A University of Akron trustee has resigned because the Ohio Senate did not receive paperwork to confirm her appointment in 2008.
Retired Summit County Common Pleas Judge Jane Bond is among 14 officials statewide whose appointments apparently slipped through the cracks between 2007 and 2010.
“I’m deeply disappointed that I cannot complete my term of office,” which would have run to 2017, said Bond, a Democrat.
Rob Nichols, spokesman for Republican Gov. John Kasich, said the current administration discovered the oversights while auditing appointments that former Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, made during his term.
The contested appointments include trustees for five tax-supported universities, including UA, and for diverse advisory boards that include the Motor Vehicles Dealers Board and the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission.
Appointees who didn’t seem to be formally approved by the Senate were asked by letter Aug. 21 to provide any paperwork they might have supporting their appointment.
Wednesday was the deadline for them to reply.
“We don’t think anyone was trying to do anything sneaky,” Nichols said, but the oversight has to be corrected because it robs the Senate “of its constitutional right to advise and consent the governor.”
Two other Northeast Ohio officials who seem to be unconfirmed by the Senate are Youngstown State trustees Harry Meshel and Carole Weiner.
All will be notified how they may reapply for their positions, Nichols said.
Even though the affected officials were nominated by the governor of a competing party, “We will give them a fair shake,” he said.
Strickland, who was in the public spotlight Tuesday as a key speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, could not be reached for comment.
Bond replaced Dr. William Demas, whose term expired in July 2008. She has been one of four Democrats on the UA board, which is composed of nine members plus two student trustees. All are unpaid.
UA President Luis Proenza said he was sorry Bond no longer would be a trustee.
“We all felt most strongly that she was most dedicated,” he said.
Carol Biliczky can be reached at cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3729.
