Everyday except Tuesdays, for the last 3 years, John McManus would get in his aging Lexus LS350 and drive to Columbus around 1:30 in the afternoon to work for the Franklin County Clerk of Courts. There, he worked in a true countywide clerks office, with electronic filing for every court. With second shift hours to make sure justice worked twice as hard for the community. He resigned mid-summer, and put everything he had into running for State Rep and came up short.
The standard way things work in this county, is that people who put themselves out for the good of the party get rewarded by the party.
Today, in an exclusive news scoop, you’re the first to learn that John McManus has been hired by the new Montgomery County Clerk of Courts, Republican Mike Foley to be the chief deputy of the legal division. McManus is a democrat. That doesn’t happen in Montgomery County.
The way it was supposed to work, was if McManus lost to Butler, he would be inline for appointment to an office that was vacated – like Carolyn Rice’s Treasurer position, which would be left to the Montgomery County Dem party to nominate a candidate to since she is now a County Commissioner. But, their dear plans were upset- when Russ Joseph, a political hack who has been thrust upon the citizens of Montgomery County because of his ability to kneel and kiss Mayor Nan Whaley’s ring and be Mark Owen’s yes man, is now out of a job. So, instead of hiring the person that knows anything about running the actual Treasurers office- Lynn Cooper, the treasurer’s office chief deputy, who has been interim treasurer, we’re going to get the guy who was just telling us he was the best choice for Clerk of Courts.
Which was already handed to him on a platter by the party a year ago when former Clerk, Greg Brush made a move to Cincinnati to work for Aftab Pureval, the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. Brush was hoping Pureval would win a congressional race, so he could move up into the better paying Hamilton County Office. Oops.
The first thing Joseph did was hire his political hack buddy- Dayton School Board member Mohammed Al Hamdani to the post of Chief Deputy, legal division- a job that went bye-bye when Joseph ran a lazy campaign, and lost.
Tonight, the Montgomery County Democratic Party is going to rubber stamp the decisions of their “screening committee”- a private club that’s chosen by the Chairman, Mark Owens. The elected precinct captains (and the appointed ones) are then supposed to vote approval of this very un-democratic process- because that’s the way it’s always been. Joseph needs a job, and two other former candidates for State Rep- Zach Dickerson who lost to Niraj Antani and Ryan Taylor who lost to Phil Plummer are also interested.
All of this is a pathetic abuse of the system. The job should go to someone who is actually qualified.
Which of course, is what should have been considered before putting Russ in the Clerks job in the first place. The dems never considered asking McManus if he might be interested in the Clerks spot- nor were the party members given a choice. It was Russ or bust.
Now to be fair- Russ had worked for a decade under Dayton Clerk of Courts, Mark Owens- and should have known something about running a clerks office. Yet, the fact that you still can’t file electronically in any of the banana republic municipal courts of Montgomery County including Dayton- is an indication that these folks don’t really give a damn about running an efficient, honest and responsible public office. All they care about is being able to give their friends and family jobs- like another Dayton School Board member – Sheila Taylor who works for Owens. Remember her? The one who voted for Rev. Harris for School board president last year because he was African American, and didn’t vote for him this year because he was incompetent?
When asking Mike Foley why he chose McManus, he responded “I want what’s best for the residents of the county- he has the experience, the ambition and the drive to make this office the best that it can be. I could care less- one party or the other.” Foley understands that his office is about two things- technology and customer service, and it’s his job to make sure it’s an “office that’s truly looking out for the public” he’s proud to hire a true public servant, who is willing to put public service before politics.
A good first start.
Very informative and interesting. Thank You. Foley sounds like a pretty smart cookie. I wish I had read this article earlier so I could have discussed it with McManus at the MCDP meeting this evening. I was reminded that McManus in December had expressed an interest in seeking the County Treasurer’s job. I voted against the Russ Joseph. There is a big risk that Joseph in 2020 will deliver the County Treasurer’s office to the Republicans. Picking Joseph doesn’t sound like a wise choice. Do we know who attended the Selection Committee and what the vote was? I appreciated your nominating Carolyn Rice’s protege and was sorry that she withdrew her name. I have no idea how many Central Committee members were in attendance this evening. I am going to request that Kurt Hatcher give me a report. What are my chances? I wonder why Dan Foley didn’t seek the treasurer’s job? Was it that he didn’t want the job or was it that he had reason to believe that the Selection Committee wouldn’t give him a a chance? The big opportunity breaking in the MCDP is the fact that now the Central Committee has 100 more members than at the Reorganization Meeting. Many of these new members, I believe are grassroots Democrats who would love to help build a strong and successful Democratic Party. We need to find the right issue, and to create a compelling debate that will bring a big increase in Central Committee attendance. I’m wondering if we should work out a motion to present to the Central Committee dealing with MCDP endorsement policies for 2019 and 2020 — revisit some of the proposed changes to the MCDP Constitution that were shot down at the Reorganization Meeting.
You should look into what Helen Jones- Kelley says about you… it’s not nice. You are a voice of truth and that makes those that use government for their own promotion scared.
Keep it up.
We have a rule about real names here…
But, 1) I don’t care what Helen Jones-Kelley says about me.
2) How would I “look into it” and
3) how do we allow all this nepotism in office?
Helen Jones-Kelley might wanna look in the mirror before she starts flinging crap at other people. She was drummed out of office: http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/12/agency_chief_who_okd_joe_the_p.html She also has a lot of misinformed ideas about cannabis, as well, and is fairly shitty to people who have been longtime allies. I wouldn’t care either, David.