J.J. Stankiewicz
has resigned from his appointed position on the Porter County Election Board
after a video of him shouting at Porter County Clerk Jessica Bailey went
public.
Stankiewicz and
Bailey, both Democrats, were recorded embroiled in a shouting match minutes
before the Board began an official meeting on Friday, March 8. In that
exchange, Stankiewicz, the then President of the Board, behaved in a manner
that 15 Porter County officials have since called unacceptable.
Stankiewicz’s
resignation came yesterday shortly after the 15 Porter County Democrat
elected officials began circulating a letter urging Porter
County Democrat Party Chairman Jeff Chidester to demand Stankiewicz resign
and publicly apologize to Bailey. Chidester is responsible for appointing
the Democrat representative on the three-member Election Board, which
consists of a Republican and Democrat, each appointed by the respective
County Chairman, and the County Clerk.
Among the signers
on the letter were lone Democrat Commissioner Laura Blaney (South); Democrat
County Council members Dan Whitten, Sylvia Graham, Jeremy Rivas, Greg Simms,
and Bob Poparad; Sheriff Dave Reynolds; Auditor Vicki Urbanik; Treasurer
Michelle Clancy; Portage City Council member Colin Czilli; Valparaiso City
Council members Deb Porter, Diana Reed, and Robert Cotton; Portage Township
Trustee Brendan Clancy; and Center Township Board President Deb Fray.
The politicians
said Stankiewicz’s shouting at Bailey was unacceptable and that Bailey
deserves a chance to prove herself after only being on the job three months,
in which time they say she has already made great efforts to avoid a repeat
of the disastrous 2018 general election last November where results were
delayed for three days after a shortage of poll workers caused 13 polling
places to open late and absentee ballots were not delivered to precincts or
counted on time.
“We find the
comments made by Mr. Stankiewicz to be demeaning, unprofessional, and
woefully misguided and inaccurate. We cannot tolerate such behavior from any
member of our county boards,” the letter reads. “There is no place in Porter
County government for your appointee to berate her and use the derogatory
language that he used.”
“It is incumbent
upon all elected officials, board appointees, and county employees to work
cooperatively and professionally. If board members cannot approach their
work without resorting to unfounded personal attacks, they should be
replaced,” the letter reads. “Our citizens deserve reassurance that our
Porter County Election Board places greater priority on working toward fair
and honest elections rather than engaging in petty, political disputes.”
In the taped
exchange, Stankiewicz repeatedly talked over Bailey, raised his voice, told
her to “shut up” and said to her, “you have no idea what you’re doing,”
after asking her how many poll workers have been recruited for the 2019
primary so far. He charged in the video that Bailey is not doing her job and
is steering the County toward another election disaster by delegating the
recruitment of the majority of poll workers to the Party Chairmen, a
practice that follows state law, according to Board Attorney Monica Conrad.
In the video of the
exchange, Stankiewicz also tells Board member David Bengs that Bailey is “a
pimple” and just functions as a secretary of the Board. The Clerk is a
voting member of the Election Board, and an equal of Stankiewicz and Bengs
per state law, as the 15 officials noted in their letter.
Stankiewicz, for
his part, wrote in his resignation letter that he has been the victim of
personal attacks due to his record of opposition to vote centers in Porter
County, and that this round of outspokenness against him is a “repeat of an
old election board issue.”
Stankiewicz further
wrote that the calls for his resignation are part of a pattern of “recent
wrongful and politically based attempts to pass special laws to entirely
eliminate the current Board of Elections, punish county workers who dissent,
and thereby further eliminate voters access to the polls on Election Day.”
He said he’s confident the truth will come out eventually.
In the letter,
Stankiewicz refers to the shouting match with Bailey as a “private exchange”
that was “secretly recorded.”
“That private
exchange was overly heated to say the least; but it eventually led to a very
civil official meeting and my pressure eventually caused public disclosure
of the names and telephone numbers for workers to call to assure poll
workers appear in the upcoming primary election,” Stankiewicz wrote.
“I am proud, rather
than being apologetic, about my twenty years of service on the Election
Board and what I personally accomplished for the 2018 election,” Stankiewicz
wrote.
Bailey responded to
Stankiewicz’s resignation in a prepared statement, which says, in full, “I
would like to thank Mr. Stankiewicz for his service. He has been a valuable
member of the election board for many years and his accomplishments
encompass much more than these past few months. The county election board
provides an essential service and the contributions of each member should be
recognized.”