Sunday, March 03, 2013

If Darin Coddington is without the "skill set," then what about the voters who chose him to be auditor?

The C-J's Grace Schneider outlines the departing Darin Coddington's predicament as scapegoat for the county's budget crisis, as nary a Republican can be found who'll publicly go to bat for Coddington.

Perhaps this scurrying might be taken as a sign of emerging political maturity, except for the fact that ever since Coddington took office, word on both left and right sides of the street has been that his glaring absence of applicable experience meant that he barely knew what he was doing.

Of course, the seeming tumult in Dave Matthews's GOP ranks might be diversionary, too. Is Coddington's convenient springtime abdication also the metaphorical washing of hands by commissioners Bush and Seabrook, v.v. the auditor's willingness to pay Keith Henderson's legal fees without examination?

It's a legitimate question, right?

Floyd County auditor resigns amid budget crisis

Floyd County Auditor Darin Coddington resigned Friday, effective May 3, after county leaders acknowledged that a series of missteps during the past year have led to a major budget emergency.

Coddington, a Republican who was elected in 2010, had told fellow county leaders that he was resigning for personal reasons. An after-hours number for him could not be found Friday.

John Schellenberger, a Republican and current chairman of the Floyd County Council, acknowledged in an interview that the financial crisis — an estimated $2.4 million budget deficit discovered about eight weeks into the new year — was a factor.

“If a person doesn’t have the skill set, it’s a really stressful job” serving as auditor, Schellenberger said.

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