Combs, O'Neill vie for position

The Monroe County Democratic Party held elections Sunday night for the party's chairman position, vacant since Frank McCloskey resigned last week. Brian O'Neill and Dan Combs ran for the position, both of whom are seasoned politicians and have been involved in the local Democratic party for decades. \nThe election was expected to be very close, with each chairman and vice-chairman eligible to vote from the county's 96 precincts.\n "Over 100 people are eligible to vote," said Monroe County Democratic Party Vice-Chairman Regina Moore, who clarified that not each precinct has a chairman and vice-chairman. \nOther precinct members expected a very close election as well. \nDon Moore, vice-chairman of the Perry 22 district said the race is very close.\n"I think it's about a 50/50 split over the candidates," he said. "There should be no surprises if either candidate wins." \nO'Neill stated three objectives for the local Democratic party that he would implement if he won the election, saying that the party needs to "articulate the common beliefs of what we Democrats are." He said he believes that in order to be an effective party, the members need to understand why they are all Democrats. \nO'Neill said his second objective is to make the Democratic party accommodating to people with diverse views. \nHe said he believes there are several different groups within the Democratic party, and everyone needs to be able to speak their minds and listen to what other groups have to say in order to get along. \nHis third objective, O'Neill said, is to "solicit more time and financial contributions from members of the community." \nO'Neill stressed that several committees need to be put in place in order to represent the roughly 100 precinct committee members of the party, and especially crucial are fundraising and recruitment committees.\nCombs said he would like to increase unity in the Democratic party from its current state right now. \n"It is no secret that the party has several factions that have anchored themselves in separate corners," Combs said. \nHe said he believes the main reason for the split is "an absolute lack of opportunities to communicate within the party." Combs articulated that the disunity of the party has become apparent in things such as last year's county elections: "only two of 12 seats were won by Democrats," he said.\nIf Combs is elected, he said his main objective is to expand opportunities for precinct members to participate and be heard. \nCombs, stating a reason for what some might perceive as party disorganization said, "Right now, we don't have any regular meetings; we have to go to the chairman if we have questions, and then he or she alerts the precinct committee members…essentially, the same question could be asked 20 times, and no one would know it." \nHowever, Combs expressed that the party has done well in the city elections in the last few years. \n"A lot of what we have accomplished is based on the inertia of Bloomington's Democratic base." \nO'Neill said he believes the Democratic party has been popular with Bloomington citizens because over the years the party has made the community a better place. He attributes a large part of the party's popularity to the 2 percent overall increase in jobs in Bloomington from 1996 to 2002, when Democrats held a majority in all city offices. \n"People are satisfied with Democrats' hard work at getting them good jobs," O'Neill said. \nHe said the most important component of the Democratic party in Monroe County is its ability to bring people together and get them talking. \n"The party has to be a place where people come to talk and come to make a decision about the community as a whole, and where we want to go with it," he said.\nO'Neill has been working for the local Democratic party since the 1970s. He worked with McCloskey when he was mayor and continued his work with local politics in the 1980s. From 1992 to 1996, he was appointed to the Bloomington Plan Commission, at which time his duties primarily consisted of putting together zoning control ordinances. In 1996, he lost in the County Council elections, but from 1998 to 2002 he served as Monroe County Commissioner.\nCombs has a long background of involvement in the local Democratic party, reaching back to volunteer work for local campaigns in 1978. He ran for county commissioner in 1984 and in 1986 was elected to his first four-year term as Perry Township trustee. He currently is serving his fifth four-year term as Perry Township trustee. His main duties include administering a locally run welfare office, which includes being responsible for six employees and a budget of about $500,000. The program provides direct assistance to needy members of the community. In addition, Combs' welfare office has purchased the Community Kitchen and other buildings to assist the needy.\nWhen asked specifically about the election, Combs said this race should reinvigorate the Democratic party in Bloomington. \n"This is the first time in my memory that there has been a contested chairman race," he said. "It's healthy, it has generated a lot of interest, and it has a lot of people talking about the Democratic party"