Thursday, December 10, 2009

Another new GOP face on elections board

CIRCLE YOUR calendar, folks: On the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 16, the Summit County Republican Party's Executive Committee will elect a successor to Jack Morrison Jr. on the Board of Elections. It won't rank among the gravest events under way in the world, but it should be a little interesting to those who keep track of the Republican comings and goings at the board, none of them free of contention. Chairman Alex Arshinkoff says it will be a public meeting at the party headquarters at 520 South Main Street. What he isn't saying is whether he has a new board member in mind.

"My responsibility," Alex says, "is that we have a credible candidate." And the qualifications?
"The person must have a strong management background, understand the law and be active in the party."

If you connect all of those dots, we will see a business- and corporate-oriented lawyer who has always returned the party envelope with the sort of contribution that would befit a person of means. That's just a guess, but can you translate the profile any other way? I doubt that the new member will express shock that he was elected on the spot. Political business isn't conducted that way.

By the way, it should be a free ride for the Arshinkoff forces on the election of a new board member. State Sen. Kevin Coughlin, who has tormented Arshinkoff in the past, tells me there will be no effort to impede the vote. "He has a handpicked executive committee," Coughlin said of the chairman, "and we're not involved in this one."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Alex is sweating this at least a little Abe. He not only hand picks who he wants but there are other things that can go wrong as well. I look at it as why even go to a place where you are not even welcome as well as it is all scripted. So who cares? If it is anyone like Jack then it is the same old business as usual for Alex.
The Central Committee handed over to this clown all of its powers for the last how many years and we are just spinning our wheels in the mud. Also another thing to look at: If Jack is so sure that he is going to get re-instated then why even have this meeting?

Anonymous said...

Quick pick: former board member and Morrison predecessor attorney Joe Hutchinson. If Arshinkoff wants to get adventurous with a legal challenge, he could pick himself. Other possibilities include attorney James Simon (attorney but poor choice due to the incomprehensible state of the Summit GOPs campaign finance books), Executive Committee Chairman and Portage Country Club's Jonathan Pavloff(not an attorney, just recently registered as a Republican), Deputy Director Bryan Williams (not an attorney, but has been commended for his work by Secretary Brunner), Deborah Owens Fink (not an attorney, a PhD and Professor at Akron). Nevertheless, the qualified and credible picks on the Republican side are starting to run a little thin.