In 2002, I went through slating for Marion County Clerk. That year, former Marion County Sheriff Joe McAtee also ran against Lawrence Mayor Tom Schneider, who was also the Lawrence Township chairman. Schneider, Jack Cottey, who was Warren Township Chairman, David Brooks, who I believe was then Center Township Chairman. and John Keeler, then County Chairman, worked together to appoint numerous "mummy-dummy" precinct committeemen prior to the slating convention.
"Mummy-dummies" are people who are temporarily appointed precinct commitment for the sole purpose of attending a slating and voting the "right way," i.e. how the party bosses want them to vote. The effect is a huge pool of slating voters who usually can offset the elected and appointed commitment who are true committeemen, working their precincts and on election day.
In 2002, the people working for me and for McAtee discovered something very unusual when scanning the list of Republicans eligible to vote at the Marion County GOP state-wide slating convention. Many of those listed as precinct committeemen who had been appointed were from outside the county, some were even from outside the state. Several cars in the parking lot were from other counties and even other states. After the slating contest, a reporter followed one Marion County Republican precinct committeemen, who was apparently on his way home, back to the Ohio border.
Things have not changed. David Brooks, who had a home in Pike Township, has sold that home and, according to what Brooks have told several Republicans, has moved to Hamilton County. Yet Tom John continues to allow Brooks to act as the Center Area Chairman. This is even worse than in 2002. Now we have upper level supervisors in the Marion County GOP living in another county.
It should be a basic requirement that the precinct committeemen, ward chairman and area leaders who are part of the Marion County GOP organization actually live in Marion County. One wonders if those who work at Marion County GOP headquarters are also from Marion County. It does not make sense to have people working for the Marion County Republican Party who live in another county and who may be part of other GOP organizations.
Is it really too much to ask that the Marion County GOP be made up of Republicans who actually live in Marion County?
2 comments:
Paul
With all the controversy over Ballard’s spending habits I wanted to post this news article. The eyes of Washington will be watching to make certain that mayors, governors and other elected officials do not squander away money they receive from the government in the stimulus package. It might not hurt to file a complaint in advance of Indy and Indiana receiving taxpayer money.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/20/AR2009022003748.html?sid=ST2009022100100
Leslie Sourwine has an eye on the city purse and is still asking for accountability for a quarter of a million dollars handed over to Marion County Jail II at the request of Sheriff Anderson, given with the blessings of Ballard and council members without so much as checking the contract to verify the jail had that much taxpayer money owed to them.
The Genovese family never had it as good. It sounds like a very carefully orchestrated operation. Especially the part that keeps it from appearing above the fold in the Indianapolis Star.
I wonder what kind of skeleton it takes to get a guy from Ohio to waste his time participating in Marion County politics. I also wonder who is out there digging up the skeletons.
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