The most important countywide election, that for the county mayor’s seat for the next two years, was never expected to provide much suspense. Jim Coppinger, who has occupied the post on an interim appointment since Claude Ramsey resigned 20 months ago, was the only well-known candidate. And he is a Republican, which is all that really seems to matter nowadays in county elections.
But if his easy victory over Democrat Rick Wilson, who self-financed his forward-looking campaign, is no surprise, we hope his leadership style will be going forward. Coppinger has been so cautious since he took over the seat that any leadership skills have been hard to detect. Now is his time to show his vision.
Hamilton County urgently needs a forward-looking leader who will represent the interest of all the county’s constituents, not just the 30 percent who reside in the unincorporated areas of the county. His goal should be to step up to the challenges of rapid urban growth throughout the county as our economic development boom ripens, avoiding haphazard sprawl and starting up consolidated urban services.
True, that would mean adopting the incremental service-consolidation agenda that Wilson laid out. Never mind. Coppinger needs to make sure that county government tackles this challenge in a way that provides smart growth and broad tax equity for the 70 percent of county taxpayers who reside in the county’s 10 incorporated municipalities.
This doesn’t require metro. It requires just a county charter, regular collaboration with the other municipal mayors and a strong vision. If Coppinger has the metal to tackle this challenge – and the wherewithal to boost funding and quality in all public schools, including the inner school schools – he’ll go down as an important leader. If he fails, well – it’s the county’s loss, as well as his.