rather is trying to direct the existing parties back to our national roots. If this is their primary, or only, goal they are going to be working with candidates selected by the major parties or they are going to be finding Independents to support.
It would appear to an interested observer who is actually a member of the Benton County Republican Committee, this might be a very good time for Independent candidates to seek public office in Benton County. With our current county judge being investigated regardless of the outcome of any investigation, it is likely the situation is going to attract opposition from other Republican candidates. Normally the “party” discourages candidates opposing an incumbent although it is financially beneficial to the County Committee - which sets and collects the filing fee for the primary. However, a great deal of publicity is going tobring attention to county government (and particularly the county judge’s office) because of the bidding process question.
Having opposed an incumbent Republican in a county judge election several years ago as an Independent, I believe fall elections are much more productive from a voter participation standpoint.
If the Tea Party is going to keep the public aware of politics, it might be a good year for anyone wanting to challenge the system as an Independent. This is not a solicitation for candidates, by the way. It is, however, interesting that so many people are questioning the Democratic party’s action in Washington and remember well the failures of the Republican administration which was replaced in the last election cycle. If an adequate number of people are really as unhappy as they claim to be, we could see it confirmed if we had Independents to evaluate.
Editor’s note: Leo Lynch, a native of Benton County, has deep roots in the area with family connections dating back to Elkhorn Tavern prior to the Civil War. A retired Industrial Engineer and former Justice of the Peace, he believes all government officials should be servants of, and accountable to, the people.
He can be contacted at [email protected] .
Opinion, Pages 4 on 01/20/2010