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When I ran for County Clerk last year, I told people of both parties that this kind of administrative position should be non-partisan. And I meant it. Clerks and Secretaries of State have a unique obligation to be non-partisan because they oversee elections and campaign finance laws. But in 2010, Republicans across the state won offices based on the letter next to their name and some of them are still figuring out what that means. Case in point is Scott Gessler. Gessler was so appalled by the low pay of state employees like the Secretary of State that he wanted to moonlight with his old law firm, a direct conflict of interest. He eventually dropped that plan, still haven't heard if he's going to fight for state workers to make more money.
But, that's old news. Now we have found out that Gessler is holding a fundraiser to help the Larimer County Republican Party (LCRP) to pay a fine. The Coloradoan reports that Gessler's office has already reduced a fine against the LCRP by $33,000 to $15,700, a move that couldn't possibly have anything to do with party. And as if that wasn't enough, he is now going to participate in a dunk tank at a fundraiser to help pay the fine, a gross example of conflict of interest. The fine was levied because of failure to file campaign finance reports throughout 2010. This is in turn related to the Chair allegedly stealing $17,000 from the party. Wow!
I don't know much about how the Republicans do it, but I know how the Democrats choose leadership, democratically. So, the Election of Chair and Treasurer of the party really matter. The votes that led to these overly cumbersome campaign finance laws really matter. And the election of a part time, partisan Secretary of State, really matter. If we don't elect competent people, incompetent people will win. That applies to all of the parties. Now go out and get some competent people elected! |
