by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Leave it to the Internet to start a rumor.
Rogers Towers attorney and former interim Supervisor of Elections Bill Scheu held a press conference Thursday afternoon in front of the Supervisor of Elections Office to dispel any rumors or allegations that he may have bent elections laws pertaining to the number of signatures the candidates needed to qualify for the special election held in early 2005 to replace John Stafford, who resigned several months earlier.
Scheu said he spent six months as interim supervisor and left the job feeling as though many of the issues created by the problems during the 2000 presidential elections had been resolved.
“When I left, the community was feeling good about the office. Morale was high and the employees were giving the office high marks,” said Scheu. “Today, there are cameras in the office to monitor employees and there is a bunker mentality. Confidence in the office is down.”
Scheu said a rumor about his tenure as interim supervisor was recently brought to his attention. Scheu says that rumor centers on former Supervisor of Elections candidate Lois Chepenik and the number of petitions she was required to submit in order to qualify to run. Scheu said the rumor was “abetted” by the Supervisor of Elections Office and that Chepenik was allowed to qualify with fewer than the required petitions because Chepenik was a “favored candidate” over former City Council members Faye Rustin and Jerry Holland, who went on to win the job.
“The Supervisor of Elections (Holland) says I violated the oath of the office by supporting a particular candidate,” said Scheu, who went on to cite state elections statutes pertaining to the percentage of petitions required to qualify. Scheu contends Chepenik qualified by petition on Nov. 19, 2004, three days before qualifying closed. “That was perfectly within the law. This rumor has been going around the city and in my opinion, that furthers the loss of confidence in this office. It’s not right for the Supervisor of Elections to put out such a rumor. I felt it was important to speak since I invested so much of my life in the office.”
Holland admits there are now cameras in the office, but they are there to assure the integrity of the voting system and the office from a physical standpoint. He compared the cameras to those at a bank.
“There are cameras in the bank to protect your money,” he said. “We think your vote is worth more than your money.”
Holland contends the petition rumor was started recently by an on-line blogger following a recent court decision regarding petition and financial qualifying requirements for local elections.
“I didn’t generate any information to the public,” he said. “I didn’t spread any rumors. My understanding is that someone saw something on a blog.”
Holland said he has consulted with the Office of General Counsel and doesn’t believe anyone violated any elections laws. He said the state and local laws differ on the number of petitions required to qualify for office.
“I still don’t feel that Bill and the office did anything wrong,” said Holland. “When people ask me about the office, the first thing I say is you (Bill) did an outstanding job of reaching out to the community and holding meetings at this office’s toughest point.”