Thompson Calls For Reprimand Of Democrat Commissioners
Corey Thompson, by his own admission, is a political novice. But that hasn’t stopped the young gun Republican from drawing down and taking dead aim at Democrat incumbent Commissioners Chairman Jennifer Roberts.
Thompson, who is running for an at-large seat on the county board, this week called for Roberts to reprimand her Democrat cohorts for participating in what he called acts of “political irresponsibility” during a board meeting last week.
That’s when commissioners took up a proposal, pitched by Republican Bill James, to seek guidance from federal authorities on how the county could report illegal immigrants who receive welfare benefits on behalf of U.S.-born children in their families.
Democrat commissioners, Thompson said, instead turned what should have been a reasoned debate over an important policy issue into a chance to berate their Republican colleagues on the board and use a taxpayer-funded meeting “for their own self-promotion and political grandstanding,” with an election looming weeks away.
“It sounded more like campaigning from the dais, on the taxpayers’ dime, than addressing a serious policy matter,” Thompson said. “I know politics is politics, but this pushed it over the line.”
Roberts wasn’t present when the illegal immigration issue was being discussed, having left the meeting earlier to take care of a sick child at home. Commissioners Vice Chairman Harold Cogdell, an incumbent at-large Democrat up for reelection, presided over that portion of the meeting.
The board’s Democrat majority ultimately voted down James’ proposal, but not before letting loose an arsenal of partisan rhetoric. Ironically, it was Cogdell who lobbed the first salvo. It came in response to James’ contention that it was important to report the status of illegal immigrants because there was no way of knowing, for certain, if they posed a security risk – or in James’ impolitic parlance, whether they were “Osama-wannabes.”
While acknowledging James’ right to free speech, Cogdell scolded, “But frankly, you have a history of throwing bombs, offending people, saying things that are unnecessary to productive dialogue. So I’m going to ask that you conduct yourself with a little more civility and professionalism. Otherwise, Commissioner James, you are out of order.”
Responded James: “I think I am being completely civil. But you violated the board’s ethics policy by referring to me, personally, as a bomb-thrower. I’m not going to hold you to it; I’m just saying these things go both ways.”
They didn’t, at least not for the majority of the discussion, which devolved into a Bill James/Republican-bashing free-for-all.
At one point during the meeting, Commissioner George Dunlap, a Democrat running for re-election, delivered what was roundly considered a campaign stump speech intended to disparage Republicans and scare the public into voting Democrat.
“I would say to this community and remind you,” Dunlap intoned ominously from the dais, “that if Mr. James’ colleagues take over this commission, you’ll have a whole lot more who think like he does. We should not reward Mr. James by electing a commission that believes what he believes.
“With him becoming the senior Republican on this commission, if he gets a Republican-elected body, he will be the person who leads the commission,” Dunlap warned. “It’s happened before. We’ve seen it before. We saw what happened before. I remind you what happened before, and I would ask this community to not reward people who think that for some reason they are much better citizens than other people who are also citizens.”
At another point, Dunlap seemed to challenge James’ religious faith, asking whether the Republican commissioner believed that citizens are all “endowed by our Creator with certain ineligible (sic) rights.”
“You’re a Christian, Mr. James; you believe that don’t you?” Dunlap asked.
Thompson took issue with both the tone and content of Dunlap’s statements.
“While there is no rule against using the dais for political posturing,” he said, “it must be recognized that Commissioner Dunlap’s free political advertisement, and the questioning of a colleague’s faith, were a blatant misuse of the seat with which he has been entrusted.”
Even though Roberts wasn’t chairing the meeting when the comments were made, Thompson said she has an obligation to retroactively reprimand what he called the inappropriate actions of her colleagues. Roberts, he noted, has done so before, when it had been Republicans who were called to task. Roberts last year publicly called for James to apologize for using a slur during an exchange from the dais with a fellow board member.
“Chairman Roberts has previously used her position to publicly reprimand commissioners whose actions and attitudes at the dais have been unbecoming,” Thompson said. “She once again has the responsibility to challenge her colleagues and to show that her leadership in not bound by party lines.”
Thompson and Republicans Jim Pendergraph and Dan Ramirez are pitted against Roberts, Cogdell and Dan Murrey in the at-large commissioners race, which also includes Libertarian candidate Jack Stratton. Dunlap faces Republican Barbara Eveland in the board’s District 2 race. Whichever party wins at least two of the three at-large seats up for grabs, will likely gain majority control of the board.
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