Sheriff Evicts Insiders - The First Victory in the Cleansing of Jackson County Legislature

First, big kudos to Sheriff Mike Sharp, who has taken a stand against the literal insiders who have used courthouse access to unfairly gain early access to getting their name first on the ballots. In prior years, incumbents would use their courthouse passes to get in and file for themselves and friends while the hopes for reform sat outside in the cold.

Finally, Mike Sharp has put an end to that odious and unfair practice. Using his role as chief of security for the courthouse, he decided to take names at the courthouse door starting at 5:00 yesterday.

I had written about the unfairness of the prior system before, when Theresa Garza Ruiz proposed a simple and fair fix to the insider game. Greg Grounds joined her in seeking to eliminate cronyism.

Heny Rizzo voted for special insider privileges.

Dan Tarwater voted for special insider privileges.

James Tindall voted for special insider privileges.

Scott Burnett voted for special insider privileges.

Dennis Waits voted for special insider privileges.

Fred Arbanas voted for special insider privileges.

Bob Spence voted for special insider privileges.

Not surprisingly, even under the new system, Henry Rizzo managed to find a way to use his position to engage in petty cheating. He loathes Theresa Garza Ruiz because she has consistently sought to bring openness and reform to the Jackson County legislature. With that in mind, he let Ruiz's opponent cut in line to get his name on the ballot before her.

Can you believe that? Most people grow out of that kind of behavior in 1st grade, but Henry Rizzo and his friend apparently did not.

Greg Grounds Fights Dirty - The Funding Issue

The Jackson County Legislature has pulled out all the stops in a desperate attempt to make their refusal to accept ethical oversight seem less offensive. One of the more shameful bits of misdirection they've employed, though, is a claim that they've excused themselves from local oversight because the Jackson County Ethics Commission ought not to "be subject to the people they are investigating not funding them."

What?!?!

For those not paying attention, Legislator Greg Grounds, in one fell swoop, impugned the ethics of the citizens serving on the Ethics Commission, accused his fellow Jackson County legislators of corrupt behavior, and misled the Jackson County voters.

Let's talk a little bit about the "funding" that Greg Grounds thinks he can use to control the Ethics Commission. How much do you think the Ethics Commissioners are profiting from their work on the Ethics Commission? If you read his nasty little insinuation, you probably imagine that they are paid something in the mid five figures to clean up after our legislators, but you would be horribly mistaken.

The members of the Jackson County Ethics Commission do not get paid for their service. Indeed, after they angered the legislators by holding a hearing, the County responded in petty fashion by refusing to pay their parking. While there are some other costs associated with the Jackson County Ethics Commission, any claim that the Commission is in thrall to the dollars is a red herring - a stinking, rotten red herring that Greg Grounds should be ashamed of tossing into public debate.

His argument also falsely impugns the ethics of the Ethics Commissioners. Does he really think that the Ethics Commission would "go easy" on the legislature because of a few dollars of funding, which will never, ever, come near to them personally? His suggestion that the legislature would actually have the guts to refuse to fund a legitimate investigation is also a huge insult to what I truly hope is a less corrupt body than he implies.

Finally, Greg Grounds' opinion that the legislature buys off whomever it funds is insulting to the law enforcement and court system that it does fund. By Grounds' logic, he should be immune from prosecution in the Jackson County Circuit Court if he embarks on a crime spree. The prosecutors would be unable to prosecute him, because they are funded by the legislature, and the courts would not be able to convict him, because their personnel are on the Jackson County payroll. In Greg Grounds' self-important mind, the jail could not dare to hold someone of his stature.

It is truly sad to see a Jackson County legislator believe that the entire mechanism of County Government is controlled by his almighty dollar. It is truly insulting to see a Jackson County legislator threaten a volunteer board with a cut in pay. Most of all, though, it is infuriating to see that Greg Grounds and his fellow legislators think we're dumb enough to fall for it.