Editorial: Taxpayers deserve better than this

At worst, Allen County appears to have a clerk of courts who is collecting her salary without doing much work. At best, Gina Staley-Burley has a medical excuse for collecting a check without doing much work.

It might be unfair to Staley-Burley at this point to say Allen County taxpayers deserve better. But they certainly deserved an explanation long before they got one. Other elected officials, most of whom are hardworking, dedicated officials, also deserve better than the light in which this casts them all.

A former associate, other elected officials and even the county’s Republican Party chairman accuse Staley-Burley of not spending enough time in office. She’s been accused of coming in an hour or more later than the start of the business day — at least on the days she’s there — The Lima News reported last week. Allen County Common Pleas Judge Richard Warren and Republican Chairman Keith Cheney have confronted her about her work habits.

Former employee Charesa Smith also says Staley-Burley did not answer phones or help customers. This at a time that county employees are having to do more because of the budget crunch.

Whatever the reason, Staley-Burley’s attendance leaves a lot of questions. These are not questions taxpayers are likely to be pleased about when they’re giving Staley-Burley $68,000 a year, about three times what the average employee in her office earns. She told The Lima News that she missed time in 2007 and 2008 because of an illness that required four surgeries. No one should expect Staley-Burley to step down over medical problems, but taxpayers certainly deserved to know they were paying for an absent clerk of courts long before The Lima News brought it to light.

Allen County Recorder Mona Losh and other officials who would speak only on condition of anonymity say Staley-Burley’s absences have continued into this year. She needs to do better.

Losh said Staley-Burley has been absent many times, which has been hard on the office staff. Budget cuts have forced employees to take off a day or two each two-week pay period, adding to the workload of those remaining in the office. The person voters elect to run the office needs to help absorb the extra work.

Cheney, Losh and Warren deserve credit for confronting Staley-Burley and for their willingness to speak to the issue. Staley-Burley’s attendance problems are likely to cast an unfavorable light on all elected officeholders. It’s natural to suspect the worst of those who hold elected office, and Staley-Burley might have caused added suspicion for other officeholders who have had to do more with their shrinking budgets. They, too, deserve better.