7 ms·

I'm not a lawyer... but... You sue the town for violating state law. The town either settles, or you go to court, and if you win, the court compels them to co

by kelp 5y ago

I'm not a lawyer... but... You sue the town for violating state law. The town either settles, or you go to court, and if you win, the court compels them to comply with the law, and the town probably has to cover legal fees.

f0e4c2f7 5y ago
If I remember right this happened to Michael Moore early in his life when he ran for local school board or something.
- alasdair_ 5y ago
  Moore’s story is kind of funny. He was still in high school and was sick of the principal. He had also just turned 18. So he went door to door to all the stoner kids, skateboarders and other young adults that also disliked the principal and got them sogned up to vote him in as a bloc. Then the older, more conservative types got wind of it and ended up fielding three candidates, all of whom split the vote allowing Moore to win. So in the end, he spent his last months of high school being the principal’s boss and being called “sir” instead of being yelled at for having his shirt untucked again.
csee 5y ago
So no accountability for the corrupt officeholders? Just the taxpayers have to foot the legal bill?
- MatthewWilkes 5y ago
  I believe that one of the responsibilities of the board of auditors is hearing complaints against officeholders for waste of public funds.
- johnebgd 5y ago
  Isn’t government grand?
  - xadhominemx 5y ago
    If a DA or States Attorney thinks they broke the law, they could be prosecuted, just like anyone else
- infamouscow 5y ago
  Yes. The taxpayers can elect new officeholders.
  - slenk 5y ago
    They tried.
- hiptobecubic 5y ago
  In theory, if the town cares about money, this will lead to the people in charge losing the next election. In practice I'm sure this is mostly just people who do almost nothing for anyone collecting tax dollars for themselves with no consequences. That's what the auditors are supposed to be for, after all.
- sgjohnson 5y ago
  Which is probably exactly why a Libertarian got elected. It’s rare for a libertarian to get elected, even more so in a write-in scenario.
  - shadowgovt 5y ago
    It was an off-season election (i.e. no Congress people or presidents up for election), which usually have an order of magnitude smaller turnout. That's the best opportunity for a dedicated candidate to rally enough support to get elected even if they aren't one of the two major parties, especially to a relatively small potatoes office like this.
  - throwawaygh 5y ago
    - fallingknife 5y ago
      It doesn't matter how many votes he got, only that he won. Would hardly call refusing to seat an elected official a "molehill."
      - mannykannot 5y ago
        I agree - though if it is just a few local officials acting foolishly, and who will soon be put in their place, then there's nothing much to worry about. Society can handle a few dummies acting in character. If, on the other hand, it was happening more broadly - say, for example, a national election, with officials at the highest level of government acting in this way - then there would be much greater cause for concern.
      - throwawaygh 5y ago
        And where did they refuse? It's a dumbass game of telephone. Idiocracy incarnate.
    - jkaplowitz 5y ago
      Honestly, refusing to allow any duly elected official to be sworn into office and do their job as specified by law, whatever it is, is far more mountain than molehill regardless of the nature of the job or the qualifications of the person elected. You are of course right that a CPA is a better choice for auditor than a non-accountant. But that's either an argument to the state legislature to change how the position is chosen (e.g. making it an appointment with professional qualification requirements) or an argument to the voters to elect a CPA (assuming one chooses to run). It's not an argument to flout the system as designed by duly elected legislators and illegitimately shove aside the candidate duly elected by the voters.
- floatingatoll 5y ago
  If convicted of conspiring to obstruction or some such phrasing, they might be ineligible for office.
cormacrelf 5y ago
I'm not convinced you could agree to settle such an application for money. Agreeing to discontinue an application for mandamus (the kind of court order you're referring to) that was to bless you with public power and impose upon you duties you were elected to carry out in exchange for money is roughly as corrupt as trying to prevent this guy from taking office in the first place, and may well be illegal. But "the town settles" in a broader sense of "agrees to stand down and swear you in", yes. Also nitpick, you would sue the individual members of the Board in their official capacity.
- kelp 5y ago
  Yeah I didn’t mean settle for money. I mean the town agrees to follow the law.

by kelp 5y ago

f0e4c2f7 5y ago

If I remember right this happened to Michael Moore early in his life when he ran for local school board or something.

alasdair_ 5y ago
Moore’s story is kind of funny. He was still in high school and was sick of the principal. He had also just turned 18. So he went door to door to all the stoner kids, skateboarders and other young adults that also disliked the principal and got them sogned up to vote him in as a bloc. Then the older, more conservative types got wind of it and ended up fielding three candidates, all of whom split the vote allowing Moore to win. So in the end, he spent his last months of high school being the principal’s boss and being called “sir” instead of being yelled at for having his shirt untucked again.

csee 5y ago

So no accountability for the corrupt officeholders? Just the taxpayers have to foot the legal bill?

MatthewWilkes 5y ago
I believe that one of the responsibilities of the board of auditors is hearing complaints against officeholders for waste of public funds.
johnebgd 5y ago
Isn’t government grand?
- xadhominemx 5y ago
  If a DA or States Attorney thinks they broke the law, they could be prosecuted, just like anyone else
infamouscow 5y ago
Yes. The taxpayers can elect new officeholders.
- slenk 5y ago
  They tried.
hiptobecubic 5y ago
In theory, if the town cares about money, this will lead to the people in charge losing the next election. In practice I'm sure this is mostly just people who do almost nothing for anyone collecting tax dollars for themselves with no consequences. That's what the auditors are supposed to be for, after all.
sgjohnson 5y ago
Which is probably exactly why a Libertarian got elected. It’s rare for a libertarian to get elected, even more so in a write-in scenario.
- shadowgovt 5y ago
  It was an off-season election (i.e. no Congress people or presidents up for election), which usually have an order of magnitude smaller turnout. That's the best opportunity for a dedicated candidate to rally enough support to get elected even if they aren't one of the two major parties, especially to a relatively small potatoes office like this.
- throwawaygh 5y ago
  - fallingknife 5y ago
    It doesn't matter how many votes he got, only that he won. Would hardly call refusing to seat an elected official a "molehill."
    - mannykannot 5y ago
      I agree - though if it is just a few local officials acting foolishly, and who will soon be put in their place, then there's nothing much to worry about. Society can handle a few dummies acting in character. If, on the other hand, it was happening more broadly - say, for example, a national election, with officials at the highest level of government acting in this way - then there would be much greater cause for concern.
    - throwawaygh 5y ago
      And where did they refuse? It's a dumbass game of telephone. Idiocracy incarnate.
  - jkaplowitz 5y ago
    Honestly, refusing to allow any duly elected official to be sworn into office and do their job as specified by law, whatever it is, is far more mountain than molehill regardless of the nature of the job or the qualifications of the person elected. You are of course right that a CPA is a better choice for auditor than a non-accountant. But that's either an argument to the state legislature to change how the position is chosen (e.g. making it an appointment with professional qualification requirements) or an argument to the voters to elect a CPA (assuming one chooses to run). It's not an argument to flout the system as designed by duly elected legislators and illegitimately shove aside the candidate duly elected by the voters.
floatingatoll 5y ago
If convicted of conspiring to obstruction or some such phrasing, they might be ineligible for office.

cormacrelf 5y ago

I'm not convinced you could agree to settle such an application for money. Agreeing to discontinue an application for mandamus (the kind of court order you're referring to) that was to bless you with public power and impose upon you duties you were elected to carry out in exchange for money is roughly as corrupt as trying to prevent this guy from taking office in the first place, and may well be illegal. But "the town settles" in a broader sense of "agrees to stand down and swear you in", yes. Also nitpick, you would sue the individual members of the Board in their official capacity.

kelp 5y ago
Yeah I didn’t mean settle for money. I mean the town agrees to follow the law.