Kaven Rumpel, as previously announced, will make his official announcement tomorrow of his intent to run for the Metro Council District 19 seat being vacated by Hal Heiner who is now running for Louisville Metro Mayor. The press release info is below:
Kaven Rumpel will be formally announcing his candidacy for Louisville Metro Council District 19 that is being vacated because of Hal Heiner's run for Louisville Metro Mayor. Please join labor, business leaders, elected officials, civic leaders and neighbors as they support this retired LMPD detective, and small business owner, as he makes his bid to represent all in bettering the 19th District.
Kaven Rumpel for Metro Council District 19
September 30, 2009 (Wed)
3pm
Lodge at Lake Forest
511 Woodlake Drive
Louisville, KY 40245
Seems straightforward enough doesn't it? But alas the plot thickens as usual.
J.T. "Jerry" Miller who took over the GOP Chairmanship in Jefferson County replacing Brad Cummings will not be in attendance. Attendance is usually customary when candidates of the party announce but in this case it seems there is a problem.
Jerry Miller took the open GOP vacancy apparently knowing he was going to run for the District 19 Metro Council seat himself.
So what is the problem?
Simply this. Why would he take that seat when he knowingly was going to run for office himself in just a couple of months?
There is no logical answer in my opinion.
The GOP Chair essentially has two jobs. One to recruit candidates to run for office and the second to promote those candidates. To knowingly take that position when you plan on announcing in January your intent to run AGAINST a candidate you should be promoting clearly creates a major conflict.
Like him, love him, or hate him Brad Cummings was doing a good job of unifying the party while he was the Chair and now it would appear that the fragile unification in place is now going to be left to the wayside in favor of a divided party and divided loyalties once again.
Do we not wonder why the Democrats have such a stranglehold over us? There is essentially no opposing party to hold them accountable with this kind of leadership.
In the case of Mr. Miller with the seemingly obvious intentions to divide the party what exactly is gained by taking this route?
I have no idea. One rumor flying around is that Louisville Metro Mayor Hal Heiner is supporting Jerry Miller as his "handpicked" successor for the seat.
I spoke with Hal at length about these charges and he assures me that he is focused 100% on the Mayor's race and the issues involved in that race opting to stay out of the primary for that District. Which is as it should be and thanks to Hal for being upfront about this.
Which leads me to this.
We the voter have an obligation to see where our candidates stand on issues and if they are worthy and deserving of our vote. Period. To assume one is a "handpicked" successor is to assume we do not have any power to stop it.
The power of the vote is ours alone. Anyone who feels they are entitled to any job as a handpicked successor should be the first ones we do not elect.
If Jerry Miller is planning on fulfilling his own words of quitting the Chair in January to run as a candidate himself then he must resign the Chairmanship now. It is an issue of integrity. He cannot fulfill his obligations as Chairman of the Jefferson County GOP honestly and ethically if his intentions are to run against someone for office himself in the immediate future.
The apparent conflicts are transparent.
Just saying............
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
5 comments:
Thank you for reading LNP. Open and honest discussions of local politics and relevant issues is important to voter understanding. Please listen to the "Ed Springston Show". We broadcast Monday through Thursday evenings at 7 PM on local media outlets. Please check for the links.
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Ed Springston
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Great article...This really makes it tough for a candidate like myself. Who do individuals who are new to the world of politics who actually want to make a difference call when it comes to the party leadership when one never knows who will be sitting in the leadership position!
ReplyDeleteBrian Simpson
46th District Candidate KY House
Ed
ReplyDeleteI've been to numerous announcements for local GOP candidates and most of the time the chair hasn't been here, you're simply off base on this. I like your site and passion, but your information is incorrect.
Good point Brian and one reason I wrote this article.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous I appreciate the kind words and the info on the GOP chair not showing up to many events (though I believe they should be as part of the job). The article was written to show a clear conflict of interest for a sitting GOP Chairman to be actively campaigning for an office.
Many do not realize that once you publicly state you are planning to run you then become subject to the same rules essentially as any candidate is and this is a MAJOR ocnflict of interest that will hurt the GOP if Miller continues in that position.
From the local GOP website:
As members of a free and democratic society, we take great pride and responsibility in upholding the values of the Republican Party in Jefferson County. It is of the utmost importance that we support our party's candidates and elected officials to the best of our abilities. That is why we have set the following annual goals for the JCRP:
Maintain a full-time, year-round office with a paid Executive Director to assist in campaign coordination, fundraising and volunteer recruitment while acting as a liaison to the general public
Aggressively recruit, train and support candidates for local elections
Pledge to have a full body of Republican poll workers for 2008 general election
Organize political rallies and connect Republicans across the county
Engage in grassroots activities:
Cultivate and maintaining an active volunteer list
Organize walk teams and phone banks
Issue based targeting of precincts
Create third party mailers for candidates
Register new voters and conservative Democrats as Republicans
Produce consistent newsletter to Jefferson County Republicans to engage public, recruit volunteers and increase contributions
Utilize Chairman as fulltime spokesman to media for candidates and elected officials
This raises all kinds of alarm bells on behalf of the GOP Chairman Miller right now.
Thank you for hosting the republican primary debate the other night. I enjoyed hearing what the other candidates had to say!
ReplyDeleteThanks for listening! It has always been the intent of MyViewMatters Radio to get the candidates, and issues, to we the people and keep us informed so we can vote with confidence. I thank you for getting involved in the process.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!