ALBANY – The county Democratic Party Committee, after voting to nominate current Board of Elections Commissioner Matt Clyne to another two-year term last month, is holding interviews for the position at a meeting on Nov. 26.
At the October meeting, the committee ousted Chair Carolyn McLaughlin and replaced her with Jack Flynn, an ally of County Executive Dan McCoy. One of the first orders of business undertaken by the new committee was a motion to table the vote to recommend Clyne to the legislature for another term.
The motion failed, but the following day Clyne fired Flynn from his $48,500 job at the BOE. Flynn, a councilman from the Eighth Ward, was hired just days later by Sheriff Craig Apple.
“The Executive Committee met two weeks ago, and we decided that due to the fact the bylaws call for the position to go through the Candidate Review Committee we would do it again,” Flynn said. “Any candidate interested in any position has to go through the Candidate Review Committee and then it goes to the party for a vote.”
Anyone interested in the position should send a resume and cover letter to Flynn at [email protected] by Friday, Nov. 25.
As to only giving those interested four days to submit a resume, Flynn said he has already gotten two phone calls for the position, and that word is traveling quickly through social media and word of mouth.
The position pays $90,000 and the only requirement is to be a registered Democrat living in Albany County.
“As required under … the ACDC bylaws, the interviews for the position of Democratic Elections Commissioner will be conducted by the ACDC’s Candidate Review Committee,” according to a release sent by the Albany County Democratic Committee. “Following the interviews, the Candidate Review Committee will then make a recommendation at a full meeting of the ACDC to be held Monday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Polish Community Center.”
The recommendation then goes to the Democrats on the Albany County Legislature for a formal vote.
Flynn downplayed grumblings that the move is an effort to get rid of Clyne and replace him with a stronger ally to McCoy and, by extension, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.
“If Matt Clyne wants to interview for the position he is more than welcome, and if the committee feels he is the most qualified we will take that result and move on,” Flynn said. “We are about open and fair and transparent elections and the BOE plays a vital role in the Democratic Party.”
Flynn said he would not interview for the job because he cannot hold an elected office, city councilman, and be an elections commissioner. He did not say who he would like to see interview for the job. “The more the merrier,” he added.
Shortly after Clyne fired Flynn, he hired Judd Krasher as Flynn’s replacement. Krasher, a councilman from the 11th Ward, who headed up Dan Egan’s unsuccessful campaign against McCoy and has been one of Sheehan’s most vocal critics on the council.
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