Bentonville's Golden Rule

Five white men have applied for appointment to fill a vacant Ward Two seat on the Bentonville City Council. They include two Wal-Mart executives, a vice president of a Walton Arvest Bank, a manager for the Cooper Communities-controlled Bella Vista Property Owners Association, and the owner of a real estate appraisal company. One of them will be crowned next Tuesday.

The contestants are Brad Crain, Shane Perry, Tom Rife, Mike Taggart, and Eric White. That's an example of diversity in Bentonville, the applicants each having different last names, street addresses, and home telephone numbers. It's also a fair indication of who gets to make the rules in that company town.