Posted on 10/31/2008 5:48:32 PM PDT by buccaneer81
State employee says she was ordered to check out Joe the Plumber Friday, October 31, 2008 8:21 PM By Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch Vanessa Niekamp said that when was asked to run a child-support check on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher on Oct. 16, she thought it routine. A supervisor told her the man had contacted the state agency about his case.
Niekamp didn't know she just had checked on "Joe the Plumber," who was elevated the night before to presidential politics prominence as Republican John McCain's example in a debate of an average American.
The senior manager would not learn about "Joe" for another week, when she said her boss informed her and directed her to write an e-mail stating her computer check was a legitimate inquiry.
The reason Niekamp said she was given for checking if there was a child-support case on Wurzelbacher does not match the reason given by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Director Helen Jones-Kelley said her agency checks people who are "thrust into the public spotlight," amid suggestions they may have come into money, to see if they owe support or are receiving undeserved public assistance.
Niekamp told The Dispatch she is unfamiliar with the practice of checking on the newly famous. "I've never done that before, I don't know of anybody in my office who does that and I don't remember anyone ever doing that," she said today.
Democrat Gov. Ted Strickland and Jones-Kelley, both supporters of Democrat Barack Obama, have denied political motives in checking on Wurzelbacher. The Toledo-area resident later endorsed McCain. State officials say any information on "Joe" is confidential and was not released.
Today,Strickland press secretary Keith Dailey said neither the governor's office nor Job and Family Services officials could comment due to an ongoing investigation by Ohio's inspector general.
Republican legislators have called the checks suspicious and Jones-Kelley's reason for them flimsy. They are demanding to know whether state computers were accessed in an attempt to dig up dirt on Wurzelbacher.
Jones-Kelley has revealed that her agency also checked Wurzelbacher to see if he was receiving welfare assistance or owed unemployment compensation taxes. "Joe the Plumber" has said he is not involved in a child-support case.
About 3 p.m. on Oct. 16, Niekamp said Carrie Brown, assistant deputy director for child support, asked her to run Wurzelbacher through the computer. Citing privacy laws, Niekamp would not say what, if anything, was found on "Joe."
On Oct. 23, Niekamp said Doug Thompson, deputy director for child support, told her she had checked on "Joe the Plumber." Thompson "literally demanded" that she write an e-mail to the agency's chief privacy officer stating she checked the case for child-support purposes, she said.
Thompson told her that Jones-Kelley said Wurzelbacher might buy a plumbing business and could owe support. Thompson said he replied that he "would check him out."
Niekamp, 38, a senior child-support manager, said she never heard any discussion of politics amid what her supervisors told her about the checks on Wurzelbacher.
Worried about her $69,000-a-year job and potential criminal charges, the 15-year state employee said she went to Inspector General Thomas P. Charles on Oct. 24. She has seen employees fired, and dismissed one herself, for illegally accessing personal information in support cases. Niekamp, a registered Republican, said politics played no role in what she told investigators.
The e-mail that Niekamp said she wrote was not among records provided yesterday to The Dispatch in response to a public-records request. Nor did the agency, as required by state law, say it withheld any records.
Strickland spokesman Dailey later said one e-mail was withheld from The Dispatch because its release is prohibited by federal or state law. He did not explain under what specific law the e-mail was withheld.
So don't read them, 30 post newbie.
most of the data is tracked by electronic access. An advantage of having a subordinate doing the check is that the subordinate employee’s ID is tagged to the access, so the lower level person gets into trouble if there is trouble.
I think the manager may have made a mistake by putting the order into e-mail, thus creating a digital trail. If the manager said to do this via an in person discussion, then got info via print out or in person discussion, then all blame is on this woman - not the boss who ordered it for political purposes.
The employee has to prove - before critical proof in her favor is deleted - that she was ORDERED to do this. Otherwise, she’s the one who faces personally identifiable information leak charges.
“Director Helen Jones-Kelley said her agency checks people who are “thrust into the public spotlight,” amid suggestions they may have come into money, to see if they owe support or are receiving undeserved public assistance.”
“This is a lie.”
I agree. I’d like to see the guidance that requires this policy.
Oh great..
And how does that make any sense?
Look, if we read someone spewing lies about Gov. Palin, Bush, or republican/conservatives et al.
TROLLS.IBTZ.
And for good reason.
But by your standards, let’s just ignore them.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
dumbass.
Now run along and have some Halloween candy.
“Are you paid with tax dollars, by chance?”
“30 post newbie.”
Uh yeah sure, can’t take even one can you?
Congratulations, you are another reason why people don’t like the conservative party. As childish as their reason might be in the long run.
Forget it, you are only interested in yourself anyway.
The Republican party is hardly “conservative.” Conservatism is a philosophy. The public schools apparently had their full impact on you. Too bad. Another lost soul.
Zot.
I wish we had a conservative party.
They call Republicans Nazis now. Imagine if we were really, truly conservative?
Let this little story be burnt into our souls so we can remember it the next time someone decides that it would be a good idea to have a gun registry.
It shows that we should all be squeaky clean and ready for action.
You, too, could be called, for such a time as this.
Go back over my 450+ threads and 9600 posts. Then get back to me.
Lemme guess - - Ohio's inspector general is just another corrupt scumbag Democrat, right? Am I right?
“Our political system is so corrupt that we’d be better off without the government. Heck, we’ve got only vigilante justice anyway.”
Not so Brilliant.
Seesh, you were outed so easily.
*Used ‘apparently’ because you were behaving like the media.
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