RPCC to Choose New Member For Cuyahoga County Board of Elections

There will soon be a new face on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. Republican Party of Cuyahoga County (RPCC) Chairman Rob Frost, citing professional and political reasons, has stepped down from his post on the this past Monday.

From the PD --

Rob Frost, one of two Republican members on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, resigned Monday.


"I went over there reluctantly and a job needed to be done, and I feel we really have gotten the agency running better," Frost, who was appointed in May 2007, said.

Frost, a lawyer and paid chairman of the county's Republican Party, said the timing is driven by "professional and political reasons." His last day is April 15.

Frost's replacement on the BOE will be determined by a vote of the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County Executive Committee.  After this process, Secretary of State John Husted will confirm or reject the recommendation.

The troubling thing is that the political gamesmanship & chicanery started in full force almost simultaneously with Frost's announcement.  If we didn't know any better (sarcasm), it almost appeared choreographed. 

RPCC favorite, Bay Village Mayor Debbie Sutherland, with tacit RPCC approval, began contacting members of the RPCC Executive Committee immediately after Frosts resignation.  Sutherland, while maybe a 'nice' lady, falls far short of the free-thinking person willing to stand for the right thing when it is needed. 

To back this up , we would submit the following;

In 2007, when an Interchange was to be built in Avon at I-90, Sutherland who supported the interchange, which at that time would have been funded mostly by the developers, in siding with the Cuyahoga County Democrats, she threatened to pull her support unless there was a 'tax-sharing' plan....

Earlier this week, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan and Bay Village Mayor Deborah Sutherland all said they would vote against the interchange unless Avon agreed to share revenues from the site ...

This interchange is now the topic of great dissent in Avon, as the City, after the original deal falling through, is now trying to force a select few residents and businesses to bear a $9 million portion of the project.

Mayor Sutherland, in her role as Mayor of Bay Village and President of the Cuyahoga County Mayors & City Managers Association, was a staunch supporter and cheerleader for the forced sales tax increase imposed by Cuyahoga County to pay for the Med Mart, a Greater Cleveland Partnership and then County Commissioner Taxin' Tim Hagan driven project. 

At the time there was strong support within the RPCC Central & Executive Committee to put this corporate welfare tax on the ballot -- Sutherland REFUSED to support the initiative to put this tax on the ballot. 

It was only after 1 year of this forced sales tax increase imposed against the will of the people that Sutherland, unhappy with the lack of progress, flip-flopped and called for a "tax timeout." 

Mayor Sutherland has shown she will make decisions just to get along and/or to further her political career and partisan standing.  Sutherland's actions have shown her initial decisions, because they are based not on good policy but on self-interest, are short sighted and can cause irreparable effects on citizens, businesses and the community as a whole.

Now that the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has been vastly improved, can we afford having it turn back into the Cuyahoga County 'Bored" of Elections?

With the responsibility of being on the Board of Elections, and with the Unions and hardcore ACORN type activities we can expect in the 2011 & 2012 elections, we cannot afford someone that will compromise the integrity of the election process - just to get along with the Cuyahoga County Democrats or further their political career at the expense of voting integrity.