No state records show
database checks before ‘Joe’
By
Randy Ludlow
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH - November 14, 2008
The Ohio
Department of Job and Family Services has no records to support
the assertion of its now-suspended director that computer checks
often are run on people “thrust quickly into the public
spotlight.”
In response to a public records request, the state agency
said yesterday that it had no records involving previous checks
of the type that Director Helen Jones-Kelley authorized on “Joe
the Plumber.”
However, agency spokesman Brian Harter said that although
there are no records, Ohio’s inspector general has been provided
with “several examples of the practice.” He could not provide
details.
Inspector General Thomas P. Charles is investigating the
legality of inquiries using agency computer systems seeking
personal information on Toledo-area resident Samuel Joseph
Wurzelbacher, who had been made into a national figure by
Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
Gov. Ted Strickland placed Jones-Kelley on paid leave last
Friday after e-mails requested by The Dispatch revealed that she
had used her state e-mail account to help raise campaign funds
for McCain’s Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.
The Dispatch discovered that Jones-Kelley had run a check on
Wurzelbacher through her agency’s child-support computer system.
Jones-Kelley later said that checks also were run in
public-assistance and unemployment-compensation-tax databases.
Jones-Kelley, a Democratic appointee who contributed $5,000
to Obama campaign funds, said there were no political motives
behind the checks run the day after the Oct. 15 presidential
debate, in which McCain repeatedly referred to “Joe the
Plumber.”
She wrote later that “consistent with past departmental
practice,” the agency had checked whether Wurzelbacher was
receiving public aid or owed taxes or child support because he
had indicated he had the money to buy a plumbing business.
Republicans denounced the reason given for the checks as
flimsy.
The state agency has no policy addressing computer checks on
the newly rich or famous. The agency does not keep records on
whose confidential records are accessed, Harter said.
As an example of checking on someone who might have come
into money, Jones-Kelley cited a lottery winner who was found to
owe child support. State law requires checks on lottery winners
of $600 or more to determine whether they owe support.
Charles, who also is digging into the use of state resources
to benefit a political campaign, said his investigation “remains
a work in progress.”
rludlow@dispatch.com
Ohio Department of Job
and Family Services chief Helen Jones-Kelley authorized a
check on “Joe the Plumber.”
HELP FOR OBAMA CAMPAIGN
E-mails get leader of
state office suspended
By
Randy Ludlow
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH - November 8, 2008
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 reported that state child-support
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 De-Wine 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.
Helen
Jones-Kelley is the Job and Family Services director.
DIFFERING EXPLANATIONS OF
EVENTS
‘Joe’ check routine, worker
was told
Saturday,
November 1, 2008
By Randy
Ludlow
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Vanessa Niekamp
said that when she was asked to run a child-support check on Samuel
Joseph Wurzelbacher on Oct. 16, she thought it was routine. A
supervisor told her the man had contacted the state agency about his
case.
Niekamp said she didn’t know she just had checked on “Joe the
Plumber,” who had been elevated the night before to
presidential-politics prominence in a debate as Republican John
McCain’s example of an average American.
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 might
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 yesterday.
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.
Wurzelbacher has said he is not involved in a child-support
case.
Yesterday, Strickland press secretary Keith Dailey said neither
the governor’s office nor Job and Family Services officials could
comment because of an ongoing investigation by Ohio’s inspector
general.
Republican legislators have called the checks suspicious and
Jones-Kelley’s reason for them flimsy.
Jones-Kelley has revealed that her agency also checked
Wurzelbacher to see if he was receiving welfare assistance or owed
unemployment-compensation taxes.
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 laws that forbid the release of information on the state’s
child-support system. Dailey said he was neither confirming nor
denying the existence of a case on Wurzelbacher.
rludlow@dispatch.com
Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher has said there is no basis for
state checks.
Agency head defends 'Joe' searches
Thursday, October 30, 2008 3:30 AM
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A state agency has revealed that its checks of computer systems for
potential information on "Joe the Plumber" were more extensive than it
first acknowledged.
Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family
Services, disclosed yesterday that computer inquiries on Samuel Joseph
Wurzelbacher were not restricted to a child-support system.
The agency also checked Wurzelbacher in its computer systems to
determine whether he was receiving welfare assistance or owed
unemployment compensation taxes, she wrote.
Jones-Kelley made the revelations in a letter to Ohio Senate
President Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland, who demanded answers on why state
officials checked out Wurzelbacher.
Harris called the multiple records checks "questionable" and said he
awaits more answers. "It's kind of like Big Brother is looking in your
pocket," he said.
If state employees run checks on every person listed in newspaper
stories as buying a business, "it must take a lot of people a lot of
time to run these checks," he said. "Where do you draw the line?"
The checks were run after the news media reported that Wurzelbacher
was considering buying a plumbing business with more than $250,000 in
annual income, Jones-Kelley wrote.
"Given our understanding that Mr. Wurzelbacher had publicly indicated
that he had the means to purchase a substantial business enterprise,
ODJFS, consistent with past departmental practice, checked confidential
databases …," she wrote.
"Not surprisingly, when a person behind in child-support payments or
receiving public assistance is receiving significant media attention
which suggests that the person appears to have available financial
resources, the Department risks justifiable criticism if it fails to
take note and respond," Jones-Kelley wrote.
The results of the searches were not publicly released and remain
confidential, she wrote. Wurzelbacher has said he is not involved in a
child-support case and has not purchased any business.
Jones-Kelley wrote the checks were "well-meaning," but misinterpreted
amid the heated final weeks of a presidential election.
Wurzelbacher became a household name when Republican presidential
candidate Sen. John McCain frequently referred to "Joe the Plumber"
during his Oct. 15 debate with Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama. The
checks began the next day.
Wurzelbacher, who has endorsed and campaigned for McCain, had been
caught on videotape challenging Obama about his tax proposals during a
campaign visit to "Joe's" neighborhood in the Toledo suburb of Holland.
Republicans have painted the checks on Wurzelbacher as a politically
motivated bid by Democrats to dig up dirt and discredit the McCain ally.
The Obama campaign has said it has no ties to the checks and supports
investigations.
The administration of Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland has said the
information was not shared improperly and that there were no political
motives behind the checks.
The Dispatch has uncovered four uses of state
computer systems to access personal information on Wurzelbacher,
including the child-support check authorized by Jones-Kelley.
She said Monday that her department frequently runs checks for any
unpaid child-support obligations "when someone is thrust quickly into
the public spotlight."
Republican legislators have challenged Jones-Kelley's reason for
checking on Wurzelbacher as "frightening" and flimsy.
Jones-Kelly also has denied any connections between the computer
checks on Wurzelbacher and her support for Obama. She donated $2,500
this year to the Obama campaign.
Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles is investigating whether the
child-support check on Wurzelbacher was legal.
Republicans have painted the checks on Samuel Wurzelbacher as a
politically motivated bid to dig up dirt and discredit the ally of John
McCain.
Helen Jones-Kelly: Click on Picture to See Letter of Explanation Written
by Director
Joe, The PlumberEDITORIALS
Privacy violations
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH - October
29, 2008
Officials shouldn’t be snooping
for private records on Ohioans who are thrust into public eye
Gov. Ted Strickland should
order his agency directors not to snoop on private citizens who land
in the campaign spotlight. Such scrutiny could have a chilling
effect on the willingness of people to stand up and be counted prior
to elections.
It also undermines the confidence of all Ohioans that their
state government is serious about protecting sensitive information.
The director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services,
Helen Jones-Kelley, confirmed on Monday that she approved a records
check on suddenly famous Joe the plumber, who was mentioned
frequently by John McCain in his Oct. 15 presidential debate with
Barack Obama.
Joe the plumber, real name Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, of
Holland, near Toledo, was thrust into the spotlight because he told
Obama at a Toledo appearance that he fears the Democratic
presidential candidate’s tax proposals would prevent Wurzelbacher
from buying the business that he works for
Jones-Kelley said checking for child-support data on
Wurzelbacher was routine, not political, citing a previous records
check on a lottery winner. Checking the child-support status of
someone who has come into money makes sense. But that rationale
doesn’t apply to Wurzelbacher. Jones-Kelly will have to make a much
better case that the records check was not politically motivated.
Strickland, who also said there were no political motives in the
data checking, apparently is giving her the benefit of the doubt.
Access to such data is supposed to be restricted to official
business of government and law enforcement.
Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles is investigating
whether the data-checking was improper or illegal. Through
public-records requests, The Dispatch has determined that there were
at least four checks for records on Wurzelbacher. That sounds like
an effort to dig up dirt.
Driver’s-license and vehicle-registration data about
Wurzelbacher were obtained from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Also,
the State Highway Patrol is investigating unauthorized access to
data about Wurzelbacher in the attorney general’s office from a test
account that the office shared with contractors who developed a
computer network for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police.
Unauthorized and unjustified dredging of restricted government
databases to find possibly embarrassing information on Americans
simply for participating in democracy is unacceptable.
At the very least, Jones-Kelley should be reproved, and anyone
who conducted an illegal search of Wurzelbacher’s records should be
prosecuted.
