Strickland can't FIRE this woman for partisan reasons?
She's on PIAID leave??
Fire her ass!
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=315226
Plumbergate Continues
Here's an interesting news note from The Columbus Dispatch which you
may have missed. It seems that the director of the Department of Job
and Family Services, Helen Jones-Kelley, has been put on paid leave
for "possibly using a state computer and e-mail account for political
fund-raising." It seems that Plumbergate, aptly named by my fellow
blogger Marcia Segelstein, is not over yet.
As you know, Jones-Kelley not only checked the state child-sup****t
computers for information on Mr. Wurzelbacher, but state computers
were also used to determine whether he was receiving welfare
assistance or if he owed unemployment compensation taxes. Further,
computers at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles were also investigated for
information on Wurzelbacher. However, according to the news article I
linked to above, conducting an illegal search to obtain confidential
information on "Joe the Plumber" was not the only trick Jones-Kelley
had up her sleeve during the campaign season.
The Dispatch says:
E-mails obtained today by The Dispatch show that Helen Jones-Kelley's
e-mail account was used to assist the presidential campaign of
Democrat Barack Obama in raising money.
The state e-mails show Jones-Kelley provided the Obama campaign with
the names of 17 potential Dayton-area contributors ahead of the
candidate's July 11 appearance there.
On July 8, the director offered to write a $2,500 check to the
campaign to join Obama at his appearance, volunteered to contact would-
be contributors and offered to help arrange an event for Michelle
Obama, the candidate's wife.
Other emails show Jones-Kelley receiving emails through her state
account that were of a partisan political nature; one email in
particular from the Obama campaign contained an attached donation
form. Not surprisingly, Obama's Ohio campaign spokesperson did not
return calls made by The Dispatch about this matter.
The article says that Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has named Jan Allen,
secretary of his cabinet, as acting agency director until the
investigation has been completed. Of course, I'm sure the plunder of
Mr. Wurzelbacher's private information was not at all politically
motivated, and Jones-Kelley would have provided the same service for a
sup****ter of Obama who had made McCain's tax policy look ridiculous.
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/11/08/copy/JFS_trouble.ART_ART_11-08-08_A1_JFBR1J0.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
E-mails get leader of state office suspended
Saturday, November 8, 2008 3:25 AM
By Randy Ludlow THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Gov. Ted Strickland placed the director of the state Department of Job
and Family Services on paid leave yesterday for possibly using a state
computer and e-mail account for political fundraising.
E-mails obtained by The Dispatch show that Helen Jones-Kelley's
account was used to assist the presidential campaign of Democrat
Barack Obama in raising money.
Strickland asked Inspector General Thomas P. Charles to investigate
the "unconfirmed" matter, and the governor named Jan Allen, secretary
of his cabinet, as acting director of the department.
The state e-mails show that Jones-Kelley provided the Obama campaign
with the names of 17 potential Dayton-area contributors ahead of the
candidate's July 11 appearance there.
On July 8, the director offered to write a $2,500 check to the
campaign to join Obama at his appearance, volunteered to contact would-
be contributors and offered to help arrange an event for Obama's wife,
Michelle.
At least one of the potential donors identified by Jones-Kelley
contributed $9,600 to the Obama Victory Fund and Obama for America on
July 31, according to Federal Election Commission records. Jones-
Kelley also gave $2,500.
The e-mails that led to Jones-Kelley's suspension came to light
through a public-records request by The Dispatch, said Keith Dailey,
spokesman for Strickland. The newspaper requested the records Oct. 26,
before Obama won Tuesday's election.
The inspector general already was investigating whether computers in
Jones-Kelley's department were used illegally to obtain confidential
information on "Joe the Plumber," a Toledo-area man popularized by
Obama's Republican opponent, John McCain.
Jones-Kelley could not be located for comment. Obama's Ohio campaign
spokesman did not return calls.
Jones-Kelley lives in Dayton and is the former director of the
Montgomery County Department of Job and Family Services.
Strickland administration polices forbid the use of state time or
property for election-related purposes. Jones-Kelley sent a memo to
all her employees on Oct. 21 reminding them of the prohibition.
Meanwhile, the State Highway Patrol is providing security for Jones-
Kelley because of numerous threats she has received regarding her
agency's checks into Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the
Plumber." Sgt. Timothy Karwatske said Strickland's office requested
the security.
After The Dispatch re****ted that state child-sup****t computers were
checked for potential information on Wurzelbacher, Jones-Kelley said
checks are made on newsworthy figures who might have come into money.
She later said that state computers also were used to conduct checks
to determine whether Wurzelbacher was receiving welfare assistance or
owed unemployment compensation taxes. Republican lawmakers suggested
the checks were politically motivated, a charge denied by Strickland
and Jones-Kelley.
Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine said in a news
release yesterday that the Strickland administration now presides over
an apparent "political party machine."
"The Strickland administration has already demonstrated a profound and
reckless disregard for personal privacy, and now they're apparently
abusing government resources to raise political contributions," DeWine
said.
Dispatch re****ter Catherine Candisky contributed to this story.
|
