Shouldn't these people be appointed instead?

[SGB]

We see them on our ballots every year at this time, and some just make us say "WTF?"

List positions on your ballots that you think shouldn't be elected, but rather appointed.

Here's my favorite today:

County Coroner. With all the science education and experience needed for this position, how the h#ll is the electorate supposed to know who is really capable of doing the job correctly? And just what - if any - role does party affiliation have to do with the ability to do the job correctly?

 

[Planderella]

I agree about the Coroner.....who really cares about that position anyway?

The Clerk of Court and the Recorder of Mortgages.......I bet 90% of the electorate don't even know what these two positions entail.

 

[Seabishop]

Yeah, it seems like a real waste of people's time and money to have elections for these positions.

 

[SkeLeton]

I'll ask the inverse question.. shouldn't these positions be elected rather than appointed?
-Regional Intendent (with the rest of the positions of regional development councils)
-Provincial Governor (with the rest of the positions of provincial councils)
But then again, please remember that we here in Chile use the Unitary system, rather than the Federal.
Oh and our city councils are the ones that couldn't get elected as mayor... (weird huh?)

 

[Repo Man]

Dog Catcher used to be elected in Milwaukee. We used to joke about running for that job after college.

County Register of Deeds. Why in the hell would you elect someone to this. After sitting in on one of his first meetings, I believe that the current Reg of Deeds here knew nothing about what the position was responsible for. He was just someone who felt like running for public office again.

County Clerk

County Sheriff

County Treasurer

 

[Big Easy King]

The Clerk of Court and the Recorder of Mortgages.......I bet 90% of the electorate don't even know what these two positions entail.

I agree 100%. Locally, I also think that the position of Assessor can also be taken off the ballot.

 

[Tranplanner]

We don't vote for any of those people - they're all appointed or treated just like "regular" jobs (an elected coroner?!).

Municipally elected:
School Board Trustee
Public Utilities Commisioner (only in some towns/cities)
Councillor
Mayor

Provincial:
Member of Parliament

Federal:
Member of Parliament

 

[Mastiff]

I agree 100%. Locally, I also think that the position of Assessor can also be taken off the ballot.

Not to mention County Treasurer...

 

[Dan]

I wonder ... why vote for county sheriff, when a city police cheif is a hired position? Same thing with a county clerk/recorder versus a city clerk/recorder. In New York towns, though, clerks are elected. New York cities and towns also elect comptrollers, which are the equivalent of municipal finance directors in other states.

In my parents' town (Amherst, New York), the highway superintendent is appointed by the town supervisor; that's the equivalent of the head of the public works department in any other city. If a new town supervisor is elected, a new highway superintendent is appointed.

The Amherst town supervisor, Susan Grelick, is one of four or five participants in a town blog!

The Buffalo area has an entranched Democratic political machine, and no nonpartisan local elections. You must have party packing to get on the local ballot. Many Democrats who don't have the backing of the machine change their party affiliation and run for office as Republicans, just so they can get on the ballot. Many change back after they're elected. There are also unusual political parties that, in my opinion, exist only so people can get on the local ballot; a typical elected position will have candidates from the Liberal, Conservative, and Right-to-Life parties as well as the Democrats and Republicans.

 

[JNA]

A Bit OT
Equally confussing is the state to state differences in job titles

these are same County job
NJ has Chosen Freeholders
KY has Judge Executive

 

[Planderella]

I agree 100%. Locally, I also think that the position of Assessor can also be taken off the ballot.

I don't know about that. If Assessor is made an appointed position, I think it will open the floodgates to more subjective property assessments, etc. That assessor may feel loyal towards the mayor/council who appointed him.

 

[Tranplanner]

I don't know about that. If Assessor is made an appointed position, I think it will open the floodgates to more subjective property assessments, etc. That assessor may feel loyal towards the mayor/council who appointed him.

How 'bout if the assessor was just another bureuacrat then?

 

[SGB]

How 'bout if the assessor was just another bureuacrat then?

A bureaucrat with training requirements and whose decisions were subject to a statutory appeal process sounds just fine to me!

BTW - if you own property and have yet to befriend an assessor, do so immediately. It makes appeals much easier if you understand the hows and whys of what they do.

 

[Planderella]

How 'bout if the assessor was just another bureuacrat then?

Considering the length of time many of the assessors here have been in office, they are already bureaucrats.

 

[Big Easy King]

I don't know about that. If Assessor is made an appointed position, I think it will open the floodgates to more subjective property assessments, etc. That assessor may feel loyal towards the mayor/council who appointed him.

That can be said for those who are appointed and elected. Subjectiveness comes into play no matter what office one holds, appointed or elected. That's why there is political corruptness.

 

[giff57]

I am surprised that assessors are elected anywhere, they are appointed in Iowa. I'm not sure how they would ever get re-elected.

 

[otterpop]

Off topic, but . . .

What I think we do need to vote on is Congressional pay raises. I see that in the last week or so the House and Senate have given themselves a payraise. That is a sweet deal.

Or if they want to vote themselves the pay raise, then tie it into raising the minimum wage by ten or fifteen cents as well. Of course they would not raise the minimum wage, but then they also would just have to get along on their measly $160,000 or whatever the going rate is.

 

[jordanb]

The Buffalo area has an entranched Democratic political machine, and no nonpartisan local elections. You must have party packing to get on the local ballot. Many Democrats who don't have the backing of the machine change their party affiliation and run for office as Republicans, just so they can get on the ballot.

It's the opposite here. Here, you have to be a democrat to get elected to political office (pretty much) so when elections were partisan, the democratic primary was where the most bitter fighting was, with the general election basically a certification of the results of the primary. There's a famous picture of Harold Washington holding a newspaper with the headline in huge bold letters, "It's Harold!". If you look at the small subheadline below it, it says "Harold Washington wins the democratic primary."