I often tell my evil Republican brother that the term "thinking conservative" is an oxymoron. But Lehigh County Commissioner Ron Beitler, a conservative-leaning independent, has proven me wrong. He has proposed a referendum under which voters could decide whether a county official who decides to run for office should first be required to resign.
Here's what Beitler said on his Facebook page:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: 𝗶𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁.First, NO ONE is forcing anyone to run for higher office. It's a choice. Public office should not become a taxpayer-funded campaign platform for a career in politics. (staff time, communications, facilities etc)I also don’t think politicians should be the ones deciding this question. Whether you support or not... 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀. And this legislation allows that. Voters, through referendum, would decide what their expectations are for elected County officials whose salaries and benefits they pay.
According to WFMZTV-69, Beitler's proposal is opposed by Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, who is running for the state senate. He argued that such a requirement would mean that only the wealthy would be able to run for office and added that voters who dislike the practice of elected officials running for another office could simply refuse to vote for the candidate.
Resign-to-run laws exist in one form or another in six states. I find the practice of running for two incompatible offices simultaneously to be particularly offensive. This often happens when a State Rep. decides to run for a state row office or the state senate and his current job at the same time. I do refuse to vote for such candidates.
On a county level, such a law makes sense if the office seeker holds a full-time county position like Executive, Controller, Coroner, etc. Running a campaign for another office might result in an official neglecting the job he is paid to perform. I personally have no issue with a part-time elected official like a Commissioner who decides to run for something else.
19 comments:
We can always count in Ron Beitler to insert some common sense into our usually idiotic, dysfunctional politician way of doing things. Glad to see he’s moved over to my Independent group.
I used to be opposed to term limits until elections became so dishonest and lost all integrity (e.g. Northampton County elections). No elected person should serve more than 6 years in any office - local state, or federal. Politicians are essentially grifters, at best - and criminals, in many cases. Politicians are the lowest form of human on Earth. They need to be treated as such.
what's wrong with someone running for tax collector and dog catcher? go get em tiger
RB is a rose among democratic thorns. When he runs for exec his commonsense approach and honesty will win over many dems tired of their failed so-called leadership.
The current controller's office as well as the exec's office need to be fumigated. The stench is over-whelming.
Are you saying a Township Supervisor shouldn't be allowed to run for County Commissioner while he is serving a term as Supervisor? If a vacancy occurs in the Senate and I am a township supervisor I shouldn't be allowed to actively seek the vacancy? In a County where we still elect "Row Offices" and a vacancy occurs in the "Commissioners office" while i am serving as an elected County Treasurer, I shouldn't be allowed to seek the Commissioners position? Dum dee dum dum.
He's the only one in Lehigh County who makes any sense.
I like it, Bernie. I've often thought to myself that it's disingenuous for an elected official to be paid at one level while running for office at another level while on the public payroll. Campaigns demand a great deal of effort so something has to give. Holding one office while running for another also gives a candidate the ability to convey a message through a variety of official actions and words while being paid by the taxpayers. That can be an unfair advantage and is certainly manipulative.
Voting in the State of California is an absolute joke. There is no means there to safeguard against cheating. The state is flooded with blank ballots that can be filed in by anyone. No need to prove citizenship, no actual signature required for verification, no deadline date certain to submit, etc. Add in dirty voter rolls in books that are kept secret. In California, our ‘betters’ can install anyone into office.
Then, you say ‘so what?’ that’s California. Well, California sends in the biggest portion of Members in our US Congress. Their votes there DO affect all of us.
Apparently you lack reading comprehension. Read the last paragraph of the post.
Hoofty is just fine. The last paragraph is my opinion. I do not believe such a law should apply to PT elected officials. And as a matter of law, it can't apply to other municipal governments and may not even be legal in Lehigh. It probably is, but would require research.
Most of the comments so far are favorable and in support of Beitler's effort, but I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the obvious.
Ed Pawlowski went to prison because (as Mayor) he shook down city vendors for campaign contributions when he was running for governor and the US Senate (how quickly we forget).
That alone should be the reason why this legislation should be passed for county government, and every other level of government should do it also.
As soon as someone declares they are running for an office at a different level of government, with a different group (or subgroup) of voters, they have created a conflict of interest with regards to continuing to serve in their current role.
I won't even get into the ethics of not serving out the term for the position someone already holds (should that person be successful in running for a different office), but the reasons this should pass are numerous and obvious.
Because it's obviously the right thing to do, I expect that Beitler will encounter great resistance from his fellow commissioners and other elected officials, as they are more concerned about their personal well-being and own political futures than they are about serving the voters in the positions they were elected to.
How about offering these social climbers a 6 month, UNPAID, leave of absence to do their campaigning? They could consider it an investment in their future.
I'd name it the Pinsley, Siegel, & Zrinski Law!
This post speaks the truth
To bad that Ron is a snake and doesn’t actually care.
he has my vote!
The Beitler proposal is a case of government overreach. Let the voters decide.
Unfortunately, the law is probably illegal and unenforceable. Local municipalities are a creature of legislature. They only have powers that are granted to them by the enabling legislation. This is obviously not a power. Additionally, the state laws limit when an elected official can be removed from office. A county does not have that power.
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