The head of the state’s embattled ethics and elections board will retire June 29, one day before the agency is set to be replaced by two new commissions. Kevin Kennedy, 64, has served as the director of the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board since it was created in 2007. Before that, he was the longtime director of its predecessor, the state Elections Board. In all, he has worked on elections for the state for 37 years. In an interview Tuesday, Kennedy said he had wanted to retire in 2017 so he could preside over his 10th presidential election. But with the Legislature’s decision to dissolve the accountability board next month, Kennedy said he had decided to step down and told the board that on Sunday. “I’ve always lived, particularly with the GAB, with the knowledge that each day I’m auditioning for my job, that there’s a sword of Damocles hanging over my head,” said Kennedy. Lawmakers from both parties created the accountability board in response to a scandal in which lawmakers were convicted of campaigning using state resources. Critics said officials didn’t crack down on the practice sooner because ethics and campaign finance laws were overseen by separate agencies.
The law creating the accountability board put responsibilities for those areas of the law under the purview on one agency. The board consists of six former judges. But Republicans came to loathe the accountability board, in large part because it participated in an investigation that looked into whether Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign collaborated with conservative groups.
The state Supreme Court halted the investigation last year, finding no illegal activity took place. Prosecutors have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision — and Kennedy said Tuesday he hopes the nation’s high court will take it up.
Walker and GOP lawmakers last year voted to dissolve the accountability board and replace it with two new entities. The Elections Commission and Ethics Commission will each consist of equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats. “It’s not a good change and I don’t think people will be better served in the long run,” Kennedy said. He said decisions by the new commissions would tend to be more political.
Full Article: Kevin Kennedy stepping down as head of embattled elections, ethics board.