CANDIDATES

Chris King Hometown: Stonelick Township Age: 60 Occupation: Retired chemical engineer; volunteers for Sierra Club and adult literacy programs Experience: Worked in management in oil, gas and pollution control for several Texas oil companies Barbara Wiedenbein Hometown: Union Township Age: 57 Occupation: Businesswoman Experience: Union Township trustee; management experience in family truck and auto parts business and as former owner of travel agency

"That would sort of make me a Libertarian, wouldn't it, running for a job that I don't think should exist?" said King, 60, a Democrat running against Republican Barbara Wiedenbein for the new position of Clermont County Common Pleas Court clerk.

King believes splitting the court clerk position in two - one for municipal clerk, one for common pleas clerk - wastes money.

"I hate to see taxpayers getting stiffed by absentee managers and lack of productivity," King said.

He's running against a well-known name in Clermont County.

Wiedenbein, 57, was appointed to finish her husband's term as Union Township trustee after Art Wiedenbein died this summer. Wiedenbein's trustee term ends in December 2005.

Wiedenbein is active with the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the library board, and she also does the books for Wiedenbein Auto and Truck Parts. She says those responsibilities would not get in her way as clerk.

"My name is on the door, and I will be there to deal with any problems, every day," she said.

Wiedenbein, who used to own a travel agency in Montgomery, would be the first woman to hold a court clerk job in Clermont County.

"Unless you've been out there in the world managing businesses and managing employees, you can't do this job," Wiedenbein said.

King, who volunteers for Sierra Club and adult literacy, had worked in management in oil, gas and pollution control for various engineering companies. He says he would make the clerk's Web site more efficient so people can enter pleas and make court payments online.

King asserts Wiedenbein would be more of the same.

"We have a daisy chain of clerks who aren't showing up to work and are costing the county money," King said. "They've been nothing but absentee managers."

Hamilton County, with a population four times Clermont County's, has only one clerk of courts position, held by Greg Hartmann.

Clermont Democrats hope this election will help open up the Republican-dominated government.

"A good, strong two-party system is what this state and county needs," said Dave Lane, chair of the county Democratic Party.

Tim Rudd, chair of the Clermont County Republican Party, says that sounds like a broken record.

"It's what I hear every election, and I don't think that dog hunts," Rudd said. "The issue they've been running on the past seven years is one-party rule. They're not giving people a reason to vote for them."

E-mail rforgrave@enquirer.com