Thursday, November 6, 2008

In your dreams...

After spending all that money on negative ads against Tony Bompiani and Mike O'Barto, do you really think democrats are going to care what the republican committee thinks? I bet not. I don't believe the Harrisburg GOP committees have built up any good will. I do believe that Mike Reese could help. Our new state representative is well liked in the courthouse. In all honesty and without any sarcasm, this would be a great opportunity for him to exert leadership. As for Kim Ward, there was just too much animosity between her and Tom and Tom. We need a commissioner who is strong, but can also work with those two yahoos.
Westmoreland County's 11 common pleas judges will decide who fills out the remaining three years of Ward's county commissioner term.

"We prefer they will listen to our collective voice of 87,000 Republicans, rather than have the free-for-all we had four years ago," said George Dunbar, chairman of the county's Republican committee.

Dunbar said the party's executive committee will meet Nov. 11 to determine a process for selecting several potential candidates whose names will be forwarded to the county judges for consideration.


As far as I know, I still have a vote on the committee. As the long as the GOP committee as a whole makes the recommendations, I am for it. If it is just the few folks on the executive committee, that is just as wrong as only the judges deciding.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perry,

I think that someone can work productively with the commissioners is key but Phil Light did that and all he got was grief about how he didn't "stand up" to Tom and Tom. We can't have it both ways, either we want to make Tom and Tom's life hell or we want someone that will work to move the county forward in a productive way. From that standpoint, Kim going to harrisburg is a huge blessing

Anonymous said...

I am in agreement with Mr. Christopher that the entire Westmoreland GOP Committee should make the recommendation or at least be consulted. In fact, I would argue that Mr. Dunbar himself would be in agreement. In his letter to committee members before the July 8 meeting, to support his bid for chairperson, he wrote, "...I have always practiced and believed that creating an environment where information flows freely, where all members' [sic] thoughts and ideas can be heard, breeds success..." If the party's executive committee is determining the candidate(s), then it doesn't seem that all members' opinions will be heard.

I'd like to throw my name into the hat for consideration by the county judges. I am a life-long member of Westmoreland County. I am disappointed with the current progress and direction of local, state, and national government, and I feel I could make a difference. I currently manage a large lab at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, so I am familiar with job creation and conservative fiscal practices. I welcome others' support. I may be reached at chewdw@upmc.edu to discuss more.

Douglas W. Chew
Republican Committee Member-High Park-Hempfield

Anonymous said...

Face reality. The two D's will have more say in what happens than the republican Party will. I do not agree with Kim that it is the job of the republican to be the minority. It is the job of all three commissioner to work together. Kim was put on a shelf by the two Tom's she was very effective at removing herself from any decisions in the county. If you want to have someone that is going to be a naysayer and wait three years to try to get a majority again that is crazy.

Anonymous said...

If Doug Chew manages a lab in an academic enviroment he has no clue how the private sector runs. The academic world is the one place that makes government look conservative when it comes to cost increases.

Perry Christopher said...

As a minority commissioner, I don't believe an academic would be at a disadvantage. He would not really be governing because Tom and Tom run the show, but he would be adept at analyzing options and voicing concerns.

Anonymous said...

Perry,

That is the wrong attitude to have. We need to put someone in that WILL govern and make the hard decisions. Although the TOM's clearly weren't about to let Kim have any involvement in county government, i sometimes believe that is exactly what she wanted. We need an action person, not someone to shoot bb's at the tank. From that standpoint, we need someone that Tom's can't ignore because that person is not politically motivated and wants what is best for the county. It will be very hard for them to ignore that type of person. Also, I have worked in academics and local government, there is no connection that can be drawn other than the fact that you can't lose your job

Anonymous said...

To begin, I want to thank Mr. Christopher for voicing his supportive opinion. I appreciated that.

Secondly, I’ll comment on the few anonymous posts in this blog: he/she/they are judging me quite quickly without knowing all of the facts. I admit that I am a faculty member of the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine, but I am outside of the tenure stream. I have a one-year contract, which can be renewed annually, provided the lab that I manage brings in enough outside money for our research and salaries. Although my salary is set by the University, my funding comes from entirely non-University sources. I am not part of any committee that sets tuition rates or decides on any charges for services, etc.,

In fact, in many ways, the lab in which I manage is a small-business. If there was ever a time that we didn’t bring in enough funds, we’d have to have layoffs. The product that we produce is research knowledge, patents, etc. In many respects, we’re just a tenant within the University, renting space to produce a product, while employing people to produce that product. I have never been part of the tenure stream, and I enjoy the challenge of continuing to manage and produce quality science in spite of stiff cutbacks in the public funding of scientific research. Unlike many scientific labs, I am proud to say that we currently have 6 grants for our research. Given the current funding climate, having these 6 grants demonstrates my tenacity to achieve a goal and my commitment to the people I am leading.

The anonymous posts on November 8 and 10 are a clear example of what many Americans are fed up with: line-in-the-sand politics. It is one thing to stick to one’s ideals and make the hard decisions, but those decisions need to be thoughtful and considered. Although those anonymous posts may have been made by someone cursorily involved in a college at some level, they don’t fully understand the workings of a research university. I’ve spent 15-20 years in a research setting, and their anonymous comments were made with little understanding and investigation.

If our “action person” is going to enter the Commissioners’ office shooting bullets “at the tank” for no good reason, without facts, without investigation, without analyzing options, then the minority commissioner will soon be left behind. Commissioners Balya and Ceraso will put another partisan Republican “on the shelf”, and in 3 years, we’ll continue to be the minority commissioner.

Isn’t this how Republicans end up in hot-water? Remember in 2007 when Senator-elect Ward and Mr. Dunbar came up with their “new idea” for a non-binding referendum before any future tax increases were made in county government? I have a great deal of respect for Senator Ward and Mr. Dunbar, but do you remember how Republicans looked afterwards? Commissioner Balya made several comments on this, like: “Their problem: they don't know if it is legal in Pennsylvania or what such an effort would cost to conduct.” Although I like the idea and principle of this referendum, it was announced without much investigation or forethought, and our Democratic opponents ate us alive. Comments from other Democratic voters weren’t very favorable either. The anonymous posters in this thread spouted off without fact and without investigation into my background and credentials. We need to distance ourselves from these types of attacks.

As Mr. Ryan O’Barto says in another thread on this site, “It is time to move beyond partisan politics and move Westmoreland County in the right direction.” If we’re hoping to put forward four names of fresh, young, independent-thinkers (adjectives from other posts), then I’d argue that these anonymous posts support just the opposite of what we desire. These anonymous posts represent old ideas, partisan politics, and stereotypes. Are those ideas the best we have to offer the citizens of Westmoreland County?

I say we need to move forward with fresh ideas, from independent thinkers, while maintaining the core principles of our party.

Anonymous said...

I just read what mr chew said. He seams like a good person. What every body seems to forget is this, if you don't break the two democrats balls at every chance you get you will get your balls broken buy the editorial staff of the tribune review. We republicans are in a no win situation. Plus people like Kim Ward who is in the pocket of the trib will do the same. She had no desire to govern. She just wanted to wait until the next election and try to get a majority. Westmoreland County has been well run for years. That is because of the people that work there not who is elected.