Regarding Dave’s comments Wendell says:
Dave:
Thanks for your comments about my posts regarding the Cuyahoga County Elections Board shuffle. In response to those comments, allow me to offer a few more of my own.
- I fully support the need for a changing of the guard at the BOE. This is not a partisan issue (all of the Board members - two Republicans, two Democrats - were asked to resign). Regardless of their public service, the time has come for a change.
- I never indicated that you told me you were interested in a Board slot. I did say that you “expressed interest.” The inference that you told me personally of your interest is based not on what I wrote, but in how you read it. But it may also have something to do with a widely-held (in local GOP circles) belief that you have always wanted a seat on the Board. If that’s not true then fault our fellow party members who talk about it regularly.
- As for my not knowing you very well. You’re right, you and I have never had a serious conversation. The responsibility for that is solely yours. In the last two years I’ve called you on nine (based on my own count) different occasions in hope of discussing party business - and you have failed to return a single call. Not exactly the best track record for one who holds himself out as a member of the party faithful.
- I won’t elaborate on your ethical standards.
- Who are you to tell me to “Please refrain from making ignorant comments about any of the individuals involved, they only demonstrate your lack of knowledge, lack of experience and your many personal prejudices.” Since you don’t know me, it would be pretty hard for you to determine that I lack knowledge, experience and possess personal prejudices.
- Our county chairman (as well as the chair of the other party) has no place on this board. I agree that these are extremely political positions, but the BOE has gone well beyond the threshold of acceptability with the failure of patronage and politics at the board. To restore public integrity these positions should be filled by individuals capable of protecting the public trust - not political parties.
- If you are so interested in helping our party and the BOE that you so fondly revere the best possible service you can do is to convince your friend Chairman Bennett to step down.
- I agree with you about Jim, but I fear based on a post that was sent to me for future publication on The Silent Majority that his fate is again being manipulated by party leaders.
As for the picture… it was the only one I could find.
And another thing, my name is spelled W-E-N-D-E-L-L.
WENDELL:
Obviously you and I will agree to disagree on lots of things but especially this BOE issue.
Sorry for misspelling your name, it was not intentional.
I was not critical of the picture, I like it. That’s why we still use it on our website….my vanity. Many years ago I did desire a seat on the Board, long before you were active in politics but I was in a public position which did not allow for it. Since then I have passed on opportunities to run. Today, I start with a basic premise when looking at any issue like this, that I a senior citizen among Party faithful. I encourage new younger, more energetic leadership to take their place in our Party today. I help out where I can but I’m closer to retirement than anything and I have no desire to hold these offices. I would only do so if I could help solve a problem for a short period of time. If you really wanted to know, you could have called me and simply asked, I would have told you what you read on here. Further, the fact that a bunch of people think the sky is falling or that UFO’s are invading earth doesn’t make it so.
Wendell, I returned your phone calls, you just didn’t like my response. If you want to engage me in discussion about the Party of politics in general, get out of the gutter.
Your pointing out the 30 year old lottery issue displays your ignorance and spite. No one was charged with ANY wrongdoing of any sort and it was finally shown to be nothing more that a trumped up political vendetta designed to try to beat Jim Rhodes in 1978. Why do you assume that the motives of some of those out to get Bob Bennett are anything more than that kind of gutter politics? The fact that you can’t see the political agenda here further demonstrates your ignorance and inexperience.
The electorate can only be protected when the interests of BOTH parties are represented and protected. The problems at the Board are long standing and relate to administration and management. These problems really relate to the need to bring new tecnology to the system and these evolutionary pains will pass, even the Plain Dealer could see that. There has never been a shread of proof that any election was rigged or outcome affected by these problems at the Board or are you one who believes that Blackwell stole the 2004 election in Ohio for Bush? The fact is that elections are a politcal process and the checks and balances must be in place to protect both parties and the electorate. The idea that you can magically take politics out of the system by finding a bunch of nonpartisan thinkers to run it is so silly I can only just sigh and laugh at the foolishness.
During Bob Hughes’ tenure as Chairman of the Board vast improvements were made in the system and new technology was introduced. His leadership was a positive force in this community both for our Party and the Board. It was the unique understanding of the political system and experiences that he had as Chairman that contributed substantially to what he was able to do on the Board. So it is MY OPINION that you are totally wrong on this point. Both Chairmen need to be there!
I am the one whose integrity you attacked with your nasty little comment so I damn well have the right to respond. You may chose to state any opinion you want but when you start stating opinion as fact and distorting history then you will get both barrels from me, count on it. I don’t care whether anyone likes me or not, I’m far beyond need for ego gratification. However, those kind of comments make clear your ignorance, inexperience and prejudices.
Jim Trakas is one of my closest friends and I am doing all I can to help him. He deserves all our help and support. He was an outstanding legislator and would do a fine job in any office he held. Tell me who are the Party leaders who are manipulating his fate, I will find out the truth.
It’s too bad these blogs have to stoop to personal assassination, gossip and rumor. I once thought they had the potential for a place for good intellectual discussion and debate. But I guess just like TV news, that doesn’t sell soap. More’s the pity.
Dave
March 20th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Uh Dave…
You didn’t return my phone calls. In fact, I remember specifically broaching the topic during a brief interaction at a party event and you responded by saying that you “were very busy” and to call you in about a month. I did (more than once), and again you did not return the calls.
In the post where I handicapped some of the potential board replacements (which I might add came at the behest of my readers), I made a vague reference to the ethics situation in the hope that it would limit your exposure to the issue. Your insistence on revisiting it required me to justify the reference.
Regarding the BOE and political parties, I’ll be posting on that later today.
As for the party leaders manipulating Jim Trakas’ fate, that’s likely to come in a TSM post which is being fact-checked to insure its reliability (I have a policy that requires contributions from TAP writers to be reviewed for accuracy before they’re posted), but since you think that blogs “stoop to personal assassination”, why am I wasting my time telling you this.
March 21st, 2007 at 7:15 am
Well you obviously don’t bother to check out the facts before posting your comments. If you did you would have found out the truth about many different matters. Truth is clearly not an objective of your policy of review for accuracy. I’m looking forward to the post on Trakas and the evidence that “Party Leaders” are manipulating his fate.
The only reason I ever show up on these blogs is because I get tired of reading lame political comment that is better suited for the National Enquirer than our political environment. This kind of garbage is not productive, does not serve the public interest and is not helpful to our Party. The fact that you are unable to see the political agenda here is appalling to me or is it just that you covet the job yourself? Could there be a personal agenda here?
Dave
March 21st, 2007 at 11:38 am
[…] I believe it was my old friend Bob Bennett who quickly reminded the presiding chairman of the meeting, Dave Harbarger (another old friend), that I was out of order. To which Harbarger quickly agreed, and then followed by telling me, “Wendell, If you don’t understand the rules, I’ll be happy to go over them with you later.” […]
May 7th, 2007 at 8:39 am