It’s endearing, if that word can be used when talking about a county official, to hear the Kitsap Democrats’ pick for interim treasurer talk about her weaknesses.

“I’m not as politically in the know as some of the other candidates, and I realize that,” Poulsbo’s Meredith Green told the Central Kitsap Reporter. “I hope to surround myself with a team of people to help through what I see as a weakness in my portfolio.”

A weakness?

Green is a certified public accountant with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She has two decades of private sector finance work. Her portfolio is pretty darn strong.

That Green hasn’t tap danced for campaign donations, ingratiated herself to the good old boys, been a lifelong bureaucrat or tried to blame rivals and the press for her failures is not a weakness.

It’s a tremendous strength, and thank goodness Kitsap’s Democratic precinct committee officers agreed.

This isn’t an endorsement for Green in the primary or general election, although taking the job puts her in a good position. It is an endorsement to seat her in the meantime.

Our system of informing voters of the party affiliations of candidates is sound. But replacement rules, which give the party of the departed official a lot of power to narrow the field for the final vote by county commissioners, might lead to a safe passage for party hacks and retreads.

That didn’t happen here, and the county is better off for it.