Statement from the Allen County Republican Party on City Clerk Sandy Kennedy:
(October 11, 2015) – Last week, we learned that the kind of malfeasance that has been forbidden for years by law and common decency still runs rampant in Fort Wayne’s Democrat city administration.
It is inconceivable that, in 2015, Fort Wayne’s Democrat City Clerk does not know that demanding political compliance in return for job security isn’t OK. It is inconceivable that Sandra Kennedy does not know that accepting political contributions in a government office isn’t OK.
It is not only NOT OK, it may have broken the law. I will leave that question to others to decide. But there is no dispute that Indiana law prohibits the execution of elections on public premises, using public employees under the threat of losing their jobs if they don’t comply.
As we learned in The News-Sentinel on Saturday, all of this has been going on in the City Clerk’s Office, blessed by Clerk Kennedy and condoned by Fort Wayne’s Democrat Mayor, Tom Henry. The activities disclosed by The News-Sentinel demand swift and decisive action.
Political leaders have, on occasion, been known to make ridiculous, inexplicable errors in judgment. But when they make them, they are expected to pay for them. Such should be the case in the City Clerk’s Office.
So I call upon Clerk Kennedy to resign immediately. Her actions, as captured in these damning videos, undermine citizen confidence in City government in a way not seen since the days of Charles Westerman. In years past, Clerk Kennedy was so disdainful of the rules of political decency that she shamelessly used her city office address as that of her political headquarters on her campaign finance reports.
When you have reached the point that political survival has surpassed any concern for public confidence in what you do, it’s time to go. Mrs. Kennedy should seize upon the chance to restore public confidence in her vitally important City office by resigning today.
Furthermore, I call on her handpicked successor, Angie Davis, to pledge not to take office if she is elected. She can be seen and heard on these videos. Never, in a single word or act, does she attempt to dissuade Mrs. Kennedy from taking these steps on her behalf.
In her silence, Davis gives her permission for what we all know to be the wrong and potentially illegal commandeering of a public office for personal, political activity on her behalf. If she doesn’t already know that this is wrong, she should have the decency to step aside now.
Finally, I call upon Mayor Tom Henry to explain why, in the month that he has had this information, he never took a single step to remediate these seedy activities going on just three floors beneath his feet. He is the leader not only of his party, but of City Government as a whole.
If Mayor Henry is unwilling to stand up against such blatant flaunting of the public’s will, what else is he willing to say “Yes” to in order to perpetuate his party’s political survival. We deserve an explanation for his inaction.
Citizens deserve to know that their government is not run as a political machine, by and for the benefit of those who hold office.
There is only one way to restore that confidence: Sandy Kennedy and Angie Davis should stand aside. And Mayor Henry should tell us why he felt that none of this was worthy of his attention.
Video of Shine news conference held Monday, October 12, 2015 at 2 p.m.
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