We support Adkins in Dem county commissioner primary

The Athens NEWS supports Charlie Adkins for the Democratic Party nomination to face Republican incumbent Larry Payne in the November general election. Adkins is facing businessman Gary Edwards in the March 6 Democratic Primary.

We feel that Adkins' background – years of blue-collar experience mining coal and laying blocks, president of the main union at OU for 20 years, and 13 years with the state workers' retirement board – all recommend him for service as an Athens County commissioner.

In interviews and election forums in recent weeks, Adkins has laid out a clearer idea for how he would co-manage the county than his opponent, Gary Edwards.

Edwards, a longtime Nelsonville business owner, brings that business experience to the table, and seems genuinely committed to helping responsibly manage Athens County.

Yet, his positions too frequently come off as overly generalized – with vague assurances that he'll "do whatever's best for the county" on any number of issues. Don't get us wrong; we're glad to see that, since the opposite approach doesn't make for a very reassuring candidacy. However, Edwards would make a better case for his nomination in the Democratic primary if he could provide more specifics on various important issues, including the solid-waste situation, budget issues and the fracking debate.

Plus, we're troubled that Edwards, when asked about the Wayne National Forest auctioning off oil and gas leasing rights, suggested that the Forest Service just sell off property being eyed for drilling, and then let the new private property owners decide what to do with it.

This is a terrible idea, and not just because concerns about the effects of fracking that land will remain the same no matter who owns it. But also we prefer to see federal holdings maintained and even increased in non-Western states such as Ohio that have such a small bit of land held in the public trust.

Adkins, who said he'd have signed on to a commissioners' letter opposing the Wayne National Forest lease auction, takes a measured approach to oil and gas drilling. On the one hand he supports land owners' property rights (which aren't endangered in any case) while exerting as much county control as legally possible over regulation, actively preparing for the impacts of fracking, and then sufficiently dealing with the after-effects.

Adkins also seems to have a better understanding than Edwards of the current limits of state regulation of oil and gas development, and the fact that county and local governments will need to proactively take whatever actions they can to address issues that the state either can't or won't deal with.

Adkins seems more amenable to the idea of forming and then working with a local committee especially designed to prepare for and address the arrival of large-scale fracking operations in Athens County.

While Edwards has the potential to be a hardworking and responsible county commissioner, we believe that Adkins' experience in both the public and private sector, his deep knowledge of county affairs, and his deliberate approach to the potential fracking boom in Athens County all make him the superior choice.

Vote for Charlie Adkins in the Democratic Primary for Athens County commissioner.