There are some elected offices at the county level where incumbency can be a particular advantage, and not just for the candidate. Experience and a straightforward approach to the job count more than one's ability to campaign on volatile issues because, although the offices are put to the people for a vote, they should not really be "political." Two positions fitting that description in Wake County have two able occupants, and today The News & Observer's editorial endorsement goes to Clerk of Superior Court Lorrin Freeman and to Sheriff Donnie Harrison, with Freeman seeking a second term and Harrison a third.
LORRIN FREEMAN. The clerk of court's position tends to be a low-profile job if it's being done well. The clerk is responsible for the smooth flow of courthouse paperwork - essential to the proper functioning of the justice system. The office also presides over adoptions, foreclosures, incompetency proceedings and property condemnations - all areas with significant public interaction - and processes fees and fines. Freeman, the incumbent Democratic clerk, has had that low profile because she's done a good job. She emphatically has earned another four-year term.
Freeman had a tough task in taking over the office, where there were morale and efficiency problems under her predecessor, Republican Jan Pueschel. Joy Hamilton, then Wake's chief District Court judge, ordered Pueschel to improve efficiency and access, and the situation became so bad at one point that Hamilton and Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens directed her to give complete access to criminal files to all judges, including magistrates. Lawyers and judges complained that the office was not friendly, records were not accessible and things were not running as they should.
These issues remain pertinent, because incredibly, Pueschel, an attorney and native of Illinois, wants the job back. One of her selling points is her experience as a warden at several state youth detention centers, and another is her experience as clerk. Pueschel is also using an issue that really isn't an issue: She says that under Freeman, Demario Atwater, now serving a life sentence for the murder of UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson, was sent away from court two days before the murder because of a file being in the wrong place. He was there for a probation violation hearing. Freeman counters that Atwater would in fact have been free anyway because he was in court only to be advised of his rights to a lawyer.
What this race comes down to is that Freeman has been good at the job, and Pueschel wasn't good at it by a long shot. Pueschel clearly is counting on some kind of Republican sweep to get the job back, but that's hardly a reason to give her another chance she doesn't deserve.
DONNIE HARRISON. The sheriff's department handles law enforcement in unincorporated areas and also maintains security in the county jail. An effective sheriff is honest, knowledgeable, firm and fair, no matter his political leanings.
Harrison has proven himself during almost eight years as Wake's sheriff, and the former Highway Patrol officer deserves another term. When Harrison won the office by defeating long-time incumbent Democrat John Baker, a legend and a good sheriff, it was feared he would unnecessarily "clean house" in the upper ranks of the Sheriff's Office. To his credit, he didn't.
He has kept morale high, has avoided problems in running the jail, and seems to have emphasized the office's duty to the community to do its job with efficiency and compassion. Unfortunately, Harrison has become a little too interested in being active in the deportation of illegal immigrants who are arrested for even minor crimes.
A big problem with that is that it can deter people who happen to be here illegally from reporting crimes for fear they will be sent home, even though they might be working and settled. The immigration issue is complicated, but the federal government has avoided addressing some real solutions, which has in effect punted the issue to local law enforcement. The responsibility lies in Washington, not Wake County.
Overall, however, Harrison has been a solid sheriff, straightforward, honest, focused on the job at hand and winning support from his deputies by going out on many calls himself. He understands, in other words, the challenges his subordinates face, which is good.
His opponent, Democrat Jay Sills Jr., is a former police officer in Fuquay-Varina. His campaign has been virtually invisible, which may be more a commentary on Harrison's popularity than anything else.
