For many people in Carroll County, Reese L. Starner didn't occupy the office of Carroll's Register of Wills. He was the office. His death last Saturday, at age 78, marked the end of 28 years of devoted public service.
Mr. Starner's dedication to safeguarding the public purse is legendary. During last fall's campaign, in which he won re-election to his eighth successive term, he boasted that his office -- himself and two clerks -- was the same size as when the county was formed in 1837. He adamantly refused to install computers, saying they would cost a great deal and would not improve his staff's efficiency.
Mr. Starner brought the same dedication to community activities that he brought to his elected position. For 37 years, he was a manager in the county's Babe Ruth baseball league, instructing kids how to play the game he loved. A talented baseball player as a youth, he founded Carroll's Oldtimers Baseball Association in 1972, after deciding that at 55 he was too old to continue to put on his cleats and take to the field.
In appointing Nancy S. Airing to succeed Mr. Starner, the three judges of Carroll's Orphans' Court may have heeded the late officeholder's wishes. But their method of selection was not in keeping with the public-minded attitude Mr. Starner exhibited during his decades in office.
The three judges not only named but also secretly swore in Ms. Airing last Monday, two days after Mr. Starner's death. Then, they neglected to tell anyone for another two days. Orphans' Court Judge Walter T. Haines Jr. said the announcement was delayed out of respect to Mr. Starner and his family.
Mr. Haines and his colleagues behaved arrogantly. The Register of Wills is an elective constitutional office that last year processed the transfer of more than 500 estates and collected more than $2.8 million in fees and taxes. It's not some privately controlled sinecure. The public's interest would have been better served had the judges appointed Ms. Airing as acting register and solicited applicants for the job. After a thorough review, they might well have decided that Ms. Airing is the best candidate.
An open appointment process to choose Mr. Starner's successor would have properly honored his public-minded spirit.