Finally, a glimmer of good news at the Lucas County Board of Elections. The BOE, hijacked and compromised by the erratic and volatile actions of its “Republican” side, should soon see the return of Jim Ruvolo.

Ruvolo, a former chairman of the Lucas County Democratic Party with six years of BOE experience, should quickly find his nomination approved by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.

Ruvolo is a savvy choice to wade into the BOE mess, a political and personal upheaval laughingly characterized by warpath “Republicans” Jon Stainbrook and sidekick Anthony DeGidio as a “housecleaning.”

Ruvolo is tenacious, to the point where some critics describe him in unpleasant anatomical terms. But his longstanding reputation for standing up for what he believes is right will serve him well as he strives to counter the scorched earth tactics that are paralyzing the BOE with a major primary just weeks away.

A longtime political consultant, Ruvolo worked for the Clinton and Gore campaigns and co-chaired the Rules Committee at the 1992 Democratic National Convention. He has led the county and state Democratic parties and will bring a great degree of political savvy to the BOE morass.

“Jim Ruvolo is an experienced member of [the BOE], as well as someone who has been involved in elections for over 30 years throughout the United States,” said Ron Rothenbuhler, chairman of the Lucas County Democratic Party and BOE member, in a news release. “I’m confident that he will fight with me to block Republican attempts to prevent citizens from losing their right to vote.”

We’ll assume Rothenbuhler’s choice of the word “block” is pure coincidence.

We won’t often agree with his politics, but we respect Ruvolo and are cautiously optimistic about his ability to neutralize the rancor and counterproductive game-playing that characterizes the current incarnation of the BOE.

Ruvolo may not be a new sheriff in town, but he rides tall in the saddle and represents a fighting chance to settle the BOE dust storm.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

Tags: Anthony DeGidio, Jim Ruvolo, Jon Stainbrook, Lucas County Board of Elections, Publisher's Statement, Tom Pounds

This entry was posted on Friday, September 2nd, 2011 at 12:00 am and is filed under Opinion, Publisher's Statement.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.