We had a number of uncontested races here in Guilford County, mirroring a trend in statewide races that the N&O’s Rick Martinez says isn’t going away any time soon:

At the state level, more than half of North Carolina’s 170 legislators are unopposed in Tuesday’s general election. This isn’t an anomaly: it’s a trend. In 2000, the number of uncontested legislative seats stood at 58. This year, it’s risen to 86.

And Bob Phillips of Common Cause told me he thinks North Carolina hasn’t yet reached the ceiling when it comes to uncontested seats. Because of similar demographics and growth patterns, he expects us to follow the footsteps of Georgia, where roughly two of three legislative races have only one candidate.

But when I looked at my ballot on Tuesday, it wasn’t the missing names that bothered me. It was the missing offices. In my view, there should definitely be more elected offices on both the city and county level.

A couple of years ago, there was a huge campaign by unhappy parents to get GCS Superintendent Terry Grier “outta here.” The chance to vote Grier out of office would have been more than welcomed by parents unhappy with the system’s High Point school assignment plan. But that’s old news. A couple of more recent controversies illustrate the need for voters to have more control over the people providing their basic services.

As you well know, there are many out there are dissatisfied with City Manager Mitchell Johnson. The City Council has expressed support for Johnson, so the only recourse citizens have to express their displeasure with Johnson is to pull the lever for his opponent. This would provide a true public referendum on his job performance instead of having it played out in The Rhino and the blogosphere.

And while we’re at it, why not have the police chief be an elected position? A friend of mine countered that if, for instance, David Wray were an elected official, he would hang in there until the next election. That’s true in some cases, not true in others.

Then you have former County Manager Willie Best, whose dismissal by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners set off a round of racial protest. Some county commissioners argued that Best just wasn’t doing a very good job; others argued he was fired because he’s black. Were he an elected official, Best would not be at the mercy of commissioners, thus saving our community a lot of unnecessary angst over issues of race.

I also think that making the heads of city and county entities would grant them a certain amount of independence from ineffective and politically correct governing bodies when making crucial decisions. Yet when they go to far, the governing bodies will still have the power to overrule them. Gridlock? Maybe. I prefer the ‘check and balance.’ That works pretty well, if history is an accurate indicator.