Twelve days ago the Lumbee Nation rose up and spoke loudly, showing that a well-financed incumbent with an efficient hauling system could not only be defeated, but that could be done resoundingly.

All of Robeson County gets that chance in three and a half months, but what is needed firstly is viable options, which the Lumbee people had on a crowded ballot for chairmanship.

On Tuesday, the three-week filing period for local, state and federal elections begins — and yes, that is happening sooner than in years past because North Carolina, trying to become a player in the presidential race, has moved the primary from early May to March 15.

Most elections experts believe the earlier primary favors incumbents because it gives challengers less time to raise money and get out their message. Let’s hope they are wrong.

On page 1A today, there is a story about the filing period that includes the local incumbents whose seats are up for grabs, and if you look hard at the Robeson County Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education for the Public Schools of Robeson County, you will see what a grand opportunity is being presented. Many of our worst elected officials are having to defend their seats — and they do so standing on shaky ground.

We have been on a 39-month rant concerning our county commissioners, who continue to honor themselves as the best paid and benefited — and most arrogant — in the state of North Carolina. But let’s kick that aside for a moment and consider the job they have done otherwise.

Robeson County is among the poorest counties, if not the poorest, in the state. We are the most violent county in North Carolina, and property crime is near the top. We have one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. We are an unhealthy population, with high rates of cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

And yet our property tax rate of 77 cents for every $100 of property is near the top in North Carolina.

Our school system, when compared with others across the state, is lagging in almost every metric except the graduation rate, which is suspect at best. There hasn’t been a new school built since the early 1980s, and our students huddle in crowded trailers to try to learn.

And when our school board had a chance to hire from outside the system and bring in someone with fresh ideas, its members opted instead to play the race card and eventually hired someone who had shown no interest in the job.

All of this is for starters. We will have much more to say as the election approaches — and will consider the rare step of endorsing local candidates. But we have no intention of trading six for a half dozen.

What is needed desperately is better candidates, not recyclables, people who are well-educated, committed and are interested in serving the public, not themselves. If you think we are pointing a finger out you, then you are mostly like correct. The choice is to remain on the sideline and complain, or actually engage and try to make this county a better place.

It’s time for a sea change.