www.mybaycity.com July 6, 2016
Columns Article 10505

RUMOR CAMPAIGN: Barcia vs. Hickner Race Turns Dark, Nasty

July 6, 2016
By: Dave Rogers


Jim Barcia (Left) and Tom Hickner (Right)
 

We have been watching the so-called "campaign" of former Congressman Jim Barcia who is seeking the Bay County Executive's post wondering what issues it will turn on.

However, no real issues have been raised by Mr. Barcia.

The county's finances are in the black; there is an adequate fund balance; no scandals have erupted in the last two decades.

Taxpayers should be happy, and for the most part seem to be content with the administration of county government.

We cannot help but ask: Why would we voters throw over somebody who is doing a great job in exchange for a politician with no executive experience whose last job was lobbyist and who left his last elected office ten years ago?

This didn't smell right when it started several months ago and the stench is beginning to be overwhelming.

The rumors rage from neighbor to neighbor: Hickner is sick; he's going to quit and appoint somebody else; he really doesn't run the county; he doesn't work hard enough, and on and on.

All the innuendo is belied by the verified fact that our government in Bay County is the envy of the state; the county is fiscally stable and management is competent and fair. There is little dissension among commissioners and most elected county officers. Those are facts.

The executive holds a Master of Business Administration degree and no doubt could work in any agency of local or state government anywhere in Michigan if he chose.

But in this crazy political charade, apparently the idea of who is most qualified for the job is not in the equation.

Or who could do the best job for the taxpayers of Bay County for the next four years.

The main campaign element appears to be rumor, innuendo and, now, deeply personal vicious attacks against the incumbent, Tom Hickner.

We decline to repeat the rumors here they are so obnoxious. But you may have heard some of it via the "grapevine." Nothing about this kind of smear campaign serves the interest of the public in Bay County.

A downstate "political consultant" who has lost a lawsuit brought by a candidate who claimed defamation is apparently now in the local picture -- far beneath the surface of course. This is a situation we warned about in this column when the race began last May.

Of course, there are local connivers with axes to grind against the executive and the county commission as well. Dare we ask if the invasion of a disreputable downstate political hitman is linked to in-house feuds? Whose main communication tactic is snarky drivel on Twitter?

We wrote in May: "Is Jim Barcia's campaign for Bay County Executive against his former friend and colleague Tom Hickner linked to an ongoing feud in the county building?

"And, is the management of Bay County now subject to Presidential-style political maneuvering and mud-slinging because of a redistricting dispute or the efforts of the county commission to control costs in county offices?

"Political insiders say that Barcia, who has recently been employed by lobbying firms in Washington and Lansing, is strongly supported by County Clerk Cynthia Luczak, who is embroiled in a lawsuit against Hickner and the county claiming prejudice against her and seeking a court order to have the county pay her legal fees."

Let's get this straight: the main public voice with complaints against the county is someone who wants the county to fund heavy-duty lawyer's fees in a fight against itself?

It seems to this columnist that the very crass, objectionable aspects of national politics have landed here, just as we warned several months ago.

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