In the race for mayor, Oak Harbor voters have the luxury of three earnest candidates, two of whom will advance to the primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

While Martha Yount has shown the ability and expressed the desire to be mayor, breadth of experience matters, and we think Jim Campbell and Bob Severns are the candidates with the background in city government needed in the mayor’s office.

Yount is a former computer store owner in Oak Harbor, and Campbell and Severns currently serve on the Oak Harbor City Council. Each claims business management experience. Severns describes his as more current than either of his opponents.

Each of the three candidates agree that the administration of Scott Dudley needs to be followed by a kinder, gentler kind of leadership, one that is less prone to dropping the ax on employees.

Morale is a problem at City Hall, the three candidates said, and all say they would change that environment for the better.

Campbell said nobody will need worry for their jobs if he is elected; Severns says he won’t being doing any wholesale firing, but hinted at perhaps a couple of changes in staffing. Yount falls in the middle, saying she won’t make any changes at City Hall, “until I know what’s what.”

Campbell has often sided with Dudley in his voting; frequently he was the only one to align himself with the mayor. But, he maintains that he is his own man and that the council and the mayor need to own that they contributed to their contentious relationship — and apologize.

If Campbell sided with the mayor more, Severns’ votes usually aligned with the council’s. As mayor, however, Severns said he would ask tough questions and be more involved than the council is used to.

Severns enjoys the support and contributions of key community leaders, but maintains he too is his own man, and worked hard to get where he is today.

All three of the candidates agreed that transparency in government is essential and promise the peoples’ business will be conducted in public.

We find each of the three candidates to be articulate, intelligent and engaging. We like that each promises openness and accessibility to city government.

That’s how it should be.

Only two candidates can advance to the primary, however, and we believe that Bob Severns and Jim Campbell have the background in local government to usher the City of Oak Harbor into a post-Dudley era.

That’s why Severns and Campbell are our top choices to advance to the primary.