Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeMerle N. Johnson
Party: Independent
Candidate for: Benton County Commissioner, Position ONe
Incumbent? No
Age: 54
Hometown: West Richland
Occupation: County employee
50-word statement:
The people of Benton County deserve open-minded and aggressive leadership that truly reflects their values and needs. I am the man who can bring real forward thinking progress to our communities. For the past ten years,the people of Benton County have had to deal with an unresponsive county commission. My campaign is based on my sincere desire to make our county government meet the peoples' needs in changing times. My life experiences, combined with my years on the West Richland City Council, my employment by the county for over a decade, and my leadership experience on the board of various charities, make me the best candidate to fairly and openly represent the people of Benton County as Commissioner, Position One.
Three priorities:
I want first to work to control county spending, which has skyrocketed 62% in the past four years. Then, I want the commission to focus on the needs of those who pay taxes and let them decide where their priorities truly lie, especially with regard to the county seat. The $55 million our current commission has spent on the Kennewick county facilities in the previous four years has been without voter approval and contrary to state law. I further want to expand on the working relationship between the county, the municipalities, and the ports to lower costs and increase efficiency. I wholeheartedly want to work toward making our county justice system more pro-active than reactive, and to change the justice system's focus to prevention over intervention, especially with regard to juveniles. I plan to make use of my 30 years of agricultural experience to build alliances between ag and business, balancing my high regard of natural resources with my desire to make Benton County a prosperous one for all income levels. Finally, I find the county commission's lack of accessibility to the common man to be a reflection of their general disregard for the voting public. I have spent my life as that common man, a soldier, a farmer, a father and husband; I believe this, in addition to my background in politics and leadership, makes me uniquely qualified to be your representative and responsive Benton County Commissioner.
Web site: www.merlenormanjohnson.com
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