|
The Rinaldi Report
by Peter Rinaldi
Those darn supervisors!
One of Mississippi’s more popular sports is criticizing local
supervisors. People take delight in the folly of our leaders, who often
have trouble doing the job right.
The Adams County Supervisors’ recent appointment of a
justice court administrator-chief clerk provides a little more fodder
for the cynics and amusement for those more light of heart.
The current justice court administrator is retiring. So
supervisors interviewed two candidates for the job, both current justice
court clerks. One had an accounting, law enforcement and a college
background; the other had more than a dozen years on the job in justice
court.
Politics being what it is, supervisors interviewed one white
candidate and one black candidate. Both were female.
When it came down to the final vote, Supervisors Grennell,
Campbell and Felter opted for the lady with more time on the job in
justice court. Watts and Lazarus thought the other woman would be a
better choice. While it was a bit obvious from the beginning that
Grennell and Campbell made their pick based both on her experience and
her race, Felter cemented the appointment, saying their choice, “had
never done me wrong.”
The person supervisors selected is Audrey Bailey. You may
remember her. She ran for Adams County Justice Court Judge North against
Patricia Dunmore. Needless to say, after a bitter losing campaign,
Bailey still doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Judge Dunmore. Distrust and bad
feelings would be nothing new among county employees. In the close
quarters of justice court, the situation remains uncomfortable for both
women.
As Bailey was barely seated in her job, she was planning to
hire two new employees who are her buddies, bypassing a regular
interview process. What there qualifications are, no one seems to know.
They were simply FOA, friends of Audrey.
Then the manure really hit the fan. It turns out Bailey had
trouble securing the required legal bond. The normal bonding company
refused to issue the bond because of her past and current financial
problems, which includes a possible foreclosure and unpaid debts. So her
allies suggested a friend or relative could put up a property bond to
guarantee her job. Eventually, a Jackson company issued the bond at a
premium price.
Supervisors were surprised to learn of her financial
problems, because they asked her in the interview, ‘Is there any reason
you can’t be bonded?’ She responded there was no reason why she would
not be.
If you ask why the bonding company might be reluctant to
issue a bond, think about this. Thousands of dollars in cash come into
justice court every year. It would be very easy to take a payment in
cash, issue a receipt and delete the records from the computer, putting
the cash in your pocket. The justice court administrator makes all
deposits. The cash and money orders coming into the office total as much
as $40,000-$70,000 per month. And Adams County Justice Court has already
had a history of light fingers. Remember the constable that was
dismissed for absconding with justice court funds? And a justice court
administrator has much more access to the money. An administrator with
long term financial history of financial problems might be tempted to
“borrow” to make ends meet. If an administrator stole cash and was
caught, the bonding company would have to post repayment.
Bailey’s problems are not just a minor deal. It turns out
supervisors had to send her home from her current job as justice court
clerk, when they found out she wasn’t bonded for that job either.
Fortunately, she was able to pull a rabbit out of the magic hat and save
her job and get that bond from the Jackson company.
A good question to ask is whether her fellow justice court
clerks have bonds or not, or is everything just slipshod.
Felter is sticking by his guns on his vote. “She hasn’t done
me wrong. I get along with her,” ole Spanky said. Felter may be friends
or acquaintances with Bailey, but that’s not a qualification for an
important management post. A minimal background check would have brought
the financial problems to light. Then the determination could have been
made whether the problems were current, one of past history or part of a
long-term pattern of living that brings into question her judgment and
maturity.
Supervisors soon realized they had made at least a
procedural error. Following the Bailey appointment, they voted to do
background checks on all future hires and mandatory drug tests, too.
Whether a drug test applies to Bailey or not, the supes didn’t say.
While supervisors said they would do a background check on
new hires, what happens if they find out the person is a skunk? Or maybe
the new hire has a history of a just a few little personal, financial or
criminal problems. Is that grounds for not hiring? What are the
criteria? Supervisors left that lack of clarity to future intrigue.
A few months ago, The Natchez Democrat wrote a series
of commentaries and articles saying the Adams County Supervisors (a few
of them or all of them, depending on the piece) were lying, dumb,
ineffectual, making mistakes, breaking the law, etc., etc. I took
exception to the slant. I reasoned, “Give the new boys, Lazarus, Watts
and Felter some time to see what they can accomplish. They’re really
trying to change the way business has been done in past years. It’s new
era.”
Sadly, the new era may not be all that lustrous. I may owe Democrat
writers Julie Finley Cooper and Adam Koob a slight bow of the head
in apology. They may have been at least half right.
At best, Felter is naïve in his judgment on this issue. For Grennell and
Campbell, they sat in the interviews. They knew that the college grad
lady had correctly assessed some of the problems in justice court and
had some specific ideas to remedy those problems. (Supervisors said they
were aware of some long standing issues in the court and hoped the new
hire would improve the function of the court.)
In the end, Grennell and Campbell didn’t really care about competence
or Bailey’s financial problems. You might be left with the impression
they see their political duty to appoint black employees regardless. If
that’s to be the standard, the interview process should have been opened
up at least county-wide. There are many competent, financially secure
African-American people in Adams County that would have loved to apply
for this job and would be able to execute the responsibilities.
As a side note, The Natchez Sun/Miss-Lou Magazine has
had one part-time editor over the past six years, Clarisse Washington.
She got the job because she was the best qualified (education and
experience), had the best writing skills and was more intelligent that
the two white folks who also interviewed for the job. She just happens
to be black. I made the best business decision at the time. Her six
years of her stalwart assistance proves I made the right choice,
testimony to her professional ability. In the age of Obama, a job hire
should not be about who is black and who is white.
I hired the best person for the job. And the supervisors
should have done the same. Instead they settled for second best, made a
foolish and racial political choice and embarrassed themselves. |
