Even as bitter fighting over a ballot item to essentially disband the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission (NKYAPC) continues to unfold, Kenton County Clerk Gabrielle Summe now finds herself involved in another contentious ballot issue. This second ballot debate involves whether or not an open seat on the Covington Independent School District’s board should be filled by election or appointment.

At the very least, the Clerk’s office certainly added to the confusion about what is supposed to happen, as this nky.com article amply points out.

The Clerk’s office already faces a still to be decided lawsuit from Northern Kentucky Tea Party members about the NKYAPC issue. Now, a second suit over the ballot issue may be in the offing, as well.

For sure, outgoing Covington Board of Education member Denise Varney is furious. nky.com quotes from an e-mail Varney sent to several individuals including Summe and Kenton County Attorney Gary Edmondson among others. Writes Varney:

“Many Covington voters have been hurt because of each of you. Your actions have been perceived as not caring about the residents of Kenton County, lack of respect for education laws and most importantly – a clear lack of compassion for the children of Covington.”

I suspect Northern Kentucky Tea Party folks would strongly agree.