ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.
It wasn’t long ago that I wrote about the rigging of political power in neighboring Barry County that became an art form in days gone by. Yet I have to confess that it seems they all play games to stay in power simply because we unwashed and unaware masses let them.
Barry County had a nasty habit of anointing rather than appointing elected officials, taking advantage of apathy.
The game went like this:
• County Clerk Nancy Boersma retired midway into her last four-year term and her deputy, Deb Smith was appointed to succeed her. Smith then ran for election a couple of years later as an incumbent.
• County Sheriff David Wood retired midway into his last term and Steve DeBoer was appointed his successor. So DeBoer was the incumbent Republican in the 1996 election.
• County Treasurer Juanita Yarger retired midway into her last term and Sue Vandecar was appointed her successor, thereby giving her the incumbent’s advantage in the next election.
• County Register of Deeds Sandy Schondelmayer resigned his job before his his last term was up and Darla Burghdoff was appointed his successor. Of course, she was the incumbent and winner in the next election.
• County Drain Commissioner Robert Shaffer stepped down before the completion of his last term and his successor, Tom Doyle was appointed. You know the rest of the story.
• County Prosecutor Dale Crowley resigned before his term was up and Gordon Shane McNeill was his appointed successor and incumbent in the following election.
At one point, only one of the seven county elected officials, Surveyor Brian Reynolds, was the only one of the gang who had been elected to his first full term.
This unpleasant data showed a system in which those in power stayed in power and even some of them chose their successors. The key ingredient is that incumbent Republicans almost always win and that’s how the system gets gamed.
But Democrats appear to be guilty of this shameful power grab as well. Judge William Baillargeon has announced he’ll step down in August, even though his term has not been completed. Baillargeon was appointed in 2007 by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm. His successor will be appointed by current Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Of course, this kind of rigging also was part of the reason President Donald Trump was allowed to have the successor to Antonin Scalia selected to the Supreme Court instead of Barack Obama and then ignored the same logic to sneak in Amy Coney Barrett just after Ruth Bader Ginsberg died.
Democrats’ feeble cries of “no fair!” went absolutely nowhere.
So the old revolving door of political cronies seems to have crept into politics closer to home. I’ve seen this dog and pony show before. It’s very manufactured and has little, if anything, to do with fairness, competence and the elusive “will of the people.”
