In
My Opinion Caroline
Porter
A couple of county board members have a nasty habit of
trying to trivialize women who raise legitimate issues by labeling us as
ÒpettyÓ, Òvindictive,Ó Ògetting personal.Ó As a member of the board, IÕve seen it happen often in the
last two years. Not only is this kind of name calling an excuse for not
addressing an issue with which they disagree or canÕt handle, it is also blatant
gender stereotyping. This kind of discrimination has no place on a public board
in the year 2007.
This tactic
was finally directed at me at a recent board meeting when I tried to raise the
issue of committee assignments under the new Republican leadership. Of course IÕm upset my party split and
elected a Republican chairman, but IÕve been in politics for 45 years and IÕve
won and lost many battles. I am not validated by events on that board or
anything else external.
For the
last eight years the county board has had bi-partisan leadership, under
Democrat and Republican chairmen. Lomac Payton, a Democrat, was the first
chairman to ever appoint committee chairmen based on merit instead of party
affiliation. Sally Keener, Republican, was the next chairman to follow suit.
Even though we didnÕt have committees during her term as chair, Democrat Jan
Occhi did the same in her temporary appointments.
Even though
Republicans fill only seven of 15 seats on the board, all standing committees,
as well as one of the two ad hoc committees, are now chaired by Republican
board members. Not only are assignments unequal with regard to party
affiliation, but some board members have only two committee assignments, while
others have four and several appointments for representation outside the board.
ÒOutsideÓ appointments refer to those representatives of the board to the
Health Department, Housing Authority or 911 Boards, for example. The board
leadership simply does not represent the board members or the voters.
That should be a major concern for everyone, but IÕve
been told by the chairman of the board, who quoted the States Attorney, that
the issue is not to be discussed further.
My
answer to that? Baloney. Basic board organization should be discussed
thoroughly, as it was for the last two years, and this arrangement goes against
every basic belief the board has expressed. With all the concern for committees
taking ownership of their departments, Wayne Saline was again appointed to the
Finance Committee, extending his membership on that committee to eight years,
six years as chairman.
I am not unhappy with my committee assignments, but I
have served for two prior terms when I was never appointed chairman of a
committee because I am a Democrat. My first term started in 1973, and to see us
slip back into the old, partisan game thirty-four years later is discouraging
and disheartening.
One of my campaign promises in 2004 was to work for
direct election by the people of the county board chairman. At the time of
redistricting, the county board can decide that the chairman be elected at
large without being a member of the board, (like a city mayor), or as a member
of the board. If the chairman is
elected at large not as a board member, his or her term would be four years. If
the chairman were required to be a board member, the term would be two years.
An editorial in the Peoria Journal Star in 1994 listed
some of the benefits of direct election of a chairman. The people directly
elect our other county officers - county clerk, circuit clerk, treasurer,
stateÕs attorney etc, - why not the top official of the county board? Backroom
deals for committee chairmanships and vote swaps would be reduced. A more open
process might produce more open government. An elected board chairman, affirmed
by the voters as the countyÕs leader, could operate on a more level playing
field when working with other local governmental executive officers on items of
mutual interest. Best of all, the chairman would be directly accountable to the
voters who put him or her in office – all the voters, not just county
board members.
I say we go for it, and I will be around in two years
to represent the people and try to make it happen.
Caroline Porter is a
freelance writer, a member of the Knox County Board (D-1) and can be reached at
cporter@galesburg.net.