Mark Kvamme is not a resident of Ohio, but we all knew that when Gov. Kasich appointed him as Director of Development running JobsOhio, which just passed both houses this afternoon.
ProgressOhio research has shown that a long-held Ohio Attorney General Opinion provided to former GOP Governor George V Voinovich reveals that under the Ohio Constitution and Ohio Law Kvamme, a non-Ohio resident who commutes from California, is barred from serving as a State Director.
In fact, persuant to ORC 121.03 the Director of the Department of Development is an office to which section § 15.04 of the Ohio Constitution applies, and ORC3503.01(A) requires, in part, an elector be "a resident of the state."
The Ohio Constitution § 15.04 (Who is eligible to hold office) states, "No person shall be elected or appointed to any office in this state unless possessed of the qualifications of an elector."
- ORC 121.03 (Appointment of administrative department heads) in part reads "The following administrative department heads shall be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, and shall hold their offices during the term of the appointing governor, and are subject to removal at the pleasure of the governor***(I) The director of development;***"
- The definition of an elector according to ORC 3501(N) means a person having the qualifications provided by law to be entitled to vote.'
- According to ORC 3503.01(A) "Every citizen of the United States who is of the age of eighteen years or over and who has been a resident of the state thirty days immediately preceding the election at which the citizen offers to vote, is a resident of the county and precinct in which the citizen offers to vote, and has been registered to vote for thirty days, has the qualifications of an elector and may vote at all elections in the precinct in which the citizen resides."
- The Ohio Constitution § 5.01 Who may vote: Every citizen of the United States, of the age of eighteen years, who has been a resident of the state, county, township, or ward, such time as may be provided by law, and has been registered to vote for thirty days, has the qualifications of an elector, and is entitled to vote at all elections. Any elector who fails to vote in at least one election during any period of four consecutive years shall cease to be an elector unless he again registers to vote.
The Opinion #92-008 written by then Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher to then Governor Voinovich clearly identifies that Mr. Kvamme's non-residency nullifies his appointment as illegal and unconstiutional.
In fact, the final line of the opinion reads, "If the Governor appoints a non-resident of the state to an office ... the appointment is a nullity."
