In early January, Northampton County Exec John Stoffa named a five person "blue ribbon citizens advisory committee" to untangle a Gordian knot in the elections office. Its members were Russ Shade (Stoffa's reform-minded former campaign manager); Richard Benner (former registrar who oversaw 45 elections); Peg Ferraro (former county councilperson); Jack Bradt (former CEO at SI Handling); and Greta Browne (former congressional candidate).Stoffa's request was very simple - "how can we do better?"
This group conducted seven wild productions between January 23 and April 4. At times, it had all the cacaphony of a three ring circus. I loved it! I thought it was a great opportunity to describe problems, both in the elections office and with those new touchscreen voting machines. But others, including Dem chair Joe "Bossman" Long, condemned these weekly extravaganzas as little more than a witch hunt.
I have a link to the "official" minutes of these meetings on my left sidebar. But let me give you links to my own first hand reports. They're a lot less objective, but also a little more fun:
January 23: "Stoffa's Citizen Committee Deals With NorCo Election Mess" - Stoffa draws first blood with this: "Our elections have been like giving birth to an elephant." Former voter registrar Dick Benner sets the theme of this panel: "[P]eople must be made to understand you're there to help them."
January 31: "Norco Citizens Elections Committee Follow That Paper Trail" - The importance of a voter-verified paper trail is discussed, and co-chair Russ Shade notes it's already required in 27 states, and will soon be coming to a U.S. Congress near you.
February 7: "Citizens' Election Panel Questions Voting Machine Certification" - Elections panel learns we voted with machines that were never certified. Whee! Registrar Debbie DePaul insists "we're doing very well." I wonder if she invented the phrase, "stay the course."
February 13: "Norco Elections Committee Wants Answers From AVS" - Dr. Alan Brau, a passionate voting rights activist, details BlackBox voting's claim that voting machine manufacturer AVS used shoddy parts, manufactured in China, to assemble our touchscreen voting machines. I don't care because I get a fortune cookie every time I vote!
February 21: "Norco Voter Registrar DePaul Discusses Her Kingdom" - DePaul consumes most of the evening saying goofy things like "The people who left under my reign are people I am still close with," and defends letters to state and federal officials urging that the county executive ignore new voting laws. "While it might be criminal, criminals are pardoned."
February 28: There are three posts concerning this fascinating meeting.
Pre-Meeting Post: "In Northampton County, Bloggin' is Dangerous to Your Health!" - Dem bossman Joe Long makes his first appearance at a meeting. The second he sees me, he demands a duel. Sadly, he trips over his sword and castrates himself!
Meeting Post: "Norco Registrar DePaul to Critics: 'Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!'" - Registrar DePaul incredibly brings a goofy lawyer, whom we later learn comes from a list supplied by Bossman Long. Her attorney is a "buffer" to protect her "from the falsehoods and basic lies." This legal eagle manages to insult the panel, press, Republicans, those of us sitting in the peanut gallery and even sticks his tongue out at a custodian. The meeting is adjourned when the accumulated hot air causes the entire building to start floating away.
Post-Meeting Post: "Norco Registrar DePaul Tries to Soak County for $2470 Private Lawyer Bill" - You can't make this stuff up! DePaul's windbag even wanted the county to pay for crabcakes at Uncle Wesley's!
April 4: "Norco Elections Task Force Reviews Positive Survey in Final Public Meeting" - In its last anticlimactic meeting, the elections panel reviews 370 returned survey questionnaires out of 1400 mailed to candidates(300), poll workers(700) and voters(400). A detailed summary, the same one presented to the citizens' task force, is posted here.
After these meetings, the panel met privately to make their findings and submit a report. It did so without Peg Ferraro, who resigned when she decided to seek a seat on county council. A week ago today, The Express Times' Sarah Cassi told us the report is now in, and Stoffa intends to release it to the public once he reads it himself.
Inside word is that the report, like those meetings, is a scorcher. Part of the delay in putting it together was the difficulty in finding asbestos paper.
13 comments:
Looking forward to the report, though I have to say that I'm still miffed that Ferraro's name will continue to be published with regard to this task force. It's clear that she will derive political benefit from it, even though I think Stoffa didn't intend for political benefit to be ascribed to anybody (sans himself of course). Peg knew she was going to be launching a campaign for county office. I find that horribily disingenuous.
Former voter registrar Dick Benner sets the theme of this panel: "[P]eople must be made to understand you're there to help them."
We're from the government and we're here to help? Admittedly, I don't know Dick.
Maybe HRH DePaul can get a new gig as John Edwards Hair Stylists! I'm sure Boss Long has the pull to do that!
LVDem,
Not having seen the report, it's a hell of an assumption on your part to conclude that Ferraro's name will be part of it. I doubt that's going to happen. I also believe that report will be quite controversial, something a pol (and especially Peg) does not like to be associated with during an election.
The second Ferraro announced her candidacy, she resigned. Most of us thought that was a class act. I posted this resignation on 3/25.
She did not participate in any way with the commission after that.
Having said all of that, I would prefer that she had not been named in the first place. I would prefer to see people who had no intention of seeking office that year when they sit on that committee.
Politics needs to be removed from the elections commission. The HRC should be changed so that its members are barred from participating in political activity like hosting partisan radio shows attacking one of the candidates seeking election.
I'd agree that Peg should not have participated in the citizens' advisory committee in the first place. But I won't call her disingenuous any more than I would call Walt Garvin disingenuous. He chairs the actual elections commission and simultaneously hosted a partisan radio show that insisted Republicans are the root of all evil.
I think they were both wrong because their actions create an appearance of impropriety. But individually, they are both well-intentioned and care very much.
Anon 7:21,
You've got a point! Let me tell you about Benner. If someone walked into thaty office to get nomination papers bc he was running for officve, the first thing Benner did was walk around the counter and shake that person's hand and thank him for caring enough to seek office.
That's a pretty good example to set. With that attitude, people don't get upset when you make some minor errors.
I've been in that office a few times, and my own view is that the staff there is extremely helpful. I usually fo to look over campaign finance reports, and will spend hours at a time looking at reports. All I can say is that the staff understands Dick's message. I've noticed they are helpful to people who walk in or call with questions.
DePaul, however, is a different story. I'm sure she's dedicated and cares, but is defensive to the point that she hurts herself. In fairness, she was dealt a shitty hand. She took over an office with a new staff and that had to deal with changes in voting laws and new machines.
I actually was allowed to sit w/ the press on election night, and was very impressed by the office. It seemed that Conkiln took a lot of the crticisms to heart and mafde a lot of changes out in the field and at polling places. DePaul seemed to work well with him there for support.
But there are many problems having nothing to do w/ DePaul. Should the chair of the elections commission participate in political activity? Should the chair of a local party have a daughter who works in the office?
There were also problems w/ the machines. Thanks to the work of that committee, we learned that we voted w/ machines that had not been certified.
I look forward to reading the report.
who let the dog out
who, who
how's bernie k doing? did he finish his anger management class? did he pass? is he still collecting that gosh-awful paycheck?
I had the misfortune of running into the female version of bernie k. maybe you could help me hook them up? might make both happier persons. or bigger bleeps.
- sauerkraut
http://run4chocolate.wordpress.com
Don't know how Bernie K is doing.
Hurdle the living and trample the dead!
Where'd I put my shiny new pumps? I'm off to visit the Vatican blog and want to look f765kin good for the motherf87kin Pope! Do you think he will forgive a cross dresser?! Maybe he can excorcise those damn demons from Sam Bennett!
anon said
"how's bernie k doing? did he finish his anger management class? did he pass? is he still collecting that gosh-awful paycheck?""" unfortunatly, all the politicians and their hacks thrive on the fact that everyone has a short memory span when it comes to votes. Rarely do we have voter turnouts of more that 30 percent on any given election day. That is 30 percent of people who can vote! That may be as low as 5 percent of 300 million people. Also, anyone can go to an anger management class... or AA class or rehab class. They DO NOT WORK unless the person really wants it to work. Just look at Britney and Lindsey and Anna Nicole. Bernie K never felt he had done anything wrong so it will never work with him. I still think that Bernie K and Lisa have or had a fling going on that Lisa is afraid will be exposed if she fired BK. Why else would she keep someone like that on OUR payroll.
Russ Shade-Stoffa campaign manager.
Dick Benner-Stoffa supporter angry he didnot get to pick his successor.
Peg Ferraro-Lost to Bob Nyce and helped Stoffa to keep Nyce out.
Jack Bradt-Ferraro supporter wanted Reibman then Nyce out, gave $$4000 to Stoffa campaign.
Greta Browne-Nice harmless lady to give air of legitimacy to this committee.
If any other Executive had put these people together the MSM and this blog would have ripped them royaly, but Stoffa is the boy of the msm. I realize that you Bernie will see this as wrong and unfair but it is my opinion based on experience and my own information.
Before he was sworn in Stoffa asked if DePauls position was appointed or career service, why single that spot out someone else in mind for the spot? If so, important to discredit occupant. Do the old Republican trick of forming a sympathetic committee to help smear the person. This report was mostly written before the first meeting. No one really cares about County Govt., so without publicity this farce went by partly because the press has given Stoffa a blank check. When Brackbill was Executive the press routinely attacked Council like they do now because Brackbill and Stoffa were MSM favorites. You like Stoffa and think he is one of a kind. I know him to just be another pol, but more dangerous because he is unaccountable. Thanks for the forum to express my view of this issue.
ZERO was ever found wrong with mechanical voting machines and Dick Benner in Northampton County as Registrar! The Federal government came in to mandatorily help us as they are always wanting to do! costing tax payers multi-millions nationwide to boot. All because FL. officials were using "chad" voting system &
electeds "threw the baby out with the bath water"! Now we need an elections office committee report?
go figure! former County Party Chair, elected & appointed official, including Northampton County Election Commissioner.
larry@kisslinger.com
Anon 1:26,
Your opinion is always welcome, even when you disagree.
I actually thought that committee was a bad idea in the beginning myself. I felt the executive should just take administrative action. Incidentally, he had an earful of complaints about that office before he ever took office, and that's the reason for his question.
Of the five members selected, the only one I didn't like was Greta Browne, who appears to be the only one you did like.
By the time the second meeting was over, I knew I had been wrong on both counts. The committee was a good idea, and Browne handled herself very well.
This committee gave all those with complaints, and there where many of us, an opportunity to vent them. The elections office was able to take those complaints and act on them, even as the meetings continued. It provided close srutiny of the AVS voting machines. Thanks to the elections commmittee, we know we were voting with machines that had never been properly certified. The meetings cast a spotlight on the elections commission as well, which decided it had to meet more frequently.
It enabled John Conklin to implement a lot of changes before the May 15 elections to make sure things ran smoothly, and they did.
It made our elections system a better one, and this is without the final report. I'd expect the report will have some recommendations that might improve our elections even more. And that's the goal.
If you want to take shots at various unpaid members of this advisory panel, that's fine. But I'll stand by Dick Benner any day of the week. He was with the county a long time, and matured under guys like Marty Bechtel and Gene Hartzell. He was a true public servant and his comment in the first meeting set the tomes for the ones that followed.
We will agree to disagree Bernie. But I think we agree for the most part on these electronic machines. I don't want to sound like an 'Old Fogey' but I agree with Larry K. ther lever machines worked fine. I was a watcher a few times over the years at the polls and we never had a problem. The machines worked and there was a paper trail. My fear is a lack of paper trail and the inability to secure wireless connections to ensure a fair election.
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