Getting elected county auditor is an honor, thinking you have the right to plaster your face anywhere you want- at taxpayer expense is ego.
In fact, I question if auditors should be able to put their name on the stickers on scales and gas pumps, without having to pay for it out of campaign funds.
So, when Teri Lussier [1] pointed out the new icon for the Montgomery County Real Estate site, I almost puked.
[2]Karl Keith, the new face of Montgomery County
Welcome to the Montgomery County Real Estate Tax Information site. We hope you find the information inside easily accessible and useful. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us.
This site provides access to the real estate, tax record information, and GIS maps of Montgomery County.
via Montgomery County [3].
This is not a monarchy, or a kingdom, or even a fiefdom. That site is the property of the citizens of Montgomery County and the icon should be the county logo. If this remains longer than a day, it’s time to bill Mr. Keith for impressions, just like any media site would.
I’m with you 100% on this. One of my pet peeves regards politicians who plaster their campaign bumper stickers all over the city, on lampposts, hoardings, walls, and porches. Some even leave their signs on medians and treelawns long after the election.
I used to drive around Boston tearing down the signs my crooked landlord had plastered on every utility pole. This was sometimes years after he had thankfully lost the election.
Can you imagine how much it costs to put an auditor’s sticker on every gas pump? Couldn’t it just say “county auditor?”
Hmm, doesn’t Carolyn Rice ever talk to Karl Keith? She’s missing a golden opportunity at http://www.mctreas.org.
>That site is the property of the citizens of Montgomery County and the icon should be the county logo.
One would think.
If one thought.
I could be wrong but if memory serves me right you don’t make your checks out to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (or other state departments) anymore either. You make them out to the State of Ohio’s treasurer’s Name. The last time I renewed my license the check was written to Richard Cordray. I guess now it would be Kevin Boyce. I never did like making those checks out to a person.
Karl Keith is my favorite local politician.
Karl Keith is one of many in Montgomery County with ethical issues.
Not too long ago our illustrious Montgomery County prosecutor, Matt Heck was called out, forcing employees to partake in his own political endeavors…
It appears that elected officials pretty much do as they like in Dayton, Ohio until someone slaps their hands.
Accountability is long over due !
This isnt new – its been there for over 2 years!
This sort of thing is common among county officials — a way to get free (and publicly financed) campaign advertising (the long, unofficial campaign between the official ones). It’s kind of sickening to me.
Does anyone know the reason we have elected county auditors, treasurers and recorders? Why aren’t they appointed by the county administrator and selected because of their professional qualifications?
Wait, don’t answer that. I know the answer. It’s because having these positions as elected positions offers politicians additional rungs on the ladder to higher offices.
Uh, have you looked at every auditor’s site in the state, I randomly sampled 15, and all but two had the picture of the auditor on the page. Actually, almost all the pages looked exactly the same as the Montgomery County auditor’s page. Also, the auditor stickers from every county in the state are almost exactly the same with the auditor’s name on it. If your issue is with using taxpayers money for self promotion, I’d be more concerned with direct mail from our congressman touting all the things they’ve “done”.
It’s not Keith’s photo on the site that is unusual, but his photo as a favicon- the tiny icon or avatar that accompanies the Montgomery County site in your browser bar. Esrati.com for example, uses a green cartoon balloon- it’s a brand for Esrati.com. To have a photo of yourself as a brand for the county is abusive beyond the norm.
Miami County, for the record, does not have an auditor’s photo on their site at all. Good for them. http://www.co.miami.oh.us/A55969/mcounty.nsf/
I was downloading photos from my cellphone this morning and remembered that I’d shot a pic of a gas pump sticker in Columbus, so I did a pre-dated (it’s my blog, so I can do that if I want) blog entry about it: http://davidlauri.com/blog/2009-05#2009-05-12
In Columbus, it’s Mayor Coleman who gets free publicity, not the county auditor.
hello Dave, hope you doing well? Do you have a direct email address for county auditor?
[email protected]