Just don't gore my ox

It is a well-known tactic in Fayette County politics to bank on the public's weak memory in order to carry out your agenda. Luckily for you -- but not so luckily for the local politicos -- we here in the patch have good short-term and long-term memory.

Thus we were a bit perplexed last week when Dominick Carnicella, the human relations guru from Felice Associates, proclaimed that Amy Revak, the former Herald-Standard.com reporter, was qualified to be the county's new chief clerk. This was because, Carnicella said, only about 20 percent of the job is budget-related.

Here's where the short-term memory kicks in: Just a couple weeks ago, Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Al Ambrosini were angling to get Revak a $2,600 raise in her starting pay -- because the job had such a strong budget-related component.

Perhaps Carnicella said at that time, "Hey, guys, the budget is only 20 percent of the job, so I can't recommend a $2,600 raise." But since that argument never appeared in print, we will have to assume he made no such utterance.

So it appears that the game being played is this: When it is time to angle for a Revak raise, the budget component is a big part of the job. But when you're facing criticism from the public over Revak's hiring and absence of budgeting experience, the budget component suddenly becomes very minor.

Now to long-term memory.

At last week's county salary board meeting, Franklin Township resident Jerrie Mazza questioned Revak's qualifications for the job. Mazza made some very good points, including raising the question on why retired county manager Warren Hughes is needed to teach Revak (will will be paid $32,000 a year) the job to the tune of $50 per day.

To the rescue, predicably, rode Vincent Zapotosky. And what did he say in response to a citizen's criticism? Well, he didn't say that Revak is a numbers whiz who is about to do a boffo job with the budget.

No, here's what Zapotosky said: "For her (Revak) to come under this kind of scrutiny is wrong." ("Resident questions qualifications of Fayette County's new chief clerk, Herald-Standard.com, May 10).

Here in the patch, we were so glad to hear Zapotosky say that having Revak come under this kind of scrutiny is wrong. That is because it gives us the opportunity to remind the world that his current position doesn't quite square with the tune he was singing a couple years ago.

Remember Ruth Thompson, the supposed fake letter to the editor writer who duped Herald-Standard editor Mark O'Keefe? When Revak's "investigation" of the phone number used on that letter led to an unfair and unsubstantiated implication of former Fayette County Housing Authority board member Beverly Beal, how did Zapotosky respond?

He and fellow Commissioner Vincent Vicites, who were robustly criticized in the Thompson letter, held a press conference. At this press conference, they praised the Herald-Standard to high heaven for the "scrutiny" that Revak had supposedly doled out.

No where in the pubic record have we heard of Zapotosky saying back then, "Having her (Beal) come under this kind of scrutiny is wrong."

What's the old saying? --- ah, yes ... something about it depends on whose ox is being gored.