The "white" streak continues in the appointments made by Republican Gov. John Kasich. The Dispatch reports that Kasich made five appointments to the State Board of Education. A picture on the Dispatch website reveals that all five appointees are white. Of course, Kasich will once again say that these are the "best qualified people" in the state. Really?
Dispatch:
Kasich's appointments include a lawyer who served in the U.S. Department of Education during the George W. Bush administration, a former board member, a former schools superintendent and two local school-board members.
They are:
• C. Todd Jones of New Albany, who formerly served in the federal education agency and is now president and general counsel for the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio.
• Tess Elshoff of New Knoxville, who until recently served on the New Knoxville Local Board of Education.
• Joseph L. Farmer of Baltimore, a member of the Liberty Union-Thurston Local Board of Education since 1992 and a Columbus-based manager for Delta Airlines.
• Thomas W. Gunlock of Centerville, who was appointed to the board in 2006 by then-Gov. Bob Taft, but later lost election to keep the seat.
• Dennis Shelton of Delaware, a consultant to Springfield City Schools who earlier was superintendent of Triad Local Schools and Caldwell Exempted Village Schools.
Joining them will be three new members elected in November: Kathleen McGervey of Avon, Jeffrey Mims of Dayton and Debe Terhar of Cincinnati.
All eight were sworn into office yesterday by state Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown.....
Who are these people? Here is a sampling----
- C. Todd Jones worked in the Bush administration.
- Tess Elshoff has been active member of the Republican Party of Auglaize County and served as that county's central Republican chairperson, according to the Evening Leader.
- Thomas Gunlock is part of the RG Properties company. The Gunlock family are major, major contributors to the Ohio Republican Party and candidates (see Ohio Secretary of State campaign finance).
Seems as though their two main qualifications for these jobs were their allegiance to the Ohio Republican Party and being a member of the white race. If 15% of Ohio's population is non-white, why hasn't Kasich reflected that in his appointments.
