Why Lynn Cooper deserves your vote: The interview

Lynn Cooper is running for Montgomery County Clerk of Courts. Her opponent, is running from the law, but you’d never know it by his campaign. Lynn has worked in the clerks office for over 20 years, isn’t your typical politician, and is competent, qualified, knowledgeable and above all, honest. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a candidate answer every question thrown at them- straight forward and directly. Take the time to watch our hour long interview if you want to be refreshingly reminded what the meaning of “public service” means.

In case you’re wondering what “Reconstructing Dayton ^[1]” is- it’s my 504c4 non-profit, with the goal of bringing unigov and efficiency to government in Dayton/Montgomery County. We believe that a well informed electorate is key to a functioning, transparent and efficient government. The entire process of running for office has taken on grotesque characteristics of a clown show circus- with elections being run like auctions (her opponent, Mike Foley ^[2], has “invested” over $100K of his own money to get re-elected). As a many time former candidate myself, I found the League of Women’s voter guide and all the candidate’s forums to be severely lacking in real information, so this is why I have offered to do these interviews. The next one is scheduled live for Monday, Oct 28, 2024 at 10 am with sitting County Commissioner Debbie Lieberman).

From local government to the highest office, the moderated forums with 1-3 minute responses, is more like a beauty contest than selecting someone to run your community for four years. They are an incredible waste of time- but all candidates are expected to show up- and sit through a lot of mundane questions- and even more mundane answers (especially from Judicial candidates who, by law, can’t say much). I’ve tried over the years to film and post as many of these forums as possible- even when I’m in them).

I could summarize this interview for you, but, then again, we’d be back to sound bytes. Instead, here’s some of the points we’ve discussed:

• Lynn’s background, education, training, qualifications and experience.
• What the clerk’s office is supposed to do.
• The technology switchover coming to the clerks websites.
• Why we have multiple clerks websites in Montgomery County instead of just one- and how other states have managed to move to a single clerks site statewide.
• Hiring practices of the patronage system and costs to taxpayers.
• The insider politics of Montgomery County.
• What she’s learned on the campaign trail.
• Who’s money is backing which candidates (a ridiculous number of judges and attorneys have backed her candidacy).
• How we got stuck with Mike Foley in the first place (hint, he’s no relation to former Clerk of Courts and County Commissioner Dan Foley- even though Mike’s signs look EXACTLY like the ones Dan used to do).

The Republican party has said they won’t back Foley and have left him off their slate cards. Former Clerks Dan Foley and Greg Brush have both endorsed Lynn. I think if you take the time to watch, you’ll gladly vote for her as well.

I’m also including the campaign finance reports from each candidate so you can do your own research, because in the end, the first rule of journalism is to always follow the money. Note, the way candidates finance reports are “filed” are totally inadequate and can contain multiple errors. The fact that I can’t just provide a link to a resource that is searchable and verified is a major problem. Even the FEC fails miserably in reporting- because while you are required to register to vote- you aren’t required to register to donate. My other non-profit, The Modern Policy Institute, a 501c3, has a goal of fixing this inadequacy. ^[3]

Here are the reports filed before the interview for both candidates:

Pre-Primary

Post Primary

And here are the ones that were filed after the interview:

Pre General

You will note, Cooper’s reports generally have employer’s of donors listed. Foley does not, unless it’s his own employees (Harsman and Merkle being some of his leading donors).

A side note, I have to thank Julian Johnson Sr. for stepping in to run the video board for this interview. He’s interested in starting his own journalism career- as an ex-offender.

Also, to those of you who donate to support this publication monthly, I’m forever indebted to you. The cost of the video studio to do this alone in mind numbing, never mind the time I spend researching, preparing, and writing. If you like this kind of journalism, please consider becoming a subscribing donor ^[4].