More Public Defender questions
As I was walking through the crowd inside the legislature public gallery on Saturday I asked a few folks what they thought. One of them said he didn’t understand why the Republicans were doing this because it doesn’t make sense. That got me thinking.
Why is the County GOP so hell bent on enforcing their process and not heeding the calls to follow the community based process?
I mean there has to be a reason.
Then a sidebar titled what’s at stake caught my eye. it was part of a D&C article on Sunday
Public confidence in the Monroe County Legislature and its appointment of a public defender, whose office provides legal representation to people who have been charged with crimes but cannot afford attorneys. The public defender oversees a department of about 85 people and a budget of $7.5 million.
There must be some payoff to compensate for the risk. What are they risking? Well, fresh on heels of the unFAIR plan, an election where there is a single seat difference between Democratic or Republican Control, endless bad press about large projects like the RenSquare - what is the motivation for the GOP to not bend and follow the previous process for selecting a Public defender.
I don’t know but there are a lot of smart people in our community. Any ideas?
We know they are getting bad press, fodder for upcoming Democratic campaign commercials, a reason for Democrats to become motivated. We know it is a two year appointment. If the current appointee does not work out, and by that, I simply mean is not viewed favorably by the legislature, at some point the legislature will turn and the Public Defender selected now may not be reselected 2 years hence.
How do the GOP or specific individuals benefit?
Let’s start with control of a 7.5 million dollar budget and 85 people. Could this potentially become a spring board for further office? A place to groom future office holders? I’m sure most of the $7.5 million dollars is salaries but I’m sure there are some contracts (copying, building lease, research, whatever) that could be redirected.
Then there is Mr Donaher. This is the same Mr Donaher who in December was predicted to get the job by Minister Ray Scott and the MC Bar Association. How much did Mr Donaher contribute? Whose vast majority of ~$4,000 in political contributions went to Republicans over the past two years. How much does a Public Defender make anyway? Last year Mr Donaher contributed $2,258. I looked for Rizzo and Paperno (the other candidates) and didn’t see any contributions.
Nothing wrong with contributions and until we get Clean Money Clean Elections off the ground we will have to deal with donations. Still these donations - spread across the local GOP spectrum means party involvement, visibility and access for the donor.
Is there a benefit to ignoring community leaders or the Monroe County Bar Association? Potentially further marginalizing these groups? We know the minority Dems are marginalized.
So, your thoughts and comments below.
Who benefits, how and why?
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My guess is that the office employs a lot of people and that Minarik wants to use these jobs to reward supporters. You know, so that every idiot nephew of a big donor can get a job there after he shows up drunk for his shift at Wegman’s one too many times.
I’m sure its more than just patronage. Who does the public defender’s office help? Poor people, that’s who. People who are often dark-skinned, and/or speak a different language, and/or aren’t good Christians. As ladkiddo (with a lower case L) pointed out, one thing the Rethuglicans do with a program they don’t particularly like is to eviscerate it. They leave the program in place (they are legally required to do so), but they make the program extremely ineffective. So, those people who need a public defender and are in a category the Rethuglicans don’t like, will see longer waits to get an attorney, and will see less work done by those attorneys. After all, the Rehtuglicans can’t have “those people†winning court cases and defending themselves against (trumped-up?) charges. Mark my words, come back in 2 years and see how much of this has happened.