Monday, November 24, 2008

63 out of 350 GOP committee members

Many of those were proxies and not actual committee people in attendance. I don't see how 63 out of all the republicans in Westmoreland County will make a difference to the judges. Of the 63, how many committee people were unopposed or written in. I know of 2 without researching. I return to my original ideal of a petition drive.

I am happy because my top choice, Scott Avolio, made the list.

However, I think the judges will ignore the process because the committee ignored two of the most qualified candidates and selected "political" choices. Their goal was to set themselves up to win two commissioner seats in the next election and not choose the most qualified candidates.

Why do I say this?
  • Jess Stairs, a former state represenative for ever, applied and did not even make the final cut of 10. Love him or hate him, you have to admit that the guy had more governmental experience than the final 10. His exclusion from the list, taints the list.
  • William Davis. I voted for him. He has served as a county commissioner. He has worked in the executive branch of Pennsylvania government. I think he would be the judges pick. I believe that the influential powers in our party did not want him because his credentials and experience would make him very independent from party leaders. Also, he may not run for re-election and if he did, he may not run a highly partisan and negative re-election campaign.

If these two men apply to the judges, the judges are going to listen to their qualifications. I think by excluding both of these qualified candidates, it makes the judges automatically look at the broader list.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree Perry. I heard Kim was pushing Wayne and Joyce. I was suprised that the committee didn't think that someone that had done the job wasn't qualified. He should have been put in just to make it look legit.

Anonymous said...

this whole process is making the committee look less credible not more credible. How in the world can we skinny the list down to ten. Why not just let all 20 or so people pitch the committee and then committee members vote for who they want. I think we have made this way more political than it needed to be. With Jess Stairs not included, there is no way the judges can pick from our list. It is not a complete list of qualified candidates.

Anonymous said...

Perry,

Davis, Stairs, and Avolio were my three top picks. I am sorry to hear that Jess was not suggested for the "final 10."

Nathan Shrader

Anonymous said...

Let's see. Jess Stairs who was on the bloated PHEAA board, served in the majority that expanded spending, that voted against the will of the people with the stadiums(Stairs voted yes), Increases pensions(Stairs voted yes), slots that left too many loopholes bringing us DeNaples(Stairs voted yes.) These bipartisan cluster you know whats are the exact types of things that have gotten us in trouble in the past at the Courthouse and relinquished us to minority status. We don't need yet another patsy in there. We need a fighter. Stairs was the most senior Republican in the State Legislature and he didn't do anything. He's the last one we need in the Courthouse.

I don't know much about Davis or his previous stint but he was unimpressive at the convention.

I voted for Avolio and McGrew.

Perry Christopher said...

Let's see. You made your decision about Davis based on about a 10 minute presesntation and totally disregarding his experience. Sounds like you must have voted for Obama too. Obama gives a very good presentation, but lacks experience. Use your head man!

Jess Stairs, whether you love him or not, was overwhelming re-elected by republicans for years. He knows everyone in Harrisburg. He could use that experience to work with Harrisburg to get more for Westmoreland County. I had problems with his support from the teacher unions. You should have read my e-mails from people who did not like him. I took a lot of heat for supporting him. The PHEEA thing was stupid, but he paid the money back. I see why he did not run for re-election. I wouldn't want to be involved in a campaign which was all about PHEEA paying for some stuff at Nemacolin for my wife.

I made negative statements about him after this. I am sure he doesn't care for me at the moment, but I can see through all that and see of all the people in Westmoreland County, Jess Stairs is one of the 10 most qualified to be considered.

Anonymous said...

After seeing the people that were picked by the committee and the ones that were not picked I can tell you that the judges will give zero weight to the position taken by the committee. There picks are a farce. Second, Kim Ward Needed to be gone on December 1st or she should have stayed until the final budget was voted on one or the other. Either way she put off her decision until the party had a chance to put forward their picks. If she had laid out her time line right after the election the party could have picked the judges could have picked and the new commissioner would have had more than 8 days to review a budget that will be over 300 million dollars. One thing is for certain who ever replaces her will get the opurtunity to not take a position on the budget. She has assured that Tom and Tom will be deciding the 2009 budget. Kim, thanks for putting the party ahead of what was best for the tax payers.