When I first heard about the mysterious resignation of Sharon Ko last week, I suspected that there was going to be more to the story than just wanting to spend time with family. Turns out, I was right. Cincinnati .com is reporting that Ko's resignation and a plea deal by a local business man are related.<blockquote>Tom Burer, owner of Universal Transportation Systems LLC which does business under several names, pleaded guilty to the charge Tuesday. He was released on his on recognizance. He will be sentenced Sept. 27 in Butler County Common Pleas Court.
School board member Sharon Ko, who was elected as the top vote getter in a six-person field that included two incumbents, resigned Aug. 25 citing personal reasons. She declined to comment about it at the time.</blockquote>She ousted incumbent Arnold Engel. Engel is a fiscally conservative Democrat who probably has more in common with the Tea Party than any other Democrat I've ever encountered in politics. I mention it because school board elections is one of those areas where party affiliation should not trump ideology. It pains me to say that I suspect Republicans have a weak bench when it comes to fiscal conservatives, but we have to start listening to what candidates say and then make sure that they are who they say they are.
We'll learn more particulars about this case as time goes on and my prediction is this: we elected somebody who campaigned on "For the Children" but who in office was "All About the Benjamins". I think we've had enough of that sort of thing in politics.
UPDATE: Related? Sorta: "School Board should Embrace Issue 2 and Drop 6.5 Mill Levy " by my good friend Richard Inman.
UPDATE 2: WCPO gives a little more detail.<blockquote>Prosecutor Michael Gmoser says Burer was giving other people money to make contributions to Ko. Burer is a major contractor with Fairfield Schools transportation department, according to Gmoser.</blockquote> He got caught trying to fudge the paperwork. I can only assume that she knew about this scheme and didn't do anything about it. Wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think she may have orchestrated it...but we'll have to see what comes next.
