GOP challenge to Knuth candidacy tossed

“I know it’s going to depress Mr. Shine that they are going to have to win the race in the ballot box rather than on a technicality” - Kevin Knuth

The Allen County Election Board speedily dismissed ACRP Chair Steve Shine’s challenge of rival Democrat Kevin Knuth’s candidacy for the Allen County Council. Speedily, as in within hours of Shines filing on Monday morning.

Shine claimed that Knuth’s appointment "wasn’t valid because of missing paperwork in the filing as it didn’t include a copy of an authorization form granting Democratic Chairman Mike Bynum the authority to fill ballot vacancies":

State law allows party caucuses to fill ballot vacancies if nobody files for an office, or the party precinct officials can grant that authority to the chairman so a caucus is not necessary. The deadline to fill vacancies was last week. Knuth’s filing for one of the party’s council vacancies did not include a copy of that authorization.

Shine said this means either Bynum was never given authorization or the paperwork was filed incorrectly, but the election board disagreed.

Though the form says a copy must be attached to each filing, the election board’s past practice has allowed chairs to file one omnibus letter to cover all filings in a year, according to Andy Downs, Democratic board member. Downs said Monday afternoon the letter was properly filed for Bynum and the board will not meet to discuss Shine’s complaint. Instead, it will send a letter to Shine explaining the situation.

Perhaps Shine, pictured here after his disappointment, should pay more attention to his daily regimen than to the affairs of those who continually best him. . .

Changing of the Guard

In approximately 11 hours, the leadership of the Allen County Democratic Party will pass from Kevin Knuth to Mike Bynum. As noted in my previous post, I am very happy that Mike has stepped up to fill this position; his qualifications are impeccable and I believe in his leadership and his future guidance of the party. This post, however, is directed towards the past, Kevin Knuth, and where he has led us.

In a local newspaper article, Kevin stated that his style differs from Mike's - that he's more of the "kick down the door type" while Mike is more of a consensus builder. I'm all for pulling together, but I, for one, will miss the pitbull that Kevin was in the local media. Kevin gave no rest to the opposition; calling them out on everything he could find. THEY will not miss you; the rest of us will!

Every time that I read a blog post or media story regarding "why does the ACDP Chair spend so much time "attacking" the local GOP" I was filled with pride that you were digging up the dirt that was so easy to find, yet so unexpected from a local party who felt that they were safe from any repercussions from their actions. You alone have brought accountability to the ACRP - whether or not they learn the lesson is up to them.

Kevin (and Brenda) - We thank your for your hard work to move our party forward! Indeed, the Allen County Democratic Party has replaced the Shine Machine as Indiana's Premiere Political Party!

Alleged Illegal GOP Caucus Didn't Happen

Allen County Democratic Party Chairman Kevin Knuth reports that the Republican Party held a possibly illegal caucus at councilman Don Schmidt's house in 2007 to discuss the city's upcoming budget vote:

It has been reported to me that all the Republican members of City Council met at Don Schmidt's home to discuss the proposed budget. This would be a legal caucus....except they were joined by Council Legislative Affairs Administrator Molly McCray and one of the City Council attorneys. These folks are paid with TAXPAYER dollars and should not be considered part of a POLITICAL caucus.

Since a majority of the council was at this meeting, and since it may not be qualified as a caucus, and since they discussed the city budget, it is unclear to me if they budget we now have is legal or not.

I'm not sure who Knuth's source is but former councilman Sam Talarico has informed me that he was at no such meeting and hasn't been to Schmidt's house in five years. I also contacted Molly McCray and asked her to confirm this and she told me she has no knowledge of any such meeting taking place. I've also been told that council attorney Joe Bonahoom was not at any such meeting either. So if this meeting did take place it sounds like it was in fact a legal caucus and we have a legal budget...

2007 ACDP Holiday Party

Kevin "Rudolph" Knuth helps the kids break open the pinata at the 2007 Democratic holiday party:

Kevin Knuth Steps Down as Democratic Party Chair

Kevin Knuth has officially stepped down as Democratic Party Chairman but will remain in the position until the official caucus on Jan 12, 2008. I just spoke with him and he cited the extraordinary time commitment required as his reason for stepping down:

I don't think people realize the time commitment involved. It was either this or my job and I'm not going to quit my day job or my family.

Knuth added that a few people had shown interest in the position but he didn't want to mention any names until they decided to step forward themselves. I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank Kevin for all his hard work and success as chairman and wish him well in the future. I only hope the party chooses an equally capable replacement...

Kevin Knuth Needs To Finish His Term For The Party's Sake

Allen County Democratic Party Chairman Kevin Knuth is strongly considering stepping down as chairman at the end of this year despite having one year left on his term. Knuth has been an excellent chairman and the party is starting to turn the corner here in Allen County. However, the Democrats still need Knuth's leadership and energy to continue the progress made over the last couple of election cycles.

In my opinion there is no organized structure in place to keep the party moving forward in the event Knuth steps down as the local Democratic party has been successful because of strong central leadership. The problem with that business model is that once the leadership is no longer in place things begin to crumble. Typically the way to handle this type of situation is to use a transition plan to ease the new leadership into place while they build experience and credibility.

A strong centralized leader must recognize this and plan accordingly. If Knuth decides to step down this quickly then that transition plan will not be in place and the party will surely suffer because of it. I can only imagine the time commitment being a party chairman must involve and the stress it must put on one's family. However, if at all possible, I would strongly urge Knuth to stick around one more year to ensure a smooth transition in the leadership. Knuth has done a great job and it would be a shame to see the party take a step backwards at this point in time...

Election Night Interview with Kevin Knuth

Allen County Democratic Chairman Kevin Knuth had a lot to celebrate last night and we snagged him for a couple of minutes to do an interview. We asked him about the performance of Karen Goldner, Joe Fox and himself...


Kevin Knuth from FWL on Vimeo.

Knuth to Step Down in 2009?

Say it ain't so Kevin. I think most people would agree that Knuth has done a good job as the Democratic party chairman and I was surprised to read that he will not seek another term:

I can’t think of too many good reasons to want to be chair,” he said.

In fact, Knuth said he won’t be seeking re-election after his term expires at the end of 2009. Knuth said he is the fifth Democratic chair to serve during Shine’s tenure.

So fill us in Kevin. Why the plans to step down?