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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > September > 29 > Entry
Reynolds v. Zettler
An unpopular former administration. Candidates from both parties advocating reform and change. No, this isn’t the presidential race — it’s the race for Butler County auditor.
The candidates are Republican Roger Reynolds and Democrat Jack Zettler. Both challenged former auditor Kay Rogers in her 2006 re-election bid and lost.
Reynolds is the incumbent. The Butler County GOP named him to replace Rogers in April after she pleaded guilty to bank fraud and grudgingly resigned.
In this story, we take an exhaustive look at the two candidates.
We start with their resumes, which are similar in that they’re both lifelong county residents and certified public accountants with degrees in accounting from local universities.
Then Zettler goes on the offensive. He likens the job of auditor to one of his pet Dobermans and says Reynolds is neutered when it comes to protecting taxpayer interests from the one-party system that appointed him. Quoth Zettler:
“They put food on his table. He’s not going to bite the hands that feed him.”
Zettler also jumped on a taxpayer-funded, $2,000 training seminar Reynolds attended with his family in Florida. And he raised a specter from races past, accusing the office under Reynolds of manipulating taxable property values just as he accused Rogers of doing, and running the office as a political machine.
Reynolds goes on defense, saying the the Florida trip was invaluable training and that taxpayers didn’t pay for his family’s transportation, only his. He also said accusations of appraisal tampering are serious, but ludicrous, since the appraisals are done by a respected independent firm.
The incumbent then makes his case bolstered by his short but active record, including a quarter-million-dollar-plus refund he gave to local governments last week. Reynolds’ campaign promise:
“To come into county government and reduce spending, reform government and return tax dollars.”
Who has your vote?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: County Auditor
Comments
By Don Carpenter
September 30, 2008 7:23 AM | Link to this
Mr. Zettler has it all wrong in that the auditor’s job was ‘given’ to Roger Reynolds. Roger has had to endure the pain of being beat like a drum in a primary and then a contentious race for the appointment. Roger has done a top notch job in spite of the obstacles and rhetoric. I believe that the race will be close but that Reynolds will pull it out in the end.