By Adam Pagnucco.
Yesterday, I wrote about the practice by members of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) of appointing themselves to state legislative offices. (The state’s constitution gives such party committees the ability to fill state legislative vacancies.) This is nothing new. I have been writing about this for 15 years and the practice goes back far longer. But here is something that IS new – one of the central committee’s own members has rebelled against self-appointments and is trying to outlaw them. What if she wins?
Meet Liza Smith, a new central committee member who was elected in July. (MCDCC members are elected in county Democratic primaries.) During her election campaign, she told the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County the following about filling vacancies:
I think it’s wrong to have a committee member occupy a vacant position, but it is undemocratic on its face. As a member of the Central Committee, I will advocate changing the criteria for filling vacancies in office so that Central Committee membership disqualifies anyone from applying to an open position. Instead, we should develop criteria for filling vacancies by gathering input from voters.
Liza Smith, the rebel of MCDCC.
I have talked to other central committee members over the years who have disliked self-appointments, but Smith’s public opposition to it is unusual. It must have paid off for her as she defeated an incumbent to get elected.
But Smith is just getting started. She has launched a Change.org petition targeting her fellow central committee members to persuade them to abolish self-appointments. Smith wrote:
When a vacancy for a Maryland state legislator opens up, the State’s constitution allows Central Committee members to fill the vacancy without holding a special election. While this may be cost effective, in practice Central Committee members often appoint themselves. In Montgomery County, a third of our state legislators were appointed to their current positions and 5 were Central Committee members when they were appointed. The practice of committee members appointing themselves is anti-democratic on its face. Allowing committee members to appoint themselves creates a back door to elected office and bypasses the will of the voters. It’s also a conflict of interest because well-qualified candidates are not given a true opportunity.
Smith’s petition “seeks to change the Central Committee’s bylaws to prohibit Central Committee members from appointing themselves to the state legislature. If they want an appointment, they should resign first.”
Smith is not alone. Last night, another MCDCC member, District 15’s Nathan Feldman, announced his support for banning self-appointments on Facebook.
Smith’s proposal does not provide for special elections, which MCDCC cannot create anyway. (They could do a better job of gathering input from real live voters during appointments, which is a subject for a future post.) But her idea is an improvement. Central committee members should understand that there is a cost to trying to appoint themselves – namely, losing their seat if they fail. Moreover, if MCDCC really does change their bylaws to ban self-appointments, it might persuade their members who wish to go to Annapolis to face the voters in an actual election!
Liza Smith is a rare bird for being willing to take on her colleagues in public, especially on something they value as much as the chance to appoint themselves to office. Will her petition work? I signed it, and if you agree, you can sign it here.