Boss Hogg Needs to Go

Last evening, a post on my facebook feed caught my attention. It was from the sheriff on his personal facebook page. He has his professional one too and didn't post this particular item there so he probably thinks it's ok. I don't. But, maybe it's just me.

Quick review: Sheriff Pat Kelly has a 'Sheriff Pat Kelly' facebook page and a 'Pat Kelly' facebook page. He posts a lot of the same stuff on both. Awhile back, some people were complaining that he shouldn't be posting official sheriff stuff on his personal page so he made the sheriff page so he could do that. I have an issue with some of the stuff he posts on that page because it comes off sounding like the arrested persons are already determined to be guilty when we STILL have innocent until proven guilty in this country. I think. If I were a defense attorney, I'd be all over that for my client. A whole nuther issue.

Anyway, last night I saw this:

Pat Kelly

Thanks so much to my family, friends and supporters that came to walk with my campaign group and to my staff, employees and reserves that came out and participated in the parade with my office. Thanks to Pearl Graham for driving the SALT float and all the members of SALT that participated. To Becky and Suzie for preparing a wonderful cookout. To Smith Concrete for your support. To everyone and especially Jim Childs for your support and the job you do. Thanks to all!

Sweet that he's thanking his supporters and all but some of those supporters are "staff, employees and reserves" and "especially Jim Childs".

Stuff like this kinda bothers me. Even if there is no coercion from 'boss' to 'employee', or employee sucking up to boss, it looks wrong.

And that's why we have laws. We have the Federal Hatch Act and the Ohio “Little” Hatch Act. These are not obscure laws that no one has ever heard of. If you've ever been a public employee, you probably know what they mean, generally speaking.

Basically, if you are a public employee, stay out of partisan politics. You can vote, you can have an opinion, and you can be involved in nonpartisan campaigns and run for nonpartisan offices (school board and such), but to be on the safe side, stay out of the fun part of politics.

Christina L. Corl wrote a pretty good overview.

There is good rationale for this going in both directions. An employee can't be forced to campaign for their boss, which used to happen frequently, and employees can't curry favor with their boss by campaigning for him.

What adds flavor is we went through this before. Back when the race was between the current sheriff and the previous sheriff, one of the deputies was fired for campaigning against his boss. Termination of employment is the penalty that is to be paid but since an arbitrator over-ruled the initial finding, the deputy got his job back and 75K besides. And now that deputy is Sheriff Kelly's "friend and sounding board" according to Pat Kelly's facebook posting of this afternoon. Nope, no impropriety here.

Having employees and other underlings (rumor has it Explorer Scouts too) campaigning may seem rather frivolous to some. I find it quite important because if the sheriff chooses to ignore some laws, how does he enforce any laws? The sheriff is not above the law nor are the deputies.

If this particular issue isn't quite enough to cause alarm, try adding a couple of issues that reveal a pattern of behavior. A county commissioner who beat his wife and had pot in his house was treated much differently than someone else under similar circumstances. The hiring of a convicted felon as a deputy - the son of a friend who campaigned for him. And we'll not get into the money issues from that office - yet.

And I'm going to pay attention when the sheriff says I can't drive my truck in the snow. Hold your breath.

And I'm suppose to follow his orders if marshal law is ever declared. Hold your breath.

If Sheriff Kelly loses the election this fall, is he going to delete his personal facebook profile or turn it over to Mr. Kane? After all, the url is facebook.com/athenssheriff.

Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should

Athens County Auditor, Jill Thompson, is in the midst of a battle with the sheriff, Pat Kelly, and the prosecutor, Keller Blackburn, over where some of the funds for their offices should be kept. It seems the sheriff and the prosecutor want to move money to outside accounts and the auditor is questioning the appropriateness of their requests, as well she should.

According to The Athens Messenger:

Blackburn and Sheriff Patrick Kelly sent Auditor Jill Thompson letters instructing her to move money from their Drug Law Enforcement and Law Enforcement Trust Fund accounts into outside bank accounts they would control.

Maybe it's just me but it sounds a bit shady.

Blackburn seems to think it's ok since it's not tax money but money from criminal cases. Ummmm, I disagree. Regardless of how the money is generated, it still belongs to the citizens of the county to be used on their behalf to catch criminals and prosecute them. There must be a system of checks and balances, so to speak, for the citizenry to have some semblance of faith in the government that the officials aren't lining their own pockets.

And that's where the auditor comes in to the picture. We have a great auditor in Athens County. I'm convinced the reason she lost her bid for state representative had more to do with voters not wanting to share her with the rest of the district. I heard those sentiments expressed by R's and D's both. Keep in mind, she is one of two elected R's in this superD county.

If the auditor doesn't have oversight on the various accounts that are set up for each of the county departments, how can we, as citizens and taxpayers, know that the money is being spent appropriately? As a citizen, I don't need to know every microscopic detail of the budgets in the county. I'm sure it would make my head explode. That's why we have an auditor. But if something doesn't sit right with me, I need to be able to have a look at the books. If each department gets to utilize outside accounts for this, that, or the other, I can never be sure that the money isn't being used nefariously and the auditor loses the ability to do what she was elected to do.

Both the sheriff and the prosecutor are claiming that it is because of the 'sensitive nature' these particular funds are used for as the reason they need to do this. It seems to me that a big part of both departments deal with things of a sensitive nature.

Also, in the Messenger:

Blackburn said that if Thompson issues the checks so the money can be moved, she would not face any future state audit liability because she has documented her concerns.

That isn't the point, Keller. Jill is doing her job. Just because she has documented her concerns, doesn't mean you are entitled to get your way. Maybe if you concentrated more on doing your job, there would be fewer criminals getting away with murder.

And, there is a track record already that these funds are misused. The sheriff's Furtherance of Justice account (which is allowed by Ohio Revised Code) audit showed expenditures without supporting documentation as well as money spent on carpet, which is not a valid expense for this account. Pat says he thought that was an okay purchase. Wrong.

So if you don't even know what is and is not approved purchases, why should the auditor give you another account to manipulate? That's like doubling a kid's lunch money this week because he spent last weeks' lunch money on video games. So now he can get a video game AND lunch. Or maybe two video games.


And your argument that other counties do it is so lame. When I tried to make that argument as a kid to my mother, she said: If the rest of your friends jump off a bridge, are you going to do it too?

Of course not. And that is what I gather Jill is trying to say too. You, Pat and Keller, have your jobs to do. Let Jill do hers. It goes a long way with the citizens who follow such things to know that the money is being watched closely and that the system of checks and balances we have within our government is working. If you're given too much financial latitude, there will always be a sector of the public who is suspicious that some shenanigans are going on with their money. And they should be suspicious. Because even if it isn't happening, the possibility that it could happen is enough for your credibility to be questioned. That makes getting reelected that much more difficult. Doesn't it?

Just as I was about to post this, this showed up on my facebook feed:

WSAZ NewsChannel 3

Mason County Sheriff David Anthony files for re-election after being indicted earlier this month for misuse of gov't funds and wanton endangerment. Even though it's innocent until proven guilty, can he overcome the court of public opinion? Details at 5:30 and 6!

The First Casualty

The first one to go is a deputy. He's not exactly gone. Just demoted from deputy to transport officer. He can still arrest people. He just can't answer the phone.

On July 19th, when Mark Sullivan's wife called the sheriff's office to complain about her husband's abuse, she included this part about his having marijuana. The officer she was speaking to, Randy Secoy, told her “...to put it all in a grocery bag and bring it to the sheriff's office.” When she asked about the ones still growing, he told her to “just grab a hold of them or call the office and have somebody come out.

Isn't that what she was doing? Calling the sheriff to report a crime and this is how they handle it? A crime of this nature involving any other person, would be classified a major event from the Big, Bad, Drug Task force, aka Athens County Sheriff's Department. Had this been anyone else calling, it would have been plastered all over the sheriff's facebook page touting about how big of a bust they made and we have them behind bars and you're safe from the boogeyman now.

But that's not what happened. An Athens County Commissioner, Mark Sullivan, was the one who was being accused of committing a crime. His wife was reporting it and it didn't warrant even a house call by the deputy. Maybe he was busy updating his facebook page. Or maybe it was because the involved parties included an Athens County Commissioner and his wife. What she got in response was the proverbial take two aspirin and call me in the morning. In other words, - I really don't want to deal with this. Could you call back when someone else is on duty so they can deal with it?

It took three weeks for this particular incident to make it to the public and that's only because someone called the local media anonymously. The Athens Messenger got the run-around when they requested the reports and then what they did get was redacted. A request was made to the state attorney general's office for a special prosecutor but not until after The Messenger made it a headline.

Now a couple of more weeks have passed and the first casualty has been named. Why it has taken Sheriff Kelly so long to conduct an internal investigation and take action is beyond me. I can't imagine it would have taken me much longer than the amount of time it took for me to listen to the taped call WHILE Deputy Secoy was sitting in front of me the next morning. It's not like the sheriff didn't have access to the 911 tapes. Listening to the recorded call should have been enough to at least put Deputy Secoy on leave if not outright fired. Maybe I'm just impatient and the wheels of justice turn to slow for my taste.

So now Deputy, ahem, Transport Officer Secoy has been demoted and there's this last chance agreement. Last chance for what? He'll be on probation until next August and if he does something stupid, he could be fired. What could you possibly do transporting prisoners? Oh, I suppose you could possibly taser one unnecessarily or do we only threaten 10-year old students with that? Yes. Yes we do. But that incident got him 3 days suspension and some class time in conflict resolution and a class on how to balance his personal and professional life, as reported in The Athens Messenger. Now I'm wondering if they have those classes in conjunction with the Domestic Violence Intervention Program that Mark Sullivan was supposed to attend. Is there a pattern starting to develop?

Sheriff Kelly as quoted in The Messenger:

“Randy Secoy is a good person. Randy Secoy has made mistakes and we've corrected those. We've sent Randy to training and counseling. If that proper training doesn't work, then I have to move forward and that's what we've done with Secoy.”

Okay. But Sheriff. You said that the last reprimand had no bearing on your decision to demote Secoy over this incident. If that's true, then those classes can't be included as 'time served'.

But I'm thinking there may be a bit more to this story that has yet to be revealed.

How much is the sheriff trying to cover his own butt now because he didn't deal with all this the next morning? You know Mark was all the talk around the water cooler for at least the next two or three shifts.

Who was the supervisor on duty that night if it wasn't Secoy? And if it was Secoy, why didn't he cover his own rear and handle the call like they would any other one? They get plenty of practice around here handling drug calls. It should have been relatively standard.

Why would responding to a complaint by the wife of an elected county official be any different than anyone else? I can think of a few reasons.

So, Secoy is demoted and on probation and Sullivan is still a county commissioner.

And one more question, for now:

If someone breaks into my house and I shoot them dead and call the sheriff's department to report the break-in, do you suppose they'll tell me to put 'em in a bag and bring 'em in?

What Pot? Oh, That's Just Basil

Some days I can do nothing more than shake my head at the happenings in the Athens County Commissioners Office. Well, not there exactly but at one commissioner in particular. Two days after a guilty plea for a reduced charge from a domestic violence incident, Mark Sullivan's wife called the sheriff's office again. She requested and received a protection order.

But it's what wasn't reported on that becomes interesting. When Marks' wife called that day, she also told them there were marijuana plants and seeds at the residence. No arrests were made at that time despite finding 39 plants.

Why? Had that been anyone else, the sheriff's department would have made a 'Big Bust' and it would have been plastered all over facebook like this:

Sheriff Pat Kelly
Glenn Fraley II Bowman Rd, Coolville was arrested last night after the NET executed a search warrant on his residence and seized a grow operation. Bowman was taken to SEORJ for possession with juvenile present.
July 27 at 10:43am

Not only did that not happen but nothing else happened either. It was kept quiet and hush hush until someone anonymously called The Athens Messenger three weeks later.

So, The Messenger reporter made a public records request and whatdoyaknow, they got a bit of the good ole boy run around. First, they contacted the sheriff's office. But Pat Kelly must think of Mark as a better friend than Keller Blackburn because he sent them to the prosecutor's office for the records. But Keller volleyed them back to the sheriff's office. When The Messenger finally got a copy of the report, it was redacted and the narrative part was completely omitted. What's up with that? Of course the claim is being made it's an open investigation. Whatever.

But wait! The Messenger kicked it up a notch. I'm actually quite impressed with them today. Not only did they put the almost month old news on the front page above the fold with a picture and looong article, the editor, went after Mark on the editorial page asking him to step down. Yes, that's right. The historically left-leaning local media is asking for the resignation of a D. They have been inching their way to the right over the last couple of years so maybe there is hope for them yet.

Coincidentally, our ambitious prosecutor and Nelsonville native, Keller Blackburn, requested a special prosecutor be appointed by the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Wow! How timely. It only took three weeks!

So, let's review. county commissioner pleads guilty to a reduced domestic violence charge, then his wife calls the sheriff two days later to report a similar incident and adds the pot plants and seeds in there for icing. She also adds that his kids have seen him transporting the pot for really thick icing. His friends, the sheriff and prosecutor, try to sweep it under the rug and ignore it. But there's always someone looking to ruin the party and calls the media. Bummer.

Now, both the commissioner and his wife are denying everything. They both say the dope isn't Mark's. It's the neighbor's. The stuff drying up there in the attic? Oh that's just basil.

Again, I, as a taxpayer, ask that this commissioner step down. The editor of The Messenger is asking as well. Maybe some others will also ask. Mark's personal life is a mess and at the very least he needs to get it back in order. The kids are involved and they need to be protected. Is someone looking out for them? The county commissioner's webpage includes as part of their responsibility:

Protecting children. Stabilizing families. Making welfare reform work.

County Commissioners now have the lead responsibility for delivering the bulk of human service that adults and children receive from government, and doing so with limited funding from Columbus and Washington D.C. In particular, this means making welfare reform work.

Counties now must meet state-set benchmarks for moving unemployed residents into jobs. Welfare reform also means subsidizing child care and health care for recipients, even after they find jobs. All of this comes in addition to counties� ongoing responsibility for overseeing and funding alcohol, drug abuse and mental health services, enforcing child support orders, protecting abused and neglected children, and administering food stamps.

Can a person hold a position responsible for the above, be personally violating the above, and still be effective?