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."