EDITORIAL: Our Endorsements: Seminole Commission… [The Orlando Sentinel, Fla.]

Aug. 10--Seminole is Central Florida's most affluent county, but it hasn't been spared by the Great Recession. Seminole's leaders, like their counterparts in other counties, face falling property values and a double-digit jobless rate.

Coping with these problems, while maintaining the county's quality of life and preserving its undeveloped areas, will be among the primary challenges for the winners in this year's races for the Seminole commission.

Two of the commission's five seats are on the ballot: District 2 and District 4. Candidates in each are elected countywide.

District 2

Incumbent Mike McLean, an insurance agent from Lake Mary first elected in 2006, faces challenger John Horan, a lawyer from Winter Springs. We prefer Mr. Horan.

While making his first bid for office, Mr. Horan has long been active as a volunteer in civic and business groups. He served on the county's Charter Review Commission, whose proposals in 2006 included a series of ethics reforms for county officeholders.

In this campaign, Mr. Horan wisely says he wants to steer development to parts of the county already built out, and to transportation corridors. He says the county's rural areas "must be preserved." Voters shouldn't accept any less.

Mr. McLean says creating jobs in Seminole County is his top priority. To his credit, he has voted with other commissioners to protect the undeveloped eastern third of the county, and he also stresses the need to cut energy use, conserve water and improve transportation.

Yet Mr. McLean's early tenure on the commission was marred by episodes of poor judgment. He ordered more than $8,800 worth of new furniture for his county office. He obtained a list of hundreds of county employees to solicit as customers for his insurance business. He billed the county almost as much for travel in his first year as the other four commissioners combined.

These episodes would be easier to overlook now if Mr. McLean were more contrite. Instead, he dismisses them as having occurred during "different times," when public money wasn't so tight -- as if it's OK to gouge a healthy budget.

And Mr. McLean has chosen to go after Mr. Horan for a 2008 guest column in the Sentinel that called on Congress to secure the nation's borders and permit "a market-driven flow of legal immigrants needed for the American economy."

Pretty reasonable stuff. And yet, Mr. McLean's campaign has likened him to President Obama. This is silly, and it's irrelevant in a county commission race.

We endorse John Horan.

District 4

Incumbent Carlton Henley of Longwood is seeking his fourth consecutive term. He is the most qualified of three candidates in the race.

Mr. Henley, a retired Lyman High School principal, has been the commission's chairman five times. He is also a leader of regional stature, having served as chairman of Lynx and MetroPlan.

Mr. Henley is committed to attracting more high-wage jobs to the county, and realizes it takes more than just low taxes to do it. Quality schools and services, with good recreation and parks, also are essential. The county has made gains in those areas under his leadership.

Former Commissioner Win Adams, a real-estate agent from Fern Park, is a sharp critic of SunRail, the new commuter-rail system coming to Central Florida. On this issue, the county would be much better served by leaders like Mr. Henley, who is dedicated to making the system work.

Mr. Adams' complaints about waste in government don't resonate in a county that has cut scores of jobs and millions of dollars from its budget in recent years.

Don Epps, a small-business owner and Lockheed Martin employee from Altamonte Springs, is well-meaning but struggles when it comes to offering substantive and specific ideas to solve problems.

We endorse Carlton Henley.

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