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No endorsement for recorder

Columbiana County Recorder Theresa Bosel is being opposed in her re-election bid by Madison Township Fiscal Officer Tiffany Chetock.

After conducting endorsement interviews with both candidates, the Morning Journal editorial board faced a difficult decision.

We were among Bosel’s biggest critics during her first year in office. She frequently asked commissioners for more money and seemed as though she was constantly seeking their guidance on how to run her office. We chastised her editorially when her failure to comply with the open records law resulted in a lawsuit which cost the county money.

Chetock also took Bosel to task over this same issue, but we believed Bosel had learned from this incident. After a rocky start, Bosel seemed as if she had turned things around and appeared to be doing a good job as recorder.

That was before we learned that Columbiana County Democratic Party Chairman Nick Barborak had filed several public records requests recently and had them denied, at least initially, by Bosel.

Bosel denied Barborak’s requests on the grounds that they were “ambiguous and overly broad,” which is a valid reason for denial, and told him he needed to be more specific. But then she called the requests “politically motivated,” once again calling into question the records requester’s motives. Of course it was politically motivated — after all, it was filed just weeks before the election by her opponent’s party chairman — but that should have no bearing on whether it is a legitimate request. Then Bosel stepped over the line even further by suggesting that Barborak was “stalking” her.

By this time in her term as recorder and because of the two lawsuits that the county suffered over her records denials, Bosel should be well-versed in Ohio’s open records law and how to handle such requests in a professional manner. She should have also realized the possible political ramifications of mishandling this request and proceeded with caution. If she had any doubts about the legality of the requests she could have sought the advice of the county prosecutor’s office, which is why we are puzzled by how she handled this latest request. Bosel turned something that should have been routine into a political issue.

Her opponent spent most of her time with the editorial board criticizing Bosel’s performance while offering no concrete plans for actually improving the office. Because Chetock used her interview time to pick apart her opponent rather than trying to convince us that she would do a better job, we do not feel comfortable with endorsing her either at this point.

Therefore, the Morning Journal editorial board will not be endorsing a candidate in the race for county recorder.

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