Another Chance to Do the Public Defender Selection Right
The Bar Association hasn’t given up trying to convince the GOP-ers in the County Leg that they should go back to the proven method of selecting the PD. You know, the one that worked in ‘73, ‘74, and in ‘77 produced Ed Nowak, who served with distinction for 30 years. From the D&C today:
The Monroe County Bar Association has renewed its offer to help the Monroe County Legislature select a new public defender in a way that would be impartial and free of political influence.
In a letter sent Friday to County Legislature President Wayne Zyra, four Bar Association members cited a 1973 report commissioned by the legislature that emphasized the need to “eliminate all political considerations, including party affiliations, contributions and influence from selection of the public defender and from recruitment and employment practices, and require that merit be the sole criteria for employment.”
Why did Zyra (R) feel the need to change the recipe when it worked so well in the past? I haven’t heard a real answer yet, have you?
I admire the Bar Association’s optimism, in that they still believe the Monroe County GOP will listen. I wish I still had that faith that they’d put people over party, and listen, but their actions have shown, time and again, a complete unwillingness to listen to people. (Unless those people run the county party or are big donors to it.)
Remember when Nowak retired last fall? Zyra couldn’t wait to get the selection done and get the GOP’s guy in there, by year end if possible. Now all of a sudden he’s talking February. Why? I believe the hope is that people will calm down and forget all about it. You can prove them wrong by attending a public forum about the crappy selection process:
7 p.m. Thursday.
Aenon Baptist Church, 175 Genesee St.
Why change a winning recipe? Remember, that’s the key question here. All the other stuff is B.S. meant to confuse the issue. If it ain’t broke…
Related posts:
[...] mentioned earlier that the Monroe County Public Defender Coalition would be holding a meeting last night about the PD [...]