Democrat Democratic Party Chair Tony Fabri is the new Champaign County Auditor, having won appointment last night on a 19-7 vote. Five Republicans (Jay, Hunt, Doenitz, Moser & James) and two Democrats (Beckett & Wysocki) voted against his appointment.
I must say that I too wish the Democrat Democratic Party could have recommended a nominee with at least some sort of financial and/or auditing qualifications. But they didn't. They nominated their Party Chair instead.
That said, this is the very definition of a patronage appointment, required to be given to the Party which held the office, and traditionally based on the recommendation of the Party.
Unfortunately, seven County Board members ignored that tradition voted against the Democrat Party's chosen candidate. I can understand their frustration, as I originally advised voting against him. But I realized (and was reminded) that the recommendation process exists for a reason, and I changed my position.
However great the disappointment that the County Democrats insisted on appointing someone wholly unqualified, I'm just as disappointed that Republicans didn't respect the traditional process. I hope that this is the last time that such a recommendation is ignored. But I fear that it won't be, and vacancy appointments will become much more contentious in the future. And this vote will be used to justify that contentiousness.
UPDATE: Someone finally asked me to fix the "Democrat Party" thing without being insulting about it, so I have. I'll try to be more careful in the future.
do the GOP "no's" get any cover in your opinion because two Dems also voted against Fabri?
None. It was a Dem appointment. If B&W were too petty to vote for Fabri, that should have had zero bearing on the GOP members, who should have respected the recommendation of the Democrat Party regardless.
In other words, just because B&W have little respect for the tradition and the process doesn't mean that Republicans should.
just checking
I do worry that the GOP "following tradition" will have little bearing on what Dems do in the future. (See Dem filibuster of judge appointments in Congress as an example).
"I do worry that the GOP "following tradition" will have little bearing on what Dems do in the future."
And yet the Democrats unanimously supported appointing Mark Shelden as County Clerk in 1997. It wasn't because they thought he was a really nice guy, either.
And Republicans supported Frerichs for Auditor in right after the 2002 election. And he was no more nor less qualified than Fabri.
I'm very disappointed.
So we now have an auditor that two years ago wanted the office eliminated and has NO qualifications to come close to justifying anything near the compensation he will receive for his inability to be an auditor.
What a load of LOCAL POLITICAL excretemnet. Congratulations to the Champaign County Board for continuing this tradition of dis-service to people they are supposed to represent.
that I think is a valid difference from the national scene.
Side note - the NG pointed out that the Auditors office does have a CPA on staff making like $78,000 per year. Her boss will be making much less.
The word "Democrat" is a NOUN, not an adjective. There is no such thing as the "Democrat Party."
Wingnuts are supposed to say "Democrat Party" now. I think it's a Fox News thing.
Yeah, and hula hoop and kleenex were originally "brand" names too. I am sure they were correcting people for years before they finally gave in.
just why exactly does it matter so much to Democrats? It's almost as if they're offended. It's a Green, and the Green Party, a Republican and the Republican Party. Is it so difficult to understand why some people would do the same with the Democrats?
For me, I hereby declare that it is the Republican Party and members of it shall henceforth be known as Americans
Being county auditor can't be any harder than trying to pass the bar, right? Yet another disappointing day forChampaign County
"Democrat" Party always sounded illiterate to me. Like "crick" instead of "creek". Because it sounds so wrong to me, I've always assumed Republicans say it that way just to be demeaning or irritating.
However, I'd honestly never considered the logic of Green/Green Party, Republican/Republican Party, Democrat/Democrat Party before, and I'll be darned if that's not a good point!
Still, the correct term is "Democratic Party" and I'll still cringe a little whenever I hear "Democrat Party". But I won't be so quick to assume offense was intended. I hope that won't take the fun out of it for you!
Fabri demonstrated all the proficiency with numbers he needs when he drew the map which in 2002 (a Republican year) took the County Board from 14-13 Dem to 16-11 Dem.
This is probably the worst appointment in History. As someone who knows Tony personally I can only say that I was shocked to read this. I think that my dog is more qualified to be county auditor.
Wow, people are hostile on this appointment. I considered going for the position myself. I wonder if I would have seen the same hostility? What about Kevin Sandefur? Would you have given him so much grief if he'd been the choice? Is it Tony's lack of financial experience that bothers people so much? Or is it that he's chair of the Dems?
Look, this is a job that can be learned. Any intelligent person, if they work hard enough, can learn it. Especially someone who understands county government, knows the players, etc. From my perspective, the only question about Tony is whether he'll put the time in. No question he could, but will he. If he does, then he'll do fine at it.
Every time I take on a new job, I go at it 150%, spending nearly all of my time (not all of my time at the office, but all of my time) learning that job. Reading, thinking, talking to people, etc. If Tony approaches the auditor position this way, then he's a lock in '08. Any less and I think it's up for grabs.
Why, because you are not really an auditor, you are a loyal local political party member. The job title should read "Most Loyal POLITICAL Party Member (without a job)". To get the job, the local political party in control of the county board appoints you, then you keep your nose clean for a couple of years, work hard and/or raise money/support for the party that appointed you so they will completely support you in the next election if you have not tried for another political office in the interim.
In other words this joy has ZERO to do with AUDITING of the funds of Champaign County. It is all POLITICAL, another politician feeding on public funds.
"Fabri demonstrated all the proficiency with numbers he needs when he drew the map which in 2002 (a Republican year) took the County Board from 14-13 Dem to 16-11 Dem."
By what estimation was 2002 a Republican year? It may have been nationally, but certainly wasn't in Illinois, due to the George Ryan scandals.
Should democrats have been this upset when republicans chose Mark Shelden as an appointment? Mark had no experience other than politics, had no college degree, but he was the republican choice, and by most estimations he has done a decent job. So why won't you give the same thought to Tony?
I think you all are just concerned becasue he's a Democrat, and any Democrat appointed would have gotten the same grief.
Of course county auditor is a political position, that's why it's elected by the voters! If you really pay attention to local government, you understand that the ability of the county auditor to deal with the county board and his or her understanding of county government is much more important than a background in accounting. The office employs a Chief Deputy Auditor/CPA to oversee the actual number crunching and the elected Auditor handles the more political aspects of the office. Look at the last three county auditors (Frerichs, Parr, Prussing). None of them had a CPA, but they all did competent work in the office.
Fabri has an extensive background in county government (six years on the board, four years on the Finance Committee, two years as vice-chair of the board) that will enable him to do a good job. And if you Republicans want to underestimate Fabri's ability to both do the job and win election in 2008, do so at your own peril. Maybe you should talk to the last Democratic county auditor you neglected to take seriously, I think you can reach State Senator Frerichs (D-Gifford) at his office in Springfield :)
"And if you Republicans want to underestimate Fabri's ability to both do the job and win election in 2008, do so at your own peril."
Auditor, I served with Mike Frerichs, I knew Mike Frerichs, Mike Frerichs was a friend of mine. Auditor, you're no Mike Frerichs.
When can get all the knowledge you need on how a county government operates and its responsibilities easily is a couple of hours and most people could lean it in a couple of days. The experience and background factor is pure politics; who knows who, who owes who etc. which is unique for each county in Illinois. This training, usually at the taxpayer's expense, takes years. Frerichs was well qualified as is Fabri.
It gets worse... much worse. Not only is Fabri unqualified, he is for several reasons extremely ill-suited to be County Auditor. In other words, he actually brings negative qualifications to the job. The rap on Fabri:
1) In the last couple of years, Fabri has been all but fired from two different state patronage jobs for absenteeism. If he hadn't resigned, he would have been dismissed.
2) Fabri was apparently unable or unwilling to find any other jobs since leaving school, preferring instead to survive on the largesse of relatives.
3) Fabri has apparently failed the Illinois State Bar exam at least three times in recent years.
4) Fabri's graduation from law school was delayed for an inordinate period (a year or more?) because of his failure to complete one final assignment. It's my understanding that his law professor for that assignment was Steve Beckett. I'm also told that it was around that time period that Fabri worked as either a clerk or intern in Beckett's law practice.
5) During Fabri's tenure as party chair, fundraising has declined dramatically due to his lack of effort or follow-through. So precipitous is this drop-off, that for the first time in anyone's memory, the party was unable to provide any significant financial support to its candidates in the 2006 election. The party has also severely cut back on its monthly newsletter, in a last desperate attempt to stave off loss of the party headquarters.
6) Fabri was one of a handful of county board members who unethically (and probably illegally) attempted to place "dibs" on county furniture from the old courthouse prior to its offering at public auction.
7) On multiple occasions in the last few years, Fabri has simply "gone missing," becoming completely unavailable to anyone for months at a time without explanation.
8) By his own admission, Fabri's sole qualification to be County Auditor is the time he has spent on the county board. During that time, he has become notorious for absenteeism, missing a significant number of meetings. The irony of this is apparently lost on Mr. Fabri.
Don't bother to ask for links to any of this. For the most part, they don't exist for stuff like this. Each of these facts, however, are common knowledge to varying degrees among party insiders.
The Democratic Party has once again mooned the taxpayers with this choice. They will come to regret it, and it will be sooner rather than later.
Cassandra, you have this wrong. He's going to "wow" us all. You just wait and see. LOL
My first encounter with the "Democrat" vs "Democratic" conflict came long ago---probably in the late l940's, a time when politics was as nasty as it is now --remember Joe McCarthy. The pitch was made by ultra right-wing Republicans (Similar to the Slush Limbo ditto heads) that the Democratic party had no right to call itself THE Democratic Party because, in so doing, they were suggesting that the other parties were not democratic. Thus those evil Communist symnpathizers should be referred to as the Democrat Party. all of this is petty and illogical partisanship.
Sorry, I did not intend to be "Anonymous." Ral;ph Langenheim
From the Dictionary of World Myth:
"Cassandra: A prophetess, the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. Apollo, offended by her lack of amour for him, ensured that her prophecies would never be believed."
It's true Cassandra was doomed never to be believed.
It's also true that Cassandra was correct in her prophesies--she foresaw, for instance, the fall of Troy upon the acceptance of the "gift" of the Trojan horse.