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CA: Shelley's screwups (ShmelleyGate)
SFGate.com ^ | 12/20/04 | Op/Ed - SF Chron.

Posted on 12/20/2004 10:13:57 AM PST by NormsRevenge

IN BASEBALL, it's three strikes and you're out. Secretary of State Kevin Shelley must be hoping California politics is more forgiving.

He's already at the center of federal grand jury proceedings into improper political donations, first made public by The Chronicle. In a second inquiry by the state Personnel Board, he's pictured as the boss from hell by a string of former workers who've talked about his tirades and off-color remarks.

Now comes a third hit, a withering state audit that says his office bungled the task of modernizing election procedures and spent money on partisan chores.

The latest charges are as damning as the others. They go to the heart of what Shelley was elected to do: update and run state elections competently.

The report was blistering: Shelley's office spent money without authority, competitive bidding or promptness. Washington money available to California to purchase new vote-counting equipment went untapped.

The audit also noted a political bent to the office work. Employees were sent to scope out political functions. A law firm hired to investigate a vote- machine contract also wrote speeches for Shelley.

Shelley's response showed penitence. His office could be doing a better job and mistakes were made during a busy year that featured an out-of-the-blue gubernatorial recall, he said. After a long period of near-silence about the scandals engulfing his tenure, he now at least offers a note of apology.

But his damage-control language can't conceal a lengthening list of serious mistakes. California voters, who felt disappointed before, should feel ripped off now.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: calgov2002; california; hava; screwups; shelley; shmelleygate

1 posted on 12/20/2004 10:13:58 AM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

Surely this guy is just doing what all Democrat public officials do -- why is he being singled out?


2 posted on 12/20/2004 11:08:56 AM PST by expatpat
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To: expatpat; NormsRevenge

"Surely this guy is just doing what all Democrat public officials do -- why is he being singled out?"

Zig Ziglar said it best, when he said how goal setting is like bird hunting: "You don't shoot for the flock, you shoot for the individual bird."

Shelley is a sitting duck/turkey/chicken/tool of the Liberals on this...it's time to thin the flock....


3 posted on 12/20/2004 11:55:16 AM PST by The Spirit Of Allegiance (REMEMBER THE ALGOREAMO--relentlessly hammer on the TRUTH, like the Dems demand recounts)
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