Sat Mar 13 2010
by Marc Kovac
Capital Bureau chief
Columbus -- Not happy with the punishments given to state employees who improperly accessed information about a citizen made famous during the presidential campaigns as Joe the Plumber, the Ohio Christian Alliance and the ACLU have jointly called for the firing of these workers.
And lawmakers in both chambers at the Statehouse plan to introduce legislation to prevent further intrusions into residents' private records.
"Does the state government have the right to investigate private citizens simply because they ask questions of candidates (and office-holders)?" said Chris Long, alliance president. He added, "It is obvious that this was an abuse of power and an overreach by state governmental authorities. This is simply an outrage."
Long and others spoke during a press conference Dec. 2, in response to a recent investigation of Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The state Inspector General found that Jones-Kelley and others committed improper and wrongful acts in conducting background searches of Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher. The Toledo-area man was put in the national spotlight after repeated references to him by President-elect Barack Obama and John McCain.
The searches authorized by Jones-Kelley did not meet state law requirements for accessing the confidential databases, nor were there "policies or procedures" in place to support the move, according to the investigation.
The Inspector General also determined that Jones-Kelley used the state's e-mail system on several occasions to send messages related to the Obama campaign, including one offering a $2,500 contribution.
As a result of the incident, Jones-Kelley was suspended without pay for one month, and other department employees who were involved were formally reprimanded.
But Long said the suspensions were not adequate, and Jones-Kelley and others should be fired.
"By his actions, Gov. Strickland obviously is not taking this matter seriously enough," he said.
Gary Daniels, associate director of the ACLU of Ohio Foundation, agreed, adding that Wurzelbacher is probably not the first citizen to have his privacy compromised.
"We see time and time again in our organization -- people who are scared to speak up about any number of matters because they're afraid of what the government might do or say as a result," he said.
Lawmakers from the Ohio House and Senate announced their intentions Dec. 2 to introduce legislation that would prevent the improper accessing of private records and establish criminal penalties for those who do so.
The bills are being offered by Rep. Shannon Jones (R-southwestern Ohio) and Sen. Mark Wagoner (R-Toledo).
In a released statement, Jones said, "The systematic misuse of government databases and the governor's woeful under reaction to state government workers engaging in this outrageous behavior make this bill necessary. If this legislation becomes law, searching these databases will become harder, and if they are illegally searched, the penalties will be severe and swift. In fact, under this legislation the penalty for searching illegally will be firing."
Senate President Bill Harris (R-Ashland) said his chamber is in discussions with Republican House leadership on the best vehicle for the legislation.
"We've shared some concerns and issues that we'd like to have covered," he said. "And if one bill will accomplish it, then we want to make sure we get it passed."
Marc Kovac is the Dix Newspapers Capital Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com.
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