Two incumbent council members, Robert Garza and Elaine May, are running uncontested in Districts 2 and 3, while three people - Rick Fernandez, Loriann Gaunt and Brian McAchran - are running for the District 1 seat being vacated by Levi Beard, who decided not to run for another term. Three people - Bobby Bryant and Jackie Meck - are running for the mayor, which is a post elected at large.

View recommends McAchran

We applaud Fernandez and Gaunt for their sense of civic duty in running for the Town Council seat, but in their meetings with the West Valley View editorial board, they expressed a general lack of knowledge of the important issues that the town is currently dealing with. We urge them to start their involvement in town affairs by volunteering for one or more of the town's citizen committees and commissions. By doing so, they can learn about the issues and the town operations a little bit at a time, rather than ask the voters to elect them on the faith that they will acquire the necessary knowledge and take the appropriate stances on the various issues after they take the oath of office.

McAchran, on the other hand, already is very well-informed about the town and its problems. He's a former Buckeye police officer who retired from the force after being involved in a serious traffic accident while on duty - an accident that nearly took his life. He knows the issues, he knows the players, and based on his discussion of the problems facing the town and how he, as a councilman, would address them, he's on the right track.

Meck best choice for mayor

In Buckeye's election two years ago, three men ran for mayor. Three men are running for the post in this election, and two of them are the same candidates from the last election.

In our endorsement editorial published Feb. 10, 2006, we wrote: "If Buckeye residents are looking for change, Bryant would be the best bet for mayor."

Bryant has had two years to effect change in Buckeye, but so far, most of the changes have not been for the better. Over the past two years, the Buckeye Town Council has fired two town managers (both of whom were given hefty severance packages), lost multiple department heads, paid to move a "historic" home that is now crumbling into ruin at taxpayer expense, and embarrassed the entire West Valley over the way it handled a tri-city agreement over an advocacy center for the victims of domestic violence. Many people in the town government (and Bryant's opponents) say the town is being micromanaged by the mayor.

Michael Todd is a strong contender, but he doesn't have the depth of knowledge or know as many of the Valley's movers and shakers as Meck. As a matter of fact, there's probably nobody in Buckeye who knows the town better than Meck (except maybe his wife, Verlyne, who is an expert on Buckeye history).

Although Meck is a big part of Old Town Buckeye's past, he has a vision for the town's future that embraces its entire 650 square miles. He sees the future of Buckeye in the newer communities such as Tartesso, Verrado and Sun City Festival - not just historic Old Town.

Meck has extensive experience in government affairs. He knows who to go to in order to get action. He's not provincial in his outlook; he knows that in order for Buckeye to be a big player in the Valley's future, the town must act in cooperation with the Valley's other political entities.

At this point in the town's history, Meck's expertise would be a welcome addition to the Town Council.

'Yes' on Home Rule

Home Rule allows a city's elected officials to set a spending limit based on local priorities instead of making budget decisions based on a formula the state imposed in the early 1980s. If voters reject the Home Rule Option, the town would be forced to limit its spending to almost the same levels it had more than two decades ago, before the town annexed a land area the size of a small New England state.

The fear is that a lot of voters don't understand the Home Rule Option, and might mistake it for a new tax or a tax increase. It most emphatically is not. It only allows the town to spend the money it already has in the ways it sees fit. It's a silly rule that every Arizona city has to vote on every four years, but to abolish it would require an amendment to the Arizona Constitution.

To vote no on Home Rule would be to say goodbye to virtually every service the town now provides. On a 1980-based budget, Buckeye would have to lay off most of the town staff, including almost all of the police officers and firefighters. The town would no longer be able to afford to pay for public works such as garbage collection and street repairs. Libraries, parks and other public institutions would fall into disrepair.

Unless Buckeye residents long for a taste of life in the Stone Age, we highly recommend they vote yes on Home Rule.

'Yes' on 4-year mayoral term

Finally, Buckeye voters are being asked to extend the term of mayor from two to four years. A four-year mayoral term would put Buckeye on par with most of the other cities in the Valley.

With its current two-year mayoral term, Buckeye is at a disadvantage when trying to compete with other Valley cities, whose mayors have a better chance of gaining seniority - and more influence - on regional committees such as the Maricopa Association of Governments, which allocates money for freeway construction, among other things.

You may put paragraph breaks in your comments by using the <p> code.