Let's fire up the oleCandidate Compare-o-Tron™

County Commissioners

Franklin Comm 1

Peck

Lehrman

Peck vs. Lehrman

Franklin Comm 2

Peralta

Mullen

Peralta vs. Mullen

Benton Comm 1

Delvin

Raffa

Delvin vs. Raffa

Opponents have matching colors. Click their faces—they might have more to say.

Rocky Mullen did not complete our Q&A despite numerous attempts on our part. Brad Peck and Jerome Delvin commented but did not choose A/B selections for most items. These candidates’ positions were speculated to the best of our ability based on comments, traditional party positions, publicly available information, and consultations with engaged citizens. Neither Will McKay nor Jim Beaver responded, so we skipped both.

A	Strongly lean A	Slightly lean A	Slightly lean B	Strongly lean B	B
I will make the best decision I can based on my experience, judgment, and beliefs.	Mullen	Peck Responsible decision making balances your own knowledge and experience with the advice and counsel of others. Every decision varies. Timely decisions do not always permit the amount of desired coordination.	Peralta Raffa While an elected official's personal experience and judgement do play into their decision making process, I will value the perspectives of residents and stakeholders on issues, especially ones outside of my expertise.	Lehrman	I will seek opinions and perspectives different from my own when formulating a decision.
Systemic racism is a problem in Benton and Franklin counties, and we need to make changes in our law enforcement, justice system, and public health delivery to address it.	Peralta Lehrman	Raffa Benton County has the same challenges of systemic racism that face our entire country. Limitations on a Commissioner's authority over county law enforcement and the justice system requires cooperation between agencies. Peck I have no tolerance for racism, system or otherwise. As a public official I feel an added responsibility to stand against racism anywhere in our community.	Mullen	Delvin I don't believe in the term ‘systemic racism.’ Is there still racism yes, but our country has involved in a more just society and law enforcement should not automatically be seen as racist.	Racism is a personal matter. We should not overburden our law enforcement, justice, or public health systems with trying to ‘fix’ it.
Our area is a diverse, inclusive community with equitable representation in setting policies and deciding major issues.		Delvin I always strive for a better community in diversity and my record show's that. Mullen	Peck We need to hear from all affected audiences and need officials who know how to listen. Character, skill, and effort are the traits we need in our public servants.	Peralta Raffa By actively engaging the community and seeking to develop collaborative policies with representatives from our diverse communities of color, Benton County can help champion issues of equity in our local government. Lehrman	We must take greater steps to ensure all voices have a seat at the table when deciding major issues, especially underserved and underrepresented people.
Mental health and substance abuse are big issues for a growing number of residents, with serious ripple effects. The County has an important policy role to play in this area.	Peralta Raffa The county needs to provide a comprehensive series of treatments and services for behavioral health, including the creation of a bi-county rehabilitation center for mental health and substance abuse issues. Lehrman	Delvin I will continue to work on mental health and addiction issues as a commissioner. Peck It is actually a Washington state responsibility often delegated to counties without the required funding. I support increasing our budget for expanded mental health services, especially within the local justice system. Mullen			The effects of mental health and substance abuse are real, but it’s not the County’s role to expend exorbitant amounts of our limited budget trying to address what are fundamentally individual problems.
Homelessness is a growing problem. The County should take a lead role in coordinating and marshaling resources to address it.	Lehrman	Peralta Raffa The county has an opportunity to leverage its position and help inspire a shared vision with our local jurisdictions by taking the lead to create a regional strategy in combating homelessness. Peck The county has a major role to play, along with many other local governments and agencies.	Delvin Our county has a strong human service department and is always partnering with advocates and resource providers. Mullen		Homelessness is a growing problem, but the County is a supporting player in addressing it and should follow the lead of service providers and law enforcement.
The decades-old Benton-Franklin commitment to shared services and systems continues to be mutually beneficial. We should work to preserve it.	Peralta Raffa We need to rebuild our relationship with Franklin County and preserve these successful bi-county services. Sharing the courts and health district helps lower their fiscal impact and saves tax payer dollars. Lehrman Peck The counties can partner under several different structures. Partnership is not just about fiscal efficiency. Service delivery is often the best justification, as is the case with the bi-county court system.		Mullen Delvin I agree with parts of both statements. We should always be looking at institutions for improvement of service and use of tax monies. May mean joint efforts or each county to provide what they believe for their residents.		The Benton-Franklin commitment to shared services was useful for many years, but has outlived its effectiveness and the counties should pursue their own individual services.
The role the Benton-Franklin Health District has played in the COVID-19 response highlights the critical importance of sufficiently funding the Health District to lead the way during public health emergencies.	Peralta Raffa I will work to ensure that BFHD is adequately funded well into the future and help improve its community education around the importance of public health. Today, the agency remains understaffed and under-resourced. Lehrman	Peck The counties have provided more funding than the health district has used...and more funds are available. I have supported statewide efforts to ensure the state legislature provides adequate funding for public health. Delvin Benton County has not reduced funding from the county but the state has cut funding to health districts. I am working within the current and future county budget for more funding for our health district.		Mullen	The role of the Benton-Franklin Health District in the COVID-19 response demonstrates that their funding reductions over the past several years were justified.
COVID-19 has exposed weaknesses in the County’s readiness for future pandemics, which should be planned for and accounted for in the budgeting process.	Peralta Raffa While I applaud the efforts of the county to combat COVID-19 four months after its declaration as a global pandemic, we could have advanced to Phase 2 by now had it not been for Commissioner inaction and grandstanding. Lehrman		Peck It’s been more than a century since we had a pandemic of this proportion. We must learn from this experience without compromising our readiness for other, more likely emergencies. Delvin The county was prepared for the pandemic as any other government agency in our state and country. Weakness were exposed throughout our country.	Mullen	COVID-19 turned out to be much less severe than the early fearmongers would have us believe, and our scarce County resources shouldn’t be wasted planning for something that may never happen.
In order to prevent suburban sprawl, the County should prioritize infill growth within the Cities before expanding growth boundaries.		Raffa I stand for a balanced approach to decision making but am opposed to the concept of sprawl which has been growing in our communities. We need to focus on maximizing value in the existing Urban Growth Areas.	Peralta Delvin The county works with the cities on urban growth boundaries along with other interested parties. There is a balance to be sure on growth. I do work with home builders and developers. Peck In-fill of available lands is highly desirable. Careful expansion of Urban Growth Areas is unavoidable. Balancing the two obligations is responsible and realistic.	Lehrman Mullen	Because development is essential for our economy and affordable housing, the County should prioritize working with developers to expand property availability regardless of location.
We have an abundance of open, natural spaces and we need to focus on economic development over conservation.		Peck Development and conservation are not mutually exclusive. I do not support unregulated development, but recognize the economic value of responsible development. With careful planning we can have the benefits of both. Delvin Again, a balance is needed for both. The bottom line is the quality of life for our residents. I have worked with groups to preserve natural areas such as ridge-lines. Mullen	Peralta Raffa Open spaces for outdoor recreation and parks positively impact our quality of life and help attract new residents and business investments. We need a mix of residential, commercial, and open spaces for continued growth.	Lehrman	The natural environment is crucial to quality of life and economic prosperity.
Climate change is not an issue that counties can or should address.	Delvin The climate has been and will always change and we must work and adapt to the changes. Mullen	Peck I agree the climate is changing. I don’t believe local efforts are providing meaning results. National efforts to influence the gross polluters of the world are a better investment.		Peralta Raffa Impacts of climate change threaten communities across the country. Government must play a part to combat this issue and educate residents about its severity. Management of water resources is key for the county's growth. Lehrman	I support climate policies that incentivize our local community doing our part to prevent climate change.
The county is doing a good job of being transparent and providing the public ample opportunities for input.		Delvin I am always looking for better ways for community engagement but I am very transparent. Peck Every county action is done in open public recorded meetings with ample opportunity to comment. I support evening meetings rather than daytime business hour meetings as a way to increase public participation.	Mullen	Peralta Raffa Our county government has flown under the radar too long. Many citizens don’t know the services it stewards or who their commissioners are. I will foster an environment that invites engagement in county government. Lehrman	The county should do a much better job of being transparent and engaging the community in the decision making process.