Sources have informed esrati.com that Director Betty Smith (R) will be stepping down at the Montgomery County Board of Elections for health reasons. Smith just recently switched positions with Steve Harsman (D) for the director. Both are paid the same and the seat rotates from D to R on a regular schedule.
It will be up to the new Republican Party chief, Rob Scott, to lead the decision on who will replace Ms. Smith at the board of elections.
On a personal note, I wish Betty the best- I’ve always found her to be incredibly helpful and nice in all my dealings with her. She also seemed to always follow the letter of the law on the patronage hires- making sure to have job applications etc. More than I can say about the other side of the house.
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I wish Betty the best as well and hope her heath improves but facts are facts David. Both Smith and Harsman should have been fired years ago for failing to give 600+ voters a full ballot in 2006 and covering it up. They both scammed board members and taxpayers out of money by turning in bogus overtime hours to collect huge overtime checks. She also racked up obscene travel expenses on unnecessary travel from what I hear. She needed to go.
Both Harsman and Smith spent tons on travel. She and Harsman took family members with them all of the country on bogus C.E.R.A. trips. They were taking classes multiple times just so they could keep getting free vacations on our dime. Smith spent $18,000 in 2007 according to my source. The directors there have unlimited food expenses while traveling and don’t have to turn in receipts. Is Rob Scott going to let this continue or clean the BOE mess up? The republicans have embarassed themselves in this office lately.
Also don’t forget Betty knew about the $100,000 worth of voting machines Harsman stole in 2005 and helped him cover it up. She even let Harsman take a county van and paid long lunches to get his hair piece dyed and re glued.
Good riddence Betty, she was unpopular at the BOE unless you were the drug addict, alcoholic in charge of the absentee dept. Can anyone say karma!
From all the staff that Betty harassed and bullied by saying “McDonald’s is hiring” over the years, well McDonald’s is hiring Betty. Be sure to ask about the employee discounts they give on food.
Dayton Daily News again- gets the story a day late: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/elections-director-on-indefinite-leave-1368781.html
One down, 4 to go.
Bone, make sure you get as much dirt on Hairsman as possible. Especially things he has been saying about Tom Ritchie and the unions. Also stuff on R’s wasting money would be good. Find out who stole the alcohol at Hairsman’s monte carlo scam party at the conference you said you were at. Call all of your sources at the boe. There are some talking about circulating a newsletter this fall about boe stuff to properly expose Hairsman. What should they call it? The hippo and the hair? Any suggestions?
The Emperor’s New Hairpiece.
Irony button on: David usually exposes the creeps, now he’s for her?
Gary, Im sure why Betty was nice to David because the D’s hate him and want to discredit him and foil his petitions. It was her small way to help defeat the incumbent democratics. David, the job applications were smoke and mirrors, they were a joke like the BOE.
Just got a new tip in that I had heard rumors about in the past. Someone associated with the toupee business Harsman goes to every 3-4 weeks took some photos and video a few years back. It shows Harsman arriving and leaving in a county van. The person claims the photo/video show Harsman in a van with the number 290. Does anyone know if that number matches a boe van? They are not sure about releasing it because it could track back to them etc. Can you imagine that stuff posted on esrati.com!!!! There is also someone that works for that state that claims Harsman sold a vehicle a few years back and didn’t pay taxes in on it. They said the evidence is there you just have to do the research. Not sure what type of crime that is, anyone know?
Arriving and leaving at the “hair” place …. uhhhh, yeah, I think that could be tracked back to them !
>>> There is also someone that works for that state that claims Harsman sold a vehicle a few years back and didn’t pay taxes in on it. They said the evidence is there you just have to do the research. Not sure what type of crime that is, anyone know? <<<
Was it Harsman’s personal vehicle? Did he sell it for more or less than he purchased it for? Was it used for business and depreciated? Or was it his personal vehicle that he just drove to church on Sundays and to the hair clinic on occasion? Did he actually purchase it or was it somehow given to him by the State or the BOE? I think more details are needed before anyone can say whether or not a crime was committed.
My source, that is pretty solid, says harsman sold a motorcycle that he owned personally. The source claims he reported it as a gift and sold it to someone that was an employee. I have no information other than that. I don’t know how you would do a public records search to find that out.
Your source may be “pretty solid”, but based on what you’re posting this is a non-issue. Most personally owned vehicles are depreciating assets. In other words, the longer you own them, the less they are worth. (There are exceptions of course – ’60 Corvette, ’64-1/2 Mustang, etc.) So, chances are that he sold the motorcycle for less than he paid for it. If the motorcycle was given to him as a gift, his “basis” (the base value used to determine gain or loss) in the motorcycle is whatever the gift-giver paid for it. The fact that he allegedly sold it to an employee is irrelevant for purposes of determining a gain or loss.
And, why would you be so excited about posting a photo or video of Harsman going to a “toupee business”? Is it because his toupee is so awesome that everyone thought it was his own hair? Is he wearing a pink tutu? Do they have a massage parlor in the back room? Or is it because he’s arriving in a county van? If it’s because of the van, do you know for a FACT that he’s not allowed to use a county vehicle for personal use? Many employers allow employees to use company vehicles for personal use, but then the employee is taxed on the value of the personal use. Do you know if the county has a strict policy against using a county vehicle for personal use?
Everyone at the BOE may or may not be corrupt. I don’t know if they are or not. Maybe I’m missing something in your story, but I think you’re really grasping at straws to come up with a “gotcha” against Harsman if you think that going to a “toupee business” in a county van after selling a personally owned motorcycle to another county employee is going to take him down.
I agree that selling the personal vehicle is more in the grasping at straws category. I do not know if that is a crime but it is just another example that is part of a long list of shady activities this guy has been involved in.
I do know that for a fact harsman is not allowed to go to a toupee store instead of working for us. The staff there all claim he would take 1.5 to 2 hour lunches and come back with a fresh toupee. He would take a county van so his car would be in his designated spot in the county garage so other county employees would think he was at work. I do not know if the boe allows personal use of vans. The video would show a government employee that was on the clock wasting and abusing our money for his own personal benefit, a problem in anyone’s book.
>>> I agree that selling the personal vehicle is more in the grasping at straws category. I do not know if that is a crime but it is just another example that is part of a long list of shady activities this guy has been involved in. <<< – BOE Updater
Of course it’s not a crime!! And, how in the hell is selling a personally owned vehicle a “shady activity”???? Have you never sold a car that you’ve owned before? I just sold an extra vehicle of mine a few weeks ago. I have another one that I’m going to put up for sale in the a month or two. I guess that makes me doubly shady! Thankfully I don’t wear a toupee or you’d be wanting to video me on my lunch break. Sheesh!
I thought it was, ummm, not uncommon, for people to estimate the sale price of a used vehicle. Maybe not when done commercially, but with private sales at least…
“Life is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.”
Lots of accusations and zero proof of anything. As a recipient of the letter sent out by the “concerned election workers” let me congratulate you on uncovering the scandelous truth that poll workers make mistakes sometimes. Wow, seriously? I had no idea. You mean some of the 2000 people hired by the MCBOE to do an ever increasingly complicated job 2 times a year made some mistakes? That is shocking! You should win a Pulitzer and get a movie deal for that unsigned and anonymous poor example of investigative journalism. Final question, are you allowed back in the county building now, or are you still banned?