If there was ever a case that expressed more clearly the need for civilian oversight of government affairs then it would be the Roger Reynolds case in Butler County, Ohio, where he is suing the great Nancy Nix for his old job as an auditor.  Whenever money is involved, there will be a lot of scrutiny, and the auditor’s job is one of those that naturally has a big target on it.  In Butler County, Kay Rogers had to go to jail for criminal conduct when she held that position.  It is sometimes hard to distinguish good intentions from malicious conduct, and I thought the Kay case was ticky-tacky and more politically motivated than anything.  But Roger Reynolds stepped into that role through an appointment and then proceeded to win several elections after that and was an excellent auditor that people respected.  Even when Roger had a target placed on him as well, and he was accused of an illegal interest in a public contract, Roger still won an election even as he was awaiting sentencing for a jail term.  I thought what was being done to Roger was unfair, even abusive.  And during it all, nobody stood by Roger Reynolds more than Nancy Nix.  Once Roger was convicted of a felony on one of the charges against him, he asked his staff to support Nancy, treasurer at the time, to step into his office and continue the excellent work he had started there.  It was not a sure thing then that Nancy would be the next auditor; there were other names in mind and reasons for the names.  So, while Roger had to resign office due to the conviction, Nancy dutifully stepped in to cover Roger’s job while Michael McNamara filled Nancy’s job as treasurer.  Meanwhile, Roger cleared his name through the appeals process in the courts. 

This is one of those cases where I know everyone and what they are all about, including those who were prosecuting Roger Reynolds.  So I have the context to this that many wouldn’t have access to, and from my point of view, I was relieved that Nancy was in that auditor position because of the target on such a powerful seat.  To use a Lord of the Rings metaphor, Nancy is by her nature probably the most resistant to corruption of anybody available, so if someone must carry the ring of power into Mordor and throw it into a pit of lava, Nancy Nix is the person most likely to survive and do the good work needed to save the world.  Even though it was unfair what Roger went through, and it cost him a fortune and many other things, particularly his excellent name in the process, he is a damaged person.  I would love to see him restored in name and health.  I understand his desire for revenge and to return to his office in glory after surviving all he has been through.  But then there is the need for the office and the people of Butler County to get good work done.  What we need in a position is a good auditor working with a good treasurer for the needs of our community and a focus on good government.  We don’t need a revenge tour in a divided political party trying to destroy each other.  It’s for those reasons that we have a process of fulfillment in government offices, and if there is a reason that an elected representative must resign and a new member replaced, we have a primary process that gives the public, ultimately civilian oversight over elected offices that end up with corrupt personalities occupying them.  And the Supreme Court of Ohio is the proper backstop for just such a maniacal twist of fate.

In this effort to restore his name, Roger filed a lawsuit against his former good friend under the premise of quo warrento for the Supreme Court to consider so he could get his old job back.  For some reason, Roger thinks that Nancy can vacate that office and hand it back to him now that he has been restored through the appeals process and found innocent of the charges placed against him.  Because Nancy was appointed to the position to cover for Roger, she gave up her seat to another, and there was no office for Nancy to return to.  The process is set up to avoid chaos, and once appointed, those jobs are filled until the next election.  At that point, the voters are the ultimate arbiters of justice.  If Roger wants his old job back, he would typically go through the primary process and run against Nancy, and the voters would decide.  Instead, Roger wants his job back now, which would wreck many people’s lives, and it certainly would be disruptive to an office already trying to shake off a past of criminal convictions, fair or not.  There is a public stigma that must be overcome, and for me, nobody else in the world is better prepared to overcome that stigma than Nancy Nix, who has a devoted personality and forthcoming nature.  She is the one I want counting the money in Butler County, Ohio. 

In all this, Roger Reynolds has become a lot like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. He is so obsessed with his name clearing in the eyes of the public that he has become something the world despises, which has been surprising.  But it shows how just about anybody can fall off the rocker and lose their minds under duress, which is precisely why we can never let the government have too much power over us.  In the case of Butler County, the auditor seat requires that much good work needs to be done for the community to function correctly.  So, we must be dedicated to its preservation for the good of voters.  Those jobs don’t exist for those who hold those jobs but for those who need them in public service.  However, politics is a balancing act in a popularity contest, and it is easy for people to find solace in public approval. When you feel bad about something, getting lost in the temptation to seek validity through the election process is easy.  So, while I can understand the need, Roger is looking to have the public restore a sense of value to him.  We still must consider what that value is and to whom it serves.  And when we wonder why we have high courts and laws of the land based on actual value, the Supreme Court of Ohio is something we should all hold in high regard because it keeps for us the process of ultimate civilian oversight so that power doesn’t corrupt the minds of the people we put in office to the point where government becomes diabolically dangerous, and corrupt, which is undoubtedly a temptation when vast amounts of money are involved.  And why, if I have to pick one person over another who guards that money, it’s Nancy Nix who can bring that value to the people of Butler County and not become just another Gollum that will give the office a further lousy name.  No, we need an auditor who can’t even have the stigma of corruption implanted upon it.  Over the last two years, Nancy has stepped into that role; when asked to, she has exceeded even the highest expectations, which is the point of the office in the first place.  That office exists for the people of Butler County and their needs for good government.  Not for those who might fill those seats on a path of personal redemption.

Rich Hoffman

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