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Polivka cannot serve, attorney general says
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Despite an Ohio Ethics Commission opinion stating that Trumbull County Commissioner Dan Polivka can serve as a Trumbull County Board of Elections member for about nine months this year, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has rejected the idea.
In a letter to Polivka last week, Husted said he believes the positions of county commissioner and elections-board member are incompatible.
“As the attorney general explained, an individual holding the two positions simultaneously will face conflicts of interest while handling financial and budgetary matters,” said Husted, a Republican from Kettering and former two-term speaker of the Ohio House.
The letter mentioned that county commissioners approve the budget of the elections board, and elections-board members deliberate and vote regarding “whether to bring legal action against the county commissioners for additional appropriations.”
Husted noted that a 2006 attorney-general opinion said a county commissioner could serve on an elections board under limited circumstances, but “the term that you seek appointment to does not end until Feb. 29, 2012.”
Husted concludes the letter by saying he will ask the executive committee of the Trumbull County Democratic Party to recommend another person for the elections-board position.
Polivka, chairman of the county Democratic Party, could not be reached to comment on the letter.
The Ohio Ethics Commission had responded to Polivka’s request for clarification on the matter by saying Polivka could serve as both commissioner and elections-board member for a limited amount of time, but would have to abstain from voting or otherwise participating in matters that present a conflict of interest between the two positions.