IS YOUR COUNTY BOARD MEMBER ETHICAL AND REPRESENTING YOUR DISTRICT??

     Do you know who your county board member is?   Do you know where your county board member resides or how to contact them?  Is your County board member living within the district they are representing?

     Geographical residency requirements of elected officials is set up for several reasons.  One reason is protect voters from fraudulent candidacies.  They are also intended to ensure that candidates are familiar with the local political climate and can identify important constituent concerns.  At the County Board level this is simply breaks down to the candidates understanding their neighbors issues and concerns.  The concept of domicile is frequently used to assess whether a candidate satisfies the residency requirement.  Domicile is generally defined as the combination of maintaining a residence and the intent to remain in the location.  Simply put: the candidate actual resides within the district they represent and not set up a fictitious residence while living in another.

     Why have we decided to address this issue?  Over the last few months it has come to our attention that two of our local County Board members Mr. Sam Franklyn (R1) and Mr. Dave Bellis (R3) are actually residing outside the districts they represent.  An interesting note is that Mr. Randall Reis (formerly D2) has resigned due to change in his residence during this same time period.   Why have Mr. Franklyn and Mr. Bellis not resigned as well?  Why have they stayed in political office knowing that they are violating the residency requirements?

     In speaking with several local political operatives within our community it has been brought to our attention that both County Board chairman Les Post and well as Republican County Chair Laura Kent Donahue are fully aware of these gentleman living outside the districts they represent.  Why have they not stepped in and intervened to protect your rights as citizens, taxpayers and voters of this county?

     Pure and simple it is for political gain.   They are trying to drag these resignations out past the August deadline so they can appoint someone of their choosing to these two seats.   In doing so they are denying the citizens of both district one and district three the right to choose who represents them.  Fear that you the voters will exercise your right to elect someone outside their sphere of influence is why they have carried out this charade for so long.  

     Shame on you Mr. Franklyn, Mr. Bellis, Mr. Post, and Ms. Donahue for denying the fine citizens of our county their right to elect their own representation as well as have their voices heard on how their county tax money is spent!!!