Monday, March 13, 2006

Reader Rant: Gazette Editorial on Medina Municipal Clerk Election Overlooks Important Details

The recent Medina Gazette Clerk of Courts editorial history lesson was long on history but short on math. There are $26,000 important points that weren’t made in the Gazette’s editorial. Medina County Municipal Clerk of Courts, Lori Henry, performs her job for $64,000 per year. Chuck Calvert and Jane Leaver want the Medina County taxpayers to pay $90.057 per year for exactly the same job, but with one of their friends cashing the paycheck. Remember, incumbent Clerk Henry isn’t asking for a $26,000 raise. Chuck and Jane are. They want you to pay more for the job because their Republican friends like to make $90,057 per year instead of the $64,000 that Ms. Henry agreed to when she accepted the position.

Chuck and Jane undoubtedly assume that one of their very well funded politically astute Republican friends will be able to beat Ms. Henry in an election because Ms. Henry is not a politician and has never run in an election and doesn’t have the fundraising base and lobbyist money that get politicians like Jane and Chuck elected in Ohio. Lori is a Clerk – not a politician. Chuck and Jane may be right in their belief that Lori’s excellent job performance and low cost mean little or nothing to their donor and lobbyist base, but the $26,000 increase may seem important to the voters and to Judge Chase who appointed Lori to the position.

It is true that Chuck and Jane have terribly powerful and extremely wealthy supporters who will fund the campaign of their Republican friend with mountains of money and lots of back-room arm twisting. They probably think it will be like taking candy from a baby; because, after all, all they have to do is beat a Clerk out of her job and the taxpayers out of $26,000.

galishus@yahoo.com
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The above first appeared as a letter to the editor. The author gave us permission to run his letter on our blog.

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