Harold

Bost, chairman of the Fayette County Commission,

will sign up as a candidate for reelection when

qualifying opens next week, but he may not run.

Bost

has announced that he will qualify for his Post 3

seat, but will drop out of the race if he is

satisfied that other candidates seeking the post

are not tied to any "special

interests."

"I

plan to thoroughly evaluate each candidate that

files for my post," Bost said in a written

statement to the press. "If I find a

candidate who I feel reflects my views and is

fully capable to do the job, I may then withdraw

and throw my efforts behind that

individual," he said.

Bost

told The Citizen he had hoped to find someone to

take his place before now. "I've been trying

to find somebody for my seat for two years or

more," he said. He had planned to be a

one-term commissioner all along, he said.

Elected

to the commission in 1996, Bost soon began to

complain that the group was unduly influenced by

the business interests of friends of the

commissioners.

"If

certain people were involved, they could get just

about anything they wanted" from the

commission, he said.

Conservative

on growth, he also became frustrated with what he

perceived as a pro-growth philosophy on the

board, Bost said.

In

1998, with the election of commissioners Linda

Wells and Greg Dunn, Bost was elected chairman

and said he has been much more pleased with the

direction the county has taken.

"It

has taken a lot of effort, but it has been worth

it," Bost said in his written statement.

"Fayette County is now on a smart,

managed-growth path."

In

an interview with The Citizen, he added, "I

want to keep government going where it's going

right now, on the same track."

He

pointed to a master plan for a new government

campus as part of the planning for a new county

jail and courthouse, plus efforts to put a

Fayetteville bypass road on the front burner and

the recent decision to enact impact fees as

examples of improved long-range thinking on the

board. "We have been making practical

decisions rather than political decisions,"

he said, adding, "there is still much to do

and I do not want to see a reversal of the

progress we have made."

Bost

said he is concerned not only about what will

happen to his own seat on the commission, but

also to two other seats up for election in 2000.

Commissioners

Herb Frady and Glen Gosa also are at the end of

their four-year terms. Frady is running for

reelection, while Gosa has announced he will

retire from the board.

"We

can not afford to let any of these three seats go

to candidates from special interest groups or to

candidates with self interest," said Bost.

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