“We appreciate former commissioner Rick Lohnes for agreeing to join us up here,” Rittenhouse said.
“Luckily for us we did have an experienced candidate who was willing to sacrifice more of their life than they already have,” Patterson said.
Rittenhouse said when a commissioner resigns before their term is up, the two remaining commissioners appoint a replacement to serve until the central committee appoints their person.
The commissioners’ appointment can last up to 45 days, and the committee’s appointment can only be made after the seat has been vacated for five days, Rittenhouse said.
“At this point, we’re not sure what that process looks like because we have two groups who are recognizing themselves as a Republican Central Committee, but that does not involve us,” she said. “Our job is just to make sure that we have a commissioner here, who in the event one of us cannot be here, we can still do the business of the county.”
Patterson added that this is a temporary appointment by law.
“We intentionally decided to choose someone that had experience here and who would not be tipping the scales for the primary that’s going to happen in May,” he said. “We’re very intent on doing the county’s business, but we also want to make sure that we allow the public ... to vote to make sure that we weren’t putting our thumb on that scale and allowing one or another person to have an advantage in that race.”
The Clark County Republican Party will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Republican Party Headquarters, 7072 Dayton-Springfield Road in Enon, to vote to appoint an interim Clark County Commissioner.
The meeting is open to the public, but only members of the Central Committee are allowed to vote. For more information, visit clarkcountyrepublicanpartyohio.com.
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