Democrats Suspend Her Power To Hire, Fire
by John Wilson
posted March 29, 2005
) Photo by Wes Schultz Attorney Jerry Summers and Commissioner Linda Johnson listen to Commission Chairman Tyrone Waller. Click to enlarge. |
Ms. Dzik’s attorney, Bill Ortwein, was among those in the audience.
Jerry Summers, the election office attorney who has spoken in support of Ms. Dzik, said he had heard reports of a possible firing.
Tyrone Waller, commission chairman, who has expressed his unhappiness with Ms. Dzik, said no dismissal was planned.
But he asked the commission to consider passing a resolution that no one in the office could be hired or fired until new election commissioners are named soon by the state Legislature.
Mike Walden, a Republican commissioner who has backed Ms. Dzik, said he felt such a resolution was not necessary. Democrats voted 3-1 for the resolution.
Mr. Walden said the election office was over $200,000 over budget under
former administrator Carolyn Jackson, but has been over $600,000 under budget with Ms. Dzik in office.
Mr. Walden has asked the state election coordinator for a ruling on whether the relative of an election commissioner can work in the office. Laura Woods, daughter of commissioner Linda Johnson, works in the office.
Ms. Dzik and Commissioner Johnson apparently got an odds after Ms. Dzik said she found Ms. Woods improperly used the Internet.
Floyd Kilpatrick, president of the Chattanooga Chapter of Operation PUSH, wrote this letter to election commissioners:
Recently a great deal of concern has been focused on the Election Commission and its failure to adhere to County Policy and state election laws here in Hamilton County. Articles have been written and stories published about the operation of the Election Commission that raises substantial doubt about the legalities of the actions taken by the chief administrative officer of the Hamilton County Election Commission and possibly the integrity of the electoral process in Hamilton County.
On January 16, 2003 The Chattanooga Chapter of Operation PUSH, the Democratic Black Caucus of Precinct Chairs and the Community Coalition of Registered Voters requested that the State Registrar of Elections of the Tennessee Election Commission conduct an investigation into the operation and administration of the Hamilton County Election Commission with regards to the following concerns :
The administrator of elections for the Hamilton County Election Commission failed to adhere to TCA 2-12-201(a)(1) by allowing for the continued employment and promotion of the daughter of an election commissioner. Laura Woods, Caucasian, was promoted to the position of Office Manager on November 7, 02 after the publication of two articles by Robin Smith, Chairperson of the Hamilton County Republican party, on December 28, 01 and again on April 24, 02 complaining that a Hamilton County Election Commissioner is employed by an elected official in violation of TCA 2-1-112(a) and has a daughter currently employed by the commission.
Upon information and belief, the Hamilton County Election Commission failed to adhere to TCA 2-6-202 relative to absentee voting resulting in multiple counts of voter fraud through use of fax machine voting and possibly multiple illegal vote casting through use of the absentee ballot mechanism.
Today Commissioner Mike Walden, in an apparent in-house dispute among commissioners, claims that the Commission panel has ignored violations of state law and further seeks an opinion relative to the Administrator’s scope of authority with regards to personnel and budget matters.
However, when the issues of the seating of Election Commissioner Johnson, her daughter’s employment with the Commission, and Administrator’s scope of authority relative to voter fraud was submitted to the Election Commission two years ago, Mr. Walden, as well as the Commission, was painfully silent.
On April 12, 2005 the voters of the City of Chattanooga will elect their next Mayor. A shake-up in the Election Commission could cause serious damage to the upcoming run-off election and adversely impact voter’s confidence and the outcome of that contest.
For two years now Mrs. Johnson has served on the Election Commission and has acted with dignity and professional propriety. If the Hamilton County Election Commission can go for two years without voicing any concern regarding Mrs. Johnson’s appointment and seating on the Election Commission then they should, out of an abundance of caution, allow Mrs. Johnson to continue to serve the voters of Hamilton County until after the certification of upcoming run-off election to determine the next Mayor of the City of Chattanooga.
) Photo by Wes Schultz Election Commission meeting drew larger crowd than usual. |
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