Eagle endorsement: Sedgwick County Commission Republican primary, District 3 | Opinion

The race for the Republican Party nomination for Sedgwick County Commission District 3 is a close call.

Of the three candidates who will appear on the Aug. 6 ballot, The Eagle recommends Stephanie Wise.

Wise gets our nod because she seems to have the best grasp of current issues facing the county. She serves on the district advisory board of the current (and retiring) commissioner, David Dennis.

Wise’s No. 1 issue in the campaign is property tax relief, and it is much needed.

Sedgwick County’s ordinarily glacial real estate market has heated up in the past few years, driven by speculation and “flipping” of homes and business properties. As a result, tax valuations have skyrocketed. The pickle the county finds itself in is that it can’t just freeze or reduce valuations — state law is detailed and explicit on how those appraisals have to be done.

Wise understands that this is a problem that is beyond the county’s direct ability to control.

“We’re a part of that chain link from city, state, schools, that need to come together and figure out a solution to relieve that pressure, and find alternative ways to support our public services and public needs,” she said. “If we do not try to start finding those solutions and modernizing the way we look at government, we won’t make that progress and it’ll continue to burden our citizens.”

Wise also sounds the right notes on subsidizing development through tax breaks and other incentives. She understands that sometimes there’s a need for the public and private sectors to partner up to get things done. But, she said, “I think there’s strong discernment that has to be used, where it’s not a precedent that we set that everybody who asks gets what they want, or poor picking and choosing what wins and loses, as much as what’s the benefit (for) the community.”

The other two candidates in the race are also capable.

Greg Ferris, a former three-term member of the Wichita City Council, is also equipped to hit ground running.

Like Wise, his main priority is tax relief. He argues, with some justification, that with his experience and longtime connections he’s better equipped to represent the county in trying to change state tax laws.

But Ferris has been out of government for a while, making his living representing private interests with business before the City Hall he served as a council member.

One of his major clients is Genesis Health Clubs, and as their consultant/lobbyist, he smoothed the way for them to take over the city’s Ice Center and install one of their fitness clubs there.

It was and is an unmitigated disaster. Genesis never paid back hundreds of thousands of dollars that the city fronted the company to build its health club on the second floor, while the city’s part of the ice center was allowed to run down due to gross mismanagement, and the ice itself has been in and out of service for the past year.

Ferris says he represented his clients well, and would represent the county’s residents equally well. It’s possible it would be better to have Ferris on the county’s side of the table rather than the other side.

The third candidate, Alan Reichert, has some intriguing ideas, including that the Wichita area should move now to get in on the ground floor in the budding industry of artificial intelligence in the medical field.

He’s a financial analyst for Spirit AeroSystems, so he’s used to dealing with big numbers and vendor contracts.

Living outside Cheney, he’s the only candidate who resides in the unincorporated county and directly receives police and fire services from the sheriff’s department and county Fire District No. 1, which would be a good perspective to have on the commission.

But he is inexperienced, and the others show deeper knowledge of local issues.

In this race, there are no wrong answers. But in our view, Stephanie Wise is the most right answer.