ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.
There is only one primary contest for a seat on the Allegan County Board of Commissioners and there is a county-wide race for prosecutor.
Two Republicans, Nathaniel Sherman of Wayland Township and Rick Cain of Selkirk Lake seek the party’s commissioner nomination for Seventh District, which takes in Wayland, Martin and Gun Plain Townships, the Village of Martin and the City of Plainwell. Seventh District Commissioner Don Black of Wayland Township announced last year that he will not seek re-election after serving for nearly 20 years.
Meanwhile, Incumbent Republican Prosecutor Myrene Koch is being challenged by Mike Villar. Both have extensive courtroom experience.
Cain, who retired as a lieutenant with the Allegan County Sheriff’s Department, was a member of the Wayland Board of Education for 16 years, serving as president for eight. He also served on the board for the Allegan Area Education Services Agency, was a principal at Fennville High High School and most recently has been employed with a charter school in Allegan.the board for 20 years.
Sherman, 30, has been listed as an Uber driver and a campaign manager.
Cain certainly has the edge in political experience and a record of public service. Consider him endorsed.
The winner of the primary contest will face Democrat Rachel Collingsworth of Plainwell in the Nov. 6 general election.
The prosecutor’s race features Koch, who was appointed to her post earlier this year by Circuit Judge Marge Bakker, and Villar, who has been an attorney in Allegan for nearly 20 years. Koch was promoted when Prosecutor Roberts Kengis was
elevated to Circuit Judge, succeeding Kevin Cronin, who retired abruptly without explanation last January.
The main criticism against Koch was expressed recently by Watson Township Supervisor Kevin Travis, who suggested Koch is part of a club whose members take care of each other. He suggested her close ties to Bakker helped her win the job.
Travis does have a point. Too often local government is dominated by people who know or related to each other and “good ole’ boys” network is a reality. However, I fail to see where Koch’s promotion disqualifies her. She’s been in the prosecutor’s office for 15 years and deserves a chance to show what she can do.
