by Ivan Foley
Landmark editor

There will be a contested general election race for presiding commissioner of Platte County this year.

That was assured on Friday when Bobby Kincaid, Democrat, filed for the office. Kincaid is president of the Southern Platte County Ambulance District.

“I’m running for the people of Platte County, not for myself,” Kincaid said on Friday as he made the media rounds after filing for the position at the Platte County Board of Elections office that day.

“I don’t need a job, but want to give back to the county that has been a great home for me and my family,” Kincaid said.

He indicated to The Landmark that supporters “from both political parties” had encouraged him to run. He declined to give names of folks who had encouraged him to seek the position.

“I believe in open government and I want to help maintain and improve what we have in our county,” Kincaid remarked.

Jason Brown, who has been a state representative the past several years for the 30th District, has filed for presiding commissioner on the Republican ticket.

Thus far, Kincaid and Brown are unopposed in their parties’ primary elections in August. The primary winners will advance to a November general election.

Kincaid describes himself as a “fiscal moderate.”

“I’m not a liberal,” he told The Landmark on Friday.

Kincaid had a long career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, retiring as a branch manager after more than 35 years. During his tenure with the Corps, he represented the Kansas City District Engineer as a contracting officer on all negotiations for architecture and engineering design services. The contracts, he said, varied from several thousand dollars to millions.

“I understand the pressures that come with handling the taxpayers’ money and watched every expenditure as if it were my own,” Kincaid said.

Among his other responsibilities for the Corps was the duty of updating the military master planning databases for Army installations. He said his work earned him many superior performance awards from the Corps, and said he was recognized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commanding general for 33 years of service without using any sick leave.

In the time after his retirement from the Corps, Kincaid said he has used his experience in contracting and infrastructure issues to aid the community. In addition to his service with the Southern Platte County Ambulance District, he is vice president of Consolidated Public Water Supply District No. 1. He has served on the Platte County Citizens Strategic Planning Team. He said he works with MoDOT as an unpaid consultant on the Platte River and Dry Lake Creek bridges repair and replacement work.

Kincaid is involved with the certification of levees and the Degradation Study of the Missouri River being conducted by the Corps of Engineers.

He describes himself as a cautious thinker not prone to hasty decisions.

“I try to get all the facts before proceeding, especially if taxpayers’ money is involved,” Kincaid said.

Kincaid is married and has three children and eight grandchildren.

Asked by The Landmark to comment on the fact he will have an opponent in November, Brown responded:

“Whether in Bosnia, Iraq, Platte City or Jefferson City, I’ve fought for and defended the freedoms and liberties the constitution grants us my entire adult life. One of those is the right to run for office. I look forward to a discussion about the best way forward for Platte County with whoever the Democratic Party nominates,” he said.

“I believe Platte Countians will overwhelmingly reject the Democratic Party’s platform of bailouts, tax increases and big government spending. Thanks in large part to current Presiding Commissioner Betty Knight, Platte County is a great place to live, work and raise a family. I want to build on her success by increasing the number of good paying non-government jobs and making sure law enforcement has the resources it needs to keep Platte County a great place to live, work and raise a family,” Brown added.