Clerk of courts accused of being absent

LIMA — During a time when Allen County is facing some of the toughest economic conditions in decades, Clerk of Courts Gina Staley-Burley is being accused of not spending enough time on the job.

The accusations come from a former associate, other elected officials and the chairman of her own political party.

Staley-Burley denies such claims, saying she works hard at her job and the only time she has missed work has been for health issues involving herself or her family.

“I did have individuals express to me concerns about her attendance,” said Keith Cheney, chairman of the local Republican Party.

Cheney was unsure how much time Staley-Burley missed because, as an elected official, she has a set salary and does not have to use a time clock.

Staley-Burley said she missed time in 2007 and 2008 because of an illness that required four surgeries. She said those issues are under control and were not a factor this year. However, she said she missed time this year in September and October from an illness she believes was swine flu, although she didn’t have a test to confirm that. She also said her family faced illness during that time requiring her attention.

“If it hasn’t been an illness or if it hasn’t been a family obligation, the only time I’ve missed is I go to one seminar a year with my family,” she said. “If I would have known this was an issue, I would have kept a timecard.”

However, other officials speaking on condition of anonymity and Allen County Recorder Mona Losh have said there have been numerous absences throughout this year.

Boiling over

The concerns reached a boiling point recently when Cheney said Judge Richard Warren of Allen County Common Pleas Court confronted Staley-Burley. Although Warren reportedly raised his voice during the situation, Cheney declined to comment referring it to both parties to characterize.

Warren declined to comment on the situation other than to say, “We are all public servants. We have an obligation to uphold that oath that we take to serve the public.”

Staley-Burley wouldn’t say if it were Warren with whom she had the encounter.

“I had an incident with one elected official recently and that was the only time I can remember that anyone said anything to me,” she said.

She was vague about the encounter.

“I had to have a conference with one of my employees about several instances that had happened and I think he misunderstood the context of what had happened,” she said. “At the time I asked if he wanted to sit down and discuss it with me and he was unwilling.”

Staley-Burley’s absences have been a topic for discussion, but an allegiance to the Republican Party and the fact her brother, Matt Staley, is a county judge, has kept some people from raising concerns publicly.

“It’s has been a conversation among all of us,” Losh said.

Performance questioned

Staley-Burley will be paid about $68,000 this year, which is about three times what the average employee in her office earns. She also has been accused of coming in an hour or more late on the days she is there.

Staley-Burley said she arrives at work about 45 minutes after the office opens each day, which allows her to see her children off to school. She said she makes that time up by working through her lunch hour and helping the staff out by answering the phones and serving customers.

But former employee Charesa Smith, who worked in the clerk’s office for two years and left in 2008, said Staley-Burley did not answer phones or help customers.

“She never answered the telephone because she didn’t know what to tell them, and that was from her own mouth,” Smith said.

Losh said Staley-Burley has been absent many times, which has been hard on the office staff this year. Budget cuts have forced employees to take off between one and two days each two-week pay period, because the money is not there to pay them.

“I like Gina, she’s a nice person, but it’s wrong,” Losh said. “You’re supposed to make your office run the best you can.”

Smith, who said she left on good terms and has Staley-Burley as a job reference, said Staley-Burley stayed in her office even when the workplace was short staffed with phones ringing and no one free to answer them.

While in her office, Staley-Burley was using the Internet mostly for personal reasons or exchanging jokes via e-mail, Smith said.

Smith said there often was not a legitimate reason behind the absences.

“Things come up with kids, I understand that. If she just needed to take care of something that day at home and felt she wasn’t needed, she would stay home,” Smith said.

Other obligations questioned

Cheney also said Staley-Burley has missed numerous obligations, including meetings on the new title building project and the data processing board.

Staley-Burley, who is in the first year of her second term, said she attended about half the meetings for the new title office that falls under her authority and sent employees to all other meetings.

“It was important for us to be there, but many times, we would have no contribution to the meeting,” she said. “Most of it was them informing us, letting us know saying, ‘Hey, right now we’re putting in the plumbing.’”

Staley-Burley said she did miss numerous data board meetings in 2007 and 2008 because of an illness but has attended all the meetings this year with the exception of two, to which she sent an employee from her office. She said meetings, which are held monthly, were canceled four times.

“This year I have done better,” she said.