The friends and family plan GOP style in Montgomery County

Today’s Dayton Daily news has a front page article predicting a shakeup in the Montgomery County Republican Party. Considering the paper doesn’t have a steady reporter covering the party- the story was planted. Nothing in the local GOP is organized, even when wunderkind Jeff Jacobsen was running the party like a private fiefdom.

It’s almost laughable that one of the key issues seems to be the lack of a bricks and mortar building for the party- in the age of the virtual campaign:

“I am very proud that I ran the party on a shoestring because our purpose is to elect Republicans, not to have shiny headquarters and nice computers,” current party chair Rob Scott said.

(Sheriff) Plummer and (county party precinct captain Danny) Hamilton declined comment. (Former GOP chair Patrick) Flanagan denied he is trying to unseat (current party chair Rob) Scott and said his efforts are focused on replacing the Washington Twp. headquarters  Scott closed when he took over the party. The party now uses office space in the building where Scott has his Clayton law office. It no longer has a paid executive director or bookkeeper.

“We’re going to build a headquarters one way or another and then we are going to rebuild the party,” Flanagan said.

The party has split into three factions: the old guard, new guard and the Tea Party, said party supporter Linda Coombe of Centerville.

via County GOP shakeup in the works | www.mydaytondailynews.com.

Unfortunately- the true underlying issue is that without people in elected office, the party can’t give enough patronage jobs to supporters, because that’s how parties really fund themselves. The Dems force their patronage job people to tithe to the party by buying tickets to their fundraisers like the “Jackass Classic” (the Dems’ golf outing) or the “Frolic for funds” (their main fundraiser). Republicans lately have been fighting over who gets what in the Board of Elections office- where new Director Jan Kelly is being paid less than former director Betty Smith so they “could make room in the budget” to overpay a voter registration clerk.

Typically voter registration clerks make between $25K and $40K a year- but, last month, former Montgomery County GOP central committee chair, David Landon, was hired in at $70K a year, or about double what the position should pay. It’s possible that he promised to push back part of his pay into the coup, as he’s part of the old guard that wants to see current party chair, Rob Scott, gone. Scott on the other hand, as part of his deal to get in office, didn’t take the customary “job” on the Board of Elections which pays $20K a year for 2 meetings a month. Former party Chair Greg Gantt got to keep that perk, and Kay Wick still get those plum jobs- as the counterparts of newly appointed Dems Rhine McLin and John Doll, who were appointed when Dennis Lieberman (former Montgomery County Dem Party head) and Tom Ritchie (AFSCME Regional director) were ousted in a fight with the Secretary of State over early voting in the last presidential election.

Needless to say, the entire Montgomery County BOE is a rat hole of overpaid and underqualified political stoolies with a few professional exceptions. The fact that the directors make more than the County Commissioners should be telling.

Noticeably missing for a quote in the DDn “story” is a quote from the local GOP’s only formidable candidate, Congressman Mike Turner. Considering his fundraising ability, and his ability to consistently win, despite a fractured party, not including him in the article points to the lameness of it.

Until both parties end the practice of putting patronage over politics, don’t expect much.

 

If you enjoyed reading true breaking news, instead of broken news from the major media in Dayton, make sure you subscribe to this site for an email every time I post. If you wish to support this blog and independent journalism in Dayton, consider donating. All of the effort that goes into writing posts and creating videos comes directly out of my pocket, so any amount helps! Please also subscribe to the Youtube channel for notifications of every video we launch – including the livestreams.