Chairman's Blog

Warrick GOP to Challenge Absentee Ballot

2010-10-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

The Warrick County Republican Central Committee announced today that it intends to challenge at least one absentee ballot that has been returned to the Warrick County Clerk’s Office on the grounds that the voter in question, Ralph W. Brown, is not a bona fide resident of Warrick County. Article 2 of the Indiana Constitution, and the Indiana Election Code, require that a person be a resident of the precinct in which he or she is voting for thirty days immediately preceding the election. According to records obtained from the Warrick County Election Office, Brown filed an application for absentee ballot by facsimile with the Clerk’s Office on September 29th listing a mailing address in Yucatan, Mexico. Instructions were provided on the cover sheet to “please call Anthony Long on receipt to pay FedEx mailing fees.” On October 1st, the Warrick County Election Office sent an absentee ballot to Brown in Yucatan, Mexico via Federal Express. According to Federal Express, the account used to pay for that mailing was registered to S. Anthony Long, Attorney at Law, PC. Anthony Long is the Chairperson of the Indiana 8th District Democratic Party and Vice-chair of the Indiana Election Commission. That ballot was signed by Brown on October 9th and returned to the Election Office. According to voter registration records in the Warrick County Election Office, in January of 2005, Brown changed his residence address to 1533 Dogwood Lane, Boonville, Indiana. Coincidentally, that is also the residence address listed on the voter registration record of Anthony Long.

Desperate Times call for … well, in this case, outright lies about Commissioner Art Noffsinger!

2010-10-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

The Democrats are on the run this year and I see desperation in their eyes and in their advertisements. Most recently, I am greatly troubled by a full-page attack ad aimed at Commissioner Art Noffisinger that I read in today’s Newburgh-Chandler Register. As a regular listener of NPR, I have rather enjoyed listening to their application of the TRUTH-O-METER to political campaign ads this fall. For those of you that are not regular NPR listeners, the TRUTH-O-METER ranks ads and statements made therein as either: (1) True; (2) Half True; (3) Barely True; (4) False; and (5) Pants on Fire. I have taken the liberty to apply the TRUTH-O-METER to the attack ad in today’s paper and overall rate the ad as FALSE with at least one statement therein registering PANTS ON FIRE. But don’t take my word for it, any person with just a basic understanding of the internet can check the facts from this ad and decide for himself or herself.

The bottom section of the ad lists a number of “claims” made by Noffsinger and then purports to rely on the statement “Verified by Commissioner Minutes” to refute those claims. The minutes of the Warrick County Commissioners are available online at http://www.warrickcounty.gov:82/Warrick%20County%20Documents%20Downloads/Agendas_and_Minutes/MINUTES/Commissioners%20Minutes. For your convenience, I have referenced the particular portions of those meetings that are supposedly relevant to the allegations in the ad.

Here’s my rating for each allegation:

1. Commissioner Noffsinger “missed Dec. 14, 2009 meeting due to photo op with Lt. Governor.”
TRUTH-O-METER: BARELY TRUE.
FACTS: Commissioner Noffsinger attended the meeting, but was late. Commissioner Meeting Minutes of Dec. 14, 2009, page 1. Commissoner Noffsinger arrived at the meeting during the discussion on the emergency communication system issue and participated in the discussions. Commissioner Meeting Minutes of Dec. 14, 2009, beginning at page 14. Commissioner Noffsinger was late for the meeting because he was at the Indiana State House for a ceremony for grants and Warrick County received their grant certification for the Stonehaven Project by the Lieutenant Governor. Commissioner Meeting Minutes of Dec. 14, 2009, page 21.

2. “On May 10, 2010 he (Commissioner Noffsinger ) was removed due to ineffectiveness as commissioner representative Motorola upgrader point man and was replaced by Commissioner Williams.”
TRUTH-O-METER: PANTS ON FIRE
FACTS: On page 27 of the Commissioner Meeting Minutes for May 10, 2010, Commissioner Williams suggests that since he is “here every day but Tuesdays … [he] would like to be the contact on that.” Commissioner Noffsinger agrees and actually makes the motion “that Commissioner Williams will take the lead on the Communications Project.”

3. November 23, 2009 [Commissioner Noffsinger] voted against a proposed health savings insurance plan for Warrick County; a proposed savings of $1.66 million.”
TRUTH-O-METER: BARELY TRUE.
FACTS: At the November 23, 2009 meeting, Commissioner Noffsinger made a motion to approve plan #5 that would have provided for an option to county employees to choose an HSA or a PPO with a higher deductible. That motion died for lack of a second. Commissioner Meeting Minutes of November 23, 2009, page 5. Commissoner Noffsinger was the Board of Commissioners’ representative on the committee that investigated potential savings to the County by switching health insurance plans. It was discussed and agreed that the vast majority of savings to the County by switching plans would result from employees switching to a HSA from the current PPO plan. Meeting Minutes of 11/23/09 page 6. Commissioner Noffsinger voted against the plan offered by Commissoner Williams because he believed that the savings would be less due to the disincentive to switch to from the PPO to HSA. Meeting Minutes of 11/23/09 page 6. In voting against option 3 offered by Commissioner Williams, Commissioner Noffsinger voted NO, stating that “I think we just made a half million dollars mistake to the taxpayers.” Commissioner Williams responded stating that he thought that “we just saved the taxpayers $1.66 million dollars,” to which Commissioner Noffsinger responded “We could have saved them $2.1 [million].” Meeting Minutes of 11/23/09 page 8.

4. Commissioner Noffsinger “ claims responsibility for new Chandler EMS Station”, but “missed 3 Commissioner meetings concerning EMS Station July 20th/August 30th/August 31st.”
TRUTH-O-METER: FALSE
FACTS: According to www.warrickcounty.gov, the Commissioners meet on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month at 4:00pm. There is no record of a July 20th Commissioners Meeting since Commissioner Noffsinger took office in January 2009. Minutes of an August 30, 2010 meeting, if one did in fact take place since that date would have been the 5th Monday of the month, are not yet available online for verification. According to the Meeting Minutes, Commissioner Noffsinger did attend the regularly scheduled meeting on August 31, 2009.

5. Commissioner Noffsinger “claims … if elected will clean up sinking home in Quail Crossing”, but stated on “June 22, 2009 quote “I don’t see where the county at this time or in the future wants to get into the home demolition business.” “I really believe this is a private matter.” “I’m not willing to invest county funds into the removal of that building.”
TRUTH-O-METER: HALF TRUE
FACTS: There is no evidence that Commissioner Noffsinger ever promised to clean up the sinking home in Quail Crossing. The quotes attributed to Commissioner Noffsigner at the June 22, 2009 meeting are accurate. In addition, Commissioner Tim Mosby, agreeing with Commissioner Noffsinger, stated “I definitely agree this is not a County issue.” “I can’t see using tax dollars to handle a private matter. It’s not fair. Those are my tax dollars.”

6. Commissioner Noffsinger, on “May 11, 2009 signed a “Unified Conflict of Interest Statement: after using his position as a county commissioner to put county $$$ in his own pocket.”
TRUTH-O-METER: BARELY TRUE
FACTS: At the May 11, 2009 Commissioners Meeting, Commissioner Noffsinger disclosed that he had filed his “Unified Conflict of Interest Exposure Statement with this Clerk’s office this year and we will be passing it onto the State Board of Accounts.” Commissioner Meeting Minutes of May 11, 2009, page 17. No further discussion was had on the record and no mention or evidence of Commissioner Noffsinger using his position to put county $$$ in his own pocket was discussed at that meeting. To date, no action has been taken by the State Board of Accounts as a result of this Statement.

Voters of Warrick County, I urge you not to be fooled by the desperate 11th hour attempts of Democrats to take control of the Warrick County Board of Commissioners. Art Noffsinger is an honest man, a family man, and a man of integrity. Will we really be better off if we elect another Democrat to the Warrick County Board of Commissioners, giving them a majority and control over redistricting? Would we really be better off with the old party boss system of government that we have worked so hard to get away from over the last 10 years? I urge you to vote for Art on November 2nd!

DEMOCRATS QUASH EARLY VOTING IN WARRICK COUNTY – FOR NOW

2010-03-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

In what can only be described as a blatant effort to keep voters who may not support their candidates away from the polls, the Warrick County Democrat Party has denied the voters of Warrick County access to satellite offices in Newburgh and Lynnville for the 2010 election cycle.

THE FACTS

Sometime in January or February of this year, I (Republican Chairman Rick Martin) spoke with Democrat Chairman Terry White about the satellite office in Ohio Township. White raised an issue about the library’s refusal to allow campaigning at the library during the 2008 election. It was suggested that we meet with members of the Library Board to reach some sort of agreement that would permit campaigning outside the library during use of the library as a satellite office in this year’s primary and general elections. Nothing was mentioned at that time by White as to the issue of whether it was “fair” to have a satellite office in Ohio Township only.

In emails sent to Warrick County Clerk Sarah Topper in late February, White and Sullivan first raised their “concerns” that it was somehow unfair to have a satellite office in Ohio Township “given the fact there are no other satellites available in other parts of the county.” On March 4th, the Election Board held its first meeting to discuss the issue of satellite offices. At that meeting, Sullivan stated that “he was in disagreement with having the office in Newburgh” because he felt that “it favors one area of the County over another.” He went on to say that “more needed to be done in the Northern portion of Warrick County.” The issue was tabled.

When the Election Board reconvened on March 10th, several remonstrators and the media were on hand. The Republicans proposed that a second satellite office be opened in Lynnville to accommodate voters in the Northern portion of Warrick County. It was proposed to have the Lynnville office open during the exact same hours as the Ohio Township satellite office. It was pointed out that, in addition to being open for voting for all twenty-nine working days and two Saturdays prior to the election, the Clerk’s Office in Boonville would remain open until 6pm on those evenings that satellite voting would be available in Ohio Township and Lynnville. County Clerk Sarah Topper confirmed that the cost to operate a second satellite office in Lynnville would be around $1,000 for the primary election and that she could reallocate funds to make it happen. She also confirmed that she had begun looking into a site, but had not received any return calls to her inquiries. Sullivan stated that he was satisfied with this proposal, but inexplicably refused to vote in favor of the proposed resolution. Instead, Sullivan voted to table the issue until specific information could be provided as to a location. Democrat Chairman Terry White also indicated his general approval to the proposal.

On Saturday morning, when the Election Board reconvened, Sullivan and White were accompanied by several Democrat cronies, including Don Lee and Warrick County Auditor Larry Lacer. Sarah Topper presented to the Board three suitable locations for a satellite office in Lynnville. The issue was then opened for discussion. Sullivan began by stating that he was opposed to the resolution and would not vote in favor of it. The chairman opened the floor for discussion, and there was a rather heated exchange between supporters and opponents of the resolution. When questioned by Chairman Martin about his opposition to the resolution, Sullivan stated that he was against any satellite office in any location other than Boonville. His suggestion was that only a single satellite office be opened at the library in Boonville, just blocks away from the Clerk’s Office where early voting would already be taking place. Sullivan then commented to Board Chairman Bernie Montgomery that “you made your bed, now you have to sleep in it.” Sullivan and the Democrats present continually referred to the use of the satellite office in 2008 as “an experiment.” The resolution was then put to a vote, with Topper and Montgomery voting in favor of satellite offices in both Ohio Township and Lynnville and Sullivan voting against. Because Indiana law requires a unanimous decision of the Board to approve a satellite office, the resolution failed.

A FEW UNBIASED OBSERVATIONS

Was the use of the satellite office in 2008 an “experiment?” Even if it was, was it a successful one? Notably absent from the Democrats in attendance at the Election Board meetings was former Democrat Clerk Shannon Weisheit who first implemented the Ohio Township satellite office in 2008. In numerous articles written and published by the Courier & Press in 2008, Weisheit never once referred to the satellite office as an “experiment.” When asked about early voting at the satellite office, Weisheit commented that on “the last day of early voting at the Ohio Township Library, we voted more than 700 people.” She went on to comment that “you can feel it in the air almost, that there’s excitement for people to want to get out and vote.” http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/nov/03/results-still-out-early-voting-bdaily-poll-questio/ In another interview, Weisheit commented that "we feel like it (early voting at the Ohio Township Library) really did exceed ... expectations,” and that, because of early voting at the satellite office in the 2008 primary election, “we had 1,500 people who didn't go to the wrong precinct or not know where their precinct is. Anybody in the county can come down there and vote.” http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/oct/11/tiredof-waitingto-vote/ In yet another interview, Weisheit stated that early voting at the Ohio Township Library was a “win-win situation for both the county and the library." http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/apr/23/early-voting-gives-ohio-township-central-library/ In the first week of early voting in 2008 primary, 299 citizens of Warrick County used the Ohio Township Library to cast their votes. Weisheit commented that "I am so excited. That means it's being utilized, and that 299 people won't have to stand in line on Election Day." http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/apr/21/votersgetting-out-early/ I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like just an “experiment”, and if it was, boy what a successful experiment it proved to be. I guess the Democrats are just opposed to success.

What’s with the Democrats flip flop on this issue? After remaining silent for nearly two years after the 2008 election, Sullivan and White suddenly realized just days before the election board meeting on March 4th that it was somehow “unfair” to provide an early voting location in Ohio Township while not providing the same access to voters in the northern parts of the County. Then, after the Republicans tendered a proposal to open an additional satellite office in Lynnville, the Democrats position abruptly changed to opposition to satellite offices anywhere other than Boonville, where the base of their supporters are located. What appeared to start out as a noble gesture on the part of the Democrats to provide equal access to all voters in the county for early voting turned out to be nothing more than an effort to provide greater access to predominately Democrat voters while at the same time making it harder for Republican and Independent voters to get to the polls and cast their ballots.

WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON HERE?

OK, so the preceding section had more than just a few comments and they may have been just a little biased. Sorry, but when it comes to protecting the rights of the voters, I get a little carried away.

I wonder if I am the only person who finds it curious that at the March 10th meeting both White and Sullivan appeared to support the proposed resolution, but three days later vehemently opposed it. Did they check with their “boss” and receive instructions to kill early voting in Ohio Township at all costs? The Democrats Jekyll and Hyde rhetoric regarding satellite offices indicates that, to the Democrats, this is not a fundamental issue of fairness as they initially claimed, but is purely an attempt to disenfranchise voters they feel will not support their candidates in 2010. Voter dissatisfaction with the Democrat agenda appears to be at an all time high and the Democrats appear to be in a position to lose a significant number of seats in the Indiana House of Representatives, including three hotly contested seats in Warrick County. The Democrats have already tried without success to remove Sue Ellspermann from the ballot to ensure that incumbent Russ Stillwell retains his seat in District 74. Now, this effort to block satellite offices appears to be aimed at preventing voters in Ohio Township from coming to the polls and supporting Cheryl Musgrave in her bid to unseat Gail Riecken in House District 77.

Rest assured that the Warrick County Republican Party will continue with its efforts to insure that the voters of Warrick County, regardless of political affiliation, are not disenfranchised by the efforts of the Democrat leadership. We are presently reviewing our options in response to the Democrats attempts to block early voting in all parts of the County except in Boonville. We, the voters of Warrick County, can send a message to the Democrats that we won’t tolerate their interference with our right to vote by turning each and every one of them out of office in November.

2010-03-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

VOTER ACCESS UNDER ATTACK!

At Thursday's meeting of the Warrick County Election Board, Democrat board member Dennis Sullivan made a statement that he had no intentions of supporting the continued use of the satellite voting location at the Ohio Township Public Library for early, absentee-in-person voting for the 2010 election. Demcrat chairman Terry White also made statements to this effect in a number of communications with Warrick County Clerk Sarah Topper. Because a unanimous vote of the Election Board is required by law to approve the use of a Satellite Office, it appears that the 26,000 plus voters in Ohio Township will be denied the access to polls that was extended to them in 2008.

Sullivan's stated reason for his refusal was that it would be unfair to voters in other parts of the county if a satellite office were provided in Newburgh, and not in all other parts of the county, namely Lynnville, Tennyson, Elberfeld, Chandler and Boonville. However, early voting is already available at the Clerk's Office in Boonville, and the days and hours for voting there far exceed those available at the satellite office. While satellite offices in all communities in Warrick County appears to be a good idea on its face, cost is a significant factor. While it makes sense to provide a satellite office in an area surrounded by 26,000 of the county's registered voters, it doesn't make sense to spend the same money to provide an office in a location where only a few hundred voters reside.

The Democrats' refusal to allow absentee-in-person voting at the Ohio Township Library is a complete reversal of policies instituted under former Democrat Clerk Shannon Weisheit. The satellite office in Ohio Township was designed to expand access to all voters in Warrick County, regardless of political party affiliation. The fact that Warrick County had a 300% increase in absentee voting in 2008 as compared to 2006 is a clear indication that the citizens of Warrick County want this office to remain open. The Warrick County Republican Party supports efforts to offer satellite voting in Ohio Township in 2010 to provide greater access to all voters.

Sullivan's failure to support the Ohio Township satellite office is a blatant, partisan political attempt to deny access to voters that he and chairman Terry White perceives to be Republican. In fact, according to a Political Party Statistics Report generated by the Warrick County Clerk's Office, the largest group affected by this action would be non-partisan voters, followed by Democrats and then Republicans. Under the Democrats plan to close the Ohio Township satellite office, efforts to expand the democratic process by allowing more voters to participate in elections would be seriously jeopardized.

On Wednesday, March 10 at 4:00pm in the Commissioner's Meeting Room in Boonville, the Election Board will reconvene to take a formal vote on whether to keep democracy, and the satellite office, alive, or revert to a system where voter access to the polls was limited. I encourage anyone affected by this decision to come to the meeting and voice your support for democracy.

Rick Martin