Question of the Day for Republicans
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 3/26/09 @ 8:34 am - Filed Under Uncategorized
From a local newspaper’s recent column:
Expect the commissioners to seek to raise Bloom’s profile in other ways over the next year before she heads into a contested primary. County Councilman Roy Buskirk has already expressed his interest in trying again to unseat Bloom. In 2006, Bloom won with 54 percent of the vote in a race that saw little campaigning by Buskirk.
So my question is - why does anyone vote for Linda Bloom? I’m not being a smartass here (at least not completely). I truly don’t understand it and would like some feedback…
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12 Responses to “Question of the Day for Republicans”
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Jeff, for starters, we need to get local gov’t reform passed and eliminate two of the positions.
When it does come time to vote, mine will be for Roy Buskirk. Bloom is pretty useless.
I am all in favor of “doing in” ineffective office holders . . . but why, of those that fit the bill in Allen County did you single out only one Republican for criticism. Hey, I am totally unimpressed with LB’s contributions but surely, somewhere among the Dems out there is some worthless scoundrel.
Gadfly,
Quit your partisan whining. I wrote about Bloom because the column was about her. If you can’t find a story/comment that I’ve made criticizing Democrats then you aren’t looking too hard…
Of all the public officials we’ve come in contact with over the years, Linda Blooms stands out as approachable, honest, and fair. We would be well served to have more like her.
River,
Name of substantive thing she’s done for us in the last year.
Can someone explain county government a little better to the average voter. Am I to understand that Allen County has a council like the City of Fort Wayne? Also, where Fort Wayne has one (1) mayor [not counting mini-mayor Wayne Twp. Trustee Stevenson], Allen county has three (3) mayors/commissioners? 10 years ago, when I voted for county government, I thought it was only for a council type position similar to a town council in Woodburn or Churubusco. Does anyone have a good explanation or flow chart?
Kenny,
In Indiana there are layers of government- each provides different services-
Township government has a Trustee, Assessor (in some cases these were combined, but all of the township assessors other than Wayne Township have been merged into the county assessor), and advisory board. The Advisory Board only has input over the trustee.
City Government- A Mayor and Council. the Mayor acts as the Administrative branch. The council in the fiscal and legislative body.
County Government- Three Commissioners and a Council. Unlike a Mayor, the Commissioner have BOTH administrative and legislative duties- the County Council has the fiscal responsibilities- but they do NOT write any legislation- they only approve the budget and disbursements from the general fund.
I think that sums it up….did I miss anything?
Remember folks, this is someone who’s spending tens of thousands of county dollars to relocate THREE offices in the City-County Building to make life easier for one of her political allies.
THAT is how she keeps winning elections…by making friends, no matter how much it costs us all.
Kevin,
Don’t forget the precinct committeemen and vices who have the responsibility of choosing replacements when any of those elected officials leave during the middle of their term.
Paul,
Precint officials are party related only- they do not govern.
Kevin,
I understand where you are coming from. But Kenny asked, “Can someone explain county government a little better to the average voter.” I’m attempting to help answer the question by illustrating the importance, impact, and power the political party that controls each office has regarding who does govern. It is rare, but three vacant County offices were filled by the process in January of this year. Also, this will be the process used to replace Councilman Buskirk when he is elected as commissioner in less than two years.
My favorite example is from the past:
News-Sentinel, The (Fort Wayne, IN)-May 8, 1992
“… In 1985, then-Mayor Win Moses resigned from office after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of violating the state’s campaign finance laws, and then-City Controller Cosette Simon took over as interim mayor. When Democratic precinct officials caucused 11 days later to fill the vacancy, they returned Moses to the job.”
If you go to http://www.ipfw.edu/cri there is a powerpoint explaining local government in Indiana that is very helpful. It’s called government 101 or something to that effect if I recall correctly.