Board of Elections director quits

I'm sad to learn that Dan Pilrose, the current director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, is resigning due to health reasons. I worked with Dan when he was a prosecutor and I was Clerk of Court and I always found him to be capable, knowledgeable and professional in all his dealings. I think he and Jill Kelly, the current deputy director, made a good pair when it came to running the local BOE.

I'm also sad to see that the article about his resignation has more to do with the new Republican party chairman than anything else.

First, the local party chairman does NOT control who sits on the BOE. The executive committee of the party votes to make a recommendation to the secretary of state. The secretary of state makes the appointments, which are for four-year terms. A change in the local party's chairmanship does not mean that the appointed BOE members also change. Patrick Kriner was just re-appointed to the position, so he's got four years in front of him. Lynn Olman, the other GOP member of the board, has two years left on his term.

Both Kriner and Olman are well-respected members of the local party. They've served in elective office, fulfilling their duties responsibly. Kriner is also a former party chairman and very familiar with the challenges and issues our local party faces. At the BOE, they have focused on following the law governing elections. They, with their fellow Democratic board members, have guided the BOE off of administrative oversight and worked to remove much of the partisanship that previously existed - focusing instead on conducting elections properly rather than on advancing particular party positions.

And this has been good for Lucas County.

I'm not saying there isn't still room for improvement at the BOE, but the fact that the new LCRP chairman doesn't like the two Republicans who serve there isn't justification for making a change.

"Yesterday, Mr. Stainbrook said he has no confidence in the two Republican members of the four-person board, Lynn Olman and Patrick Kriner, who also were viewed as allied with Mr. Reichert.

"I don't think that Pat Kriner or Lynn Olman have the best interests of the Lucas County Republican Party or the voters of Lucas County at heart. Any suggestion they make regarding Jill Kelly does not have the support of the Lucas County Republican Party chairman or its newest members," Mr. Stainbrook said."

Fortunately for the BOE, Stainbrook doesn't hire or fire employees in that office and his 'opinion' about said employees is pretty irrelevant.

Sadly for Lucas County Republicans and voters, Stainbrook would rather smear Kriner and Olman because they didn't support his quest for the chairmanship than admit they are actually doing a good job at the BOE while they happened to disagree on the best leader for the party.

Hopefully, this is not an example of the type of 'leadership' Stainbrook brings to the party.