The split votes came at the conclusion of a four-hour continuation of the board’s annual reorganization meeting from the previous day, in which all four candidates for the director’s job were re-interviewed by all four board members.
In Ohio, each county’s elections office has a four-member voting board (two Democrats and two Republicans), and that board hires a director and a deputy director (one from each party) to run the day-to-day operations of the office.
Three Republicans and one Democrat were considered for Greene County’s director position. Each party can only nominate directors or deputy directors from their own party affiliation.
Huber, a Democrat, is the current acting director of the Board of Elections, and has served as the deputy director of the Greene County Board of Elections for just over a year. Smith, a Republican, served as Greene County’s Elections Director from 2005 to 2011, when he took a position in Florida.
“I think we had very good candidates, and I think they all have their strengths,” Republican board member Anita Swan said during the vote. “I think the management skills that Tracy brings would be a value added to the organization.”
“(Huber) stepped up at a time when we needed him to,” Democratic board member Kim McCarthy said. “He has done an outstanding job, and he deserves to be made the actual director. He’s done the work.”
Republicans had previously been critical of Huber’s lack of management experience, while Democrats were concerned by the circumstances under which Tracy previously left the job.
“I feel that leaving a job five weeks before an election, regardless of circumstances, frankly, they were left short-handed. To me, that’s a no-hire situation,” McCarthy said.
At the time, Smith had given a 30-day notice of his departure, Republicans said.
McCarthy added that the board had been facing “outside pressure” from other Greene County officials, who are predominantly Republicans, to select Smith.
“I’m not happy with the way it was handled,” McCarthy said. “Other people in the county knew about this candidate before we did, and it just left a really bad taste in my mouth.”
Huber and Smith were both nominated by their respective parties in each of the five votes, and each vote was a 2-2 split along party lines.
The next step is for both Republicans and Democrats to submit briefs to LaRose’s office, arguing why their choice for elections director should be picked. LaRose is a Republican.
While the board technically has 14 days to submit those briefs, Secretary of State Regional Liaison Kenny Henning encouraged the board to submit them no later than Friday.
“You have (military) ballots going out March 21 (for the May election),” he said. “I would urge that you get those arguments in ... so the secretary can go about making a decision very soon, because we have an election to administer.”
Until LaRose breaks the tie, Huber will remain in his role as acting director, with Republican Jen Corcoran as acting deputy director.
Whoever becomes the director and deputy director will have a salary of $95,000 annually, as the board approved payroll Wednesday evening.
The Greene County Board of Elections came to a similar stalemate last year over the hiring of Huber as deputy director. At the time, representatives for LaRose’s office told the Dayton Daily News that the Secretary of State does not intervene in personnel matters, except during a board reorganization, which is the process going on now.
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