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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed a removal action against Miami Township Fiscal Officer Robert Matthews after his attempted $9.7 million gold coin gamble with taxpayer funds. This latest scandal echoes the ongoing Mike Foley case, where an illegal plea deal and judicial failures continue to erode public trust. Montgomery County voters deserve accountability, not officials who treat public money like their own.

Ohio’s election system makes it easier to run for coroner or county engineer than it does for an independent citizen to get on the ballot. The Montgomery County Board of Elections recently threw out valid petition signatures and ignored notarized affidavits from voters, proving once again that Ohio’s “Boards of (S)elections” serve party insiders, not the public. Deadlines, arbitrary handwriting rulings, and partisan gridlock disenfranchise both candidates and voters, leaving independents — 71% of Ohio’s electorate — with no voice. What Ohio truly needs is not another elected coroner or clerk of courts, but a Public Integrity Officer — the People’s Counsel. This office would be directly elected by voters to enforce sunshine laws, prosecute officials who abuse their office, and stop partisan boards from erasing signatures and votes. If Ohio wants democracy to function, it needs an independent watchdog chosen by the people to protect their rights.

Ohio’s Boards of Elections are supposed to protect democracy, but in practice they act more like “Boards of (S)elections.” In Kettering, candidate Nevin Smith collected enough signatures to run for city council, only to have 17 thrown out as “not genuine” by staff with no handwriting experts and no evidence of fraud. Voters swore before a notary that their signatures were real, but Director Jeff Rezabek refused to share the affidavits with the board before its vote. Smith was barred from speaking until after he was disqualified. With Kettering’s late filing deadline, legal remedies may come too late to save his candidacy or voters’ choices. Meanwhile, independents—71 percent of Ohio’s electorate—are completely shut out of Boards of Elections, which are controlled by just two Democrats and two Republicans per county. It’s time to confront how party hacks, not voters, decide who gets on the ballot in Ohio.

Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion’s latest filing in the Michael Foley Quo Warranto case attacks me as “self-indulgent,” a “tirade,” and “legal babbling,” while ignoring the law. Foley was disqualified from office the moment he was sentenced on June 17, 2025, yet continues to collect a paycheck. His plea withdrawal cannot erase two weeks of ineligibility or the fact that the deal itself was illegal. From the Joey Williams bribery cover-up, to the rapist prosecutor John Amos, to the Board of Elections shielding Daj’za Demmings, Montgomery County shows a pattern of selective enforcement and lawlessness that leaves citizens paying the cost of accountability.

Dayton Public Schools just beat back a state law cooked up by Phil Plummer and Tom Young that would have punished only Montgomery County students. The court called it unconstitutional, saving families from new transportation costs. But the deeper problem goes beyond buses. Ohio is drowning in too many layers of government, frozen county lines, rigged congressional districts, and Boards of Elections stacked with party loyalists. With 71 percent of Ohio voters registered as independents and shut out of primaries, the system protects politicians, not taxpayers. Real reform would cut duplication, merge jurisdictions, and give independents a seat at the table.