No time for partisan politics
In a recent exchange of comments between Dave Harbarger and myself, Dave has insisted that because of its political nature, the county elections board should include the chairs of both the Republican and Democratic parties. While I understand the rationale (an open and public forum for election disputes - which typically would involve the two major parties - to be arbitrated… If I’m wrong in that characterization, I’m sure Dave will tell me) for Dave’s position, the situation currently at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is a perfect example of why this should not be.
Given that some of the BOE employees have served in their jobs for many years, it’s plausible that they understand the work to which they are assigned. My own personal experience with board staffers is that many are conscientious and dedicated. At the same time all of them (regardless of their tenure) recognize that they were placed in their positions through the means of the party apparatus and it is expected that they perform their duties with the interests of their party in mind. Unfortunate, but true.
When Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner requested the resignations of the current board, she did so after evaluating the situation and recognizing that the status quo was one of the main culprits behind CuyCo BOE’s transgressions. Since 2000 the BOE has hired and fired three Directors, seen significant staff upheaval and still the end result has been monumental failure. The only constant during this period has been the appointment of extremely partisan party members to the organization’s board.
And it is this Board with which the ultimate responsibility for failure must lie.
Recognizing that the appointments to the board are made through a recommendation and confirmation process involving the parties and the Secretary of State’s office (the parties select their Board representatives and the Secretary either accepts the recommendations
In fact, the Secretary of State seems to understand this. Brunner (a partisan Democrat) not only sought the resignations of the Republican board members, she asked for the resignations of the Democrats as well. She did this in part because she has received numerous reports of a total failure of public trust for the operations of the Cuyahoga County elections system. Republicans don’t trust it. Democrats don’t trust it. And independent voters (who by the way are very much in the majority of the total number of registered voters) don’t trust it. Democrats think Republicans are manipulating the system, Republicans think Democrats are manipulating the system, and Independents place the blame on the shoulders of both of the parties.
How do you resolve this issue? You can begin by not selecting party chairs as members of the Board. This would be an immediate step toward restoring a minimum of public trust in the system.
Perhaps the best thing to do in this instance is to ask the Secretary of State to issue an edict that she will refuse the nomination of either party chair for the balance of these soon to be unexpired terms.
At least on its surface a modicum of integrity could emerge.
Good post, Wendell. Do you know anything about how it’s done in other states, in places that people who should know look to as the models?
March 21st, 2007 at 11:15 am
Let’s see if I have this right.
The problem at the BOE is political patronage, but the people there are for the most part “consciencious and dedicazted.” Talk about having your cake and eating it too.
Sorry Wendell, your logic is full of holes. I believe the vast majority of people at the Board are good, hard working, and have the best intentions. I do think the Board made a mistake in the appointment of Michael Vu and had great difficulty recognizing that. However, the Board Members are very good people who are trying to modernize the Board and change the technology used for our election system. This is always difficult and problems occur. They are dealing with them.
I still maintain much of this goes back to the 2004 Presidential election and the spurious claims of many Kerry supporters. This is politics at it’s worst and your failure to see that annoys me.
1) Bob and Sally deserve our support.
2) Don’t believe everything you read or see in the media.
(Case in point, the coverage of Iraq which Mike Davilla exposes)
Are you a candidate for a spot if there are vacancies on the Board? How about addressing that.
Dave
March 21st, 2007 at 11:51 am
Dave:
I stand by what I said.
I never said that the Board members were bad people. I happen to have the highest level of affection for Sally (who I’ve known since my childhood) and both she and the Chairman have my support, but the time has come for a change. The longer that the Chairman drags this out, the more it appears to the general public to be a Republican problem and that’s bad for our party.
As for the board vacancies, I doubt that I could garner enough support to warrant consideration and as I said in a previous post, I like the tandem of Mike Wise and Jim Trakas for these seats.
March 21st, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Wendell
I stand by what I said before as well. Our Party leaders are under assault by the opposition for very partisan motives. Now is when the Party has to stand behind Sally and Bob because this assault is on the Party as well.
Listen to the facts about what people knew and what they did and didn’t do well in advance of the recount issue. The facts support Bob’s position fully.
Let’s not be so quick to abandon our friends when they have difficulty. The true leader hangs tough in adverse situations, look at the President’s resolve and strength. Why do you give more credibility to very partisan democrats than people who have been such great leaders of our Party and whom are truly our friends.
Dave
March 21st, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Dave:
Since the resignation of Bob and Sally would only cause them to be replaced by two other Republicans, what kind of negative impact would this have on the party? It seems to me that the impact would be the same as it is on the Democrats.
Let’s clean house and move forward. A board that does not have the Secretary’s confidence will be forced to endure a level of scrutiny that will make the last two election cycles look like a walk in the park.
March 21st, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Wendell
We will never agree obviously.
This is not the time to be “politically correct,” its the time to stand up for our friends and collegues. This is not the time for the faint of heart. Until you show me that Bob or Sally really did anything wrong I will support them. This is a political battle and the stakes are high. They deserve our support.
Dave
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:14 am
[…] wenBLOG currently features a string of good posts (example example) including a bit of intra-GOP debate about the Brunner/BOE situation. […]
March 22nd, 2007 at 4:45 pm
[…] I was never a fan of Mr. Coaxum’s contrary style on the Board, but I’ve got to give him his props for stepping down. Especially in light of when he chose to make his announcement following Board President (and Ohio GOP Chairman) Bob Bennett’s lengthy dissertation of who’s to blame for the board’s recent shortcomings. Mr. Bennett began his prepared litany (which he delivered at the beginning of the meeting) by singling out former Board employee Fran Lally and board legal counsel Reno Oradini as the real culprits for allowing recently convicted BOE employees Jacqueline Maiden and Kathleen Dreamer to commit the acts that resulted in their sentencing. As I said in an earlier post, this board spends an inordinate amount of effort placing blame and seldom is willing to accept some responsibility. […]
May 7th, 2007 at 7:52 am