IBEW Local 8 (Toledo) Member elected County Treasurer on Pledge to Protect Jobs of Employees

A supposed "news" article that uses very biased language to describe the victory:

Back to: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005501050355 Article published January 5, 2005

Duffey wins tight vote for treasurer as Democrats fight to bitter end

By FRITZ WENZEL
BLADE POLITICAL WRITER

Lucas County Democrats selected union official Dennis Duffey to take over as county treasurer last night in a messy meeting that featured charges of political manipulation, underhanded tactics, and almost nonstop catcalls from the floor and from a public viewing area at the back of the meeting hall that held about 100 spectators.

Mr. Duffey, who is also chairman of the party central committee that appointed him to the post, immediately takes temporary possession of the seat once held by fellow Democrat Ray Kest, who resigned at the end of November to avoid a felony theft charge.

His ascendancy means the jobs of several Kest underlings whose jobs were once threatened will apparently be safe, at least until September.

Mr. Duffey won the seat with 169 votes of the committee, compared to 151 votes cast for Toledo Democrat Wade Kapszukiewicz, a councilman who lost out on the appointment in large part because he has repeatedly said he would "clean house" in the office, eliminating remnants of the Kest dynasty that has controlled the office for 20 years.

Mr. Duffey said during a short speech to the committee, gathered at the United Auto Workers Local 12 hall on Ashland Avenue in Toledo, that Democrats ought to work to save jobs, not promise to eliminate them.

"It's not guilt by association. These are good, hardworking people," he said of the Kest underlings. "It's about fairness. It's about fairness for everyone, not just some."

Mr. Kapszukiewicz said afterward that he "didn't lose anything tonight. The voters lost."

Factions of the Democratic Party have been battling over this appointment since last year, when it became clear that Mr. Kest would be forced from his office before his term ends in September. Members of the faction known as the "A Team" have uniformly backed the appointment of Mr. Kapszukiewicz, who is also a member of that faction. The so-called "B Team" has been split, with party Chairman Sandy Isenberg and Finance Committee Chairman Jerry Chabler supporting Mr. Kapszukiewicz, while other leaders of the faction favored someone who would protect the jobs of the Kest underlings, at least until Sept. 12, when Mr. Kapszukiewicz will take over.

State law provides that the county party central committee shall choose a successor when a county officeholder vacates his seat before the end of his term.

Ms. Isenberg and Mr. Chabler said they believed that, because Mr. Kapszukiewicz won election to the county treasurer's seat in the Nov. 2 election, he should have been appointed to the seat upon Mr. Kest's exit. Others in their faction have said the election simply means that Mr. Kapszukiewicz's claim to the seat begins when the Kest term ends in September, and that in Mr. Kest's absence, party leaders control the appointment to the seat as prescribed by state law.

The meeting started 27 minutes late because the crowd was so large and many had trouble finding parking, a time during which both sides wandered the room hunting for votes. Ninety minutes after it began, the speeches and arguments ended and the voting began.

But the haggling quickly resumed after the votes showed Mr. Duffey victorious, as Mr. Kapszukiewicz's supporters charged the victor had not won a majority of the committee, as required by law.

That squabble began after it was announced that there were 387 voting committee members present, which would have required Mr. Duffey to obtain 194 votes, not the 169 votes he received.

Mr. Duffey and Keith Wilkowski, a local lawyer who volunteered to act on behalf of Mr. Kapszukiewicz, left the UAW hall and headed to party headquarters on Madison Avenue, where they could sort out the problem.

In the end, they counted a total of 327 voting committee members, sealing the victory for Mr. Duffey.

Mr. Duffey and Mr. Chabler, a Kapszukiewicz backer, agreed that all parties will try to meet today "to figure out how we can make this thing work out for the best for everyone."

Mr. Chabler called the controversy over the seat "unfortunate, because we just came out of November winning 20 of 22 local races, and raising a quarter of a million dollars, and now we have this. This is a typical Democratic Party thing."

A time for a reconciliation meeting was not set, but Mr. Duffey indicated Mr. Kapszukiewicz would likely be invited.

Contact Fritz Wenzel at:
fritz@theblade.com
or 419-724-6134.