Still more from the Jan. 13 VanderKlok-Wright recording....
Don Wright, general counsel for the State Board of Elections, states that Forsyth County Board of Elections Chair Linda Sutton tried to take action on former employee Rebecca VanderKlok's allegations of unprofessional conduct by county director Rob Coffman.
Wright: “She brought your letter up and, in fact, went over her minutes and expressed concern and got no support for anything further. The majority of the board voted just not to respond.”
VanderKlok: “God! You talkin’ about idiots. I mean, if I were planning to sue, they would be in a heap of trouble over that.”
Wright: “Well, and again, she knows [Republican member Jerry] Jordan, but she’s scratching her head over [Democratic member Frank] Dickerson, too.”
VanderKlok: “Well, they’re all in so tight with Earline Parmon. I don’t know. Just a lot doesn’t make sense.”
~
Wright: “Let me tell you the scenario. Pam Johnson has been for several months contacting us. We sent Marshall Tutor and Judy Pittman, investigators here. Linda Sutton has received all of that and has talked to Pam Johnson, but Pam has not agreed to come before the board. Linda is somewhat limited in that if you want action taken, it’s going to take more than a letter.”
VanderKlok: “Mm hmm.”
Wright: “And the board needs to be quote, educated. And, obviously, Mr. Dickerson hasn’t heard a lot. So that’s a downside. Then she got up with Gardenia Henley, who I understand that they have been interviewed with Fox 8 – and extensively interviewed by the Winston-Salem Journal. I understand that Pam’s ex-husband works for the Journal. Neither of those entities ran it.”
VanderKlok: “I know. That’s another thing, Don. One of the current, part-time employees went on tape, was part of that interview. Rob knows that she did it. Why is she allowed to stay? What is the hole there?”
Wright: “I don’t know. But the thing is, we at the state board were expecting Winston-Salem Journal to run something, and they didn’t. That would tell you something.”
~
Wright: “Rob goes [to trainings] on occasion; we’re also aware that he doesn’t stay.”
Showing posts with label Rebecca VanderKlok. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rebecca VanderKlok. Show all posts
'Linda, she can rant and rave'
More from the Jan. 13 Wright/VanderKlok exchange, which establishes that the elections field is a small world in the state of North Carolina, and the State Board of Elections keeps pretty close tabs on employees in county offices.
Here former Forsyth County Board of Elections employee Rebecca VanderKlok and state board General Counsel Don Wright discuss Chris Duffey, formerly the deputy director at the Davidson County Board of Elections and now an employee in the Forsyth elections office. Wright wants to know VanderKlok's opinion of Duffey. The exchange also reveals a degree of instability in the Davidson elections office, which is given as the reason for Duffey's migration to Forsyth.
Then, the former employee and state lawyer discuss the politics of the three members of the Forsyth County board in the context of how county Elections Director Rob Coffman has managed to keep his job. Both VanderKlok and Wright appear to have a pretty good understanding of how the votes are stacked up.
VanderKlok: “Chris ought to be director of that office.”
Wright: “Well, he’s got the experience to be a director somewhere. We don’t know where he will end up. We’re aware of his situation.”
VanderKlok: “And Chris may go back, you know?”
Wright: “Well, he was expected to stay there and take over. Things [are] rather shaky in Davidson County in view of the recent activities down there.
“And you are aware of the fact that on the [Forsyth County] board you have [Democratic chair] Linda Sutton, who has thoughts on Rob that are not necessarily shared by [Republican member Jerry] Jordan and [Democratic member Frank] Dickerson. There’s three people on the board.”
VanderKlok: “Mm hmm. I know.”
Wright: “And one should not assume that they all think the same. But you know as well as I do it takes two members of the board to do something.”
VanderKlok: “Well, and I’m really kind of surprised about Frank not acknowledging, nobody acknowledging. I’m really, really surprised about that, because I know Frank’s wife. We played golf together. Frank knew me. Of course, we didn’t have any kind of camaraderie.
“Frank asked me, he came to me one day, and it was about two months after he had been on the board. And he said, ‘I want to ask you something.’ He said, ‘How’s the atmosphere in here?’ Well, you know, I got along with Rob. I was a Rob fan. You know, you have to play Rob’s game, you know? I said, ‘Everything’s fine in here.’ Which was a lie. I said, ‘I think Linda Sutton just has it out for Rob.’ Because at that time you could tell that there was tension between ’em.
“But that’s kind of been smoothed over, and you would think they were best buddies. So something — I don’t know — something’s not right there.”
Wright: “Do you regret lying — or not stating the truth?”
VanderKlok: “Yeah. Yeah because you want to stay on the good side of Rob.”
Wright: “Well, the thing is, Dickerson’s taken a lot of that to heart. And what feelings Sutton has isn’t necessarily shared by Dickerson, and she’s outvoted. Jordan is firmly — there’s no secret — firmly behind Rob. But Dickerson is with Jordan. And so Linda, she can rant and rave….”
Here former Forsyth County Board of Elections employee Rebecca VanderKlok and state board General Counsel Don Wright discuss Chris Duffey, formerly the deputy director at the Davidson County Board of Elections and now an employee in the Forsyth elections office. Wright wants to know VanderKlok's opinion of Duffey. The exchange also reveals a degree of instability in the Davidson elections office, which is given as the reason for Duffey's migration to Forsyth.
Then, the former employee and state lawyer discuss the politics of the three members of the Forsyth County board in the context of how county Elections Director Rob Coffman has managed to keep his job. Both VanderKlok and Wright appear to have a pretty good understanding of how the votes are stacked up.
VanderKlok: “Chris ought to be director of that office.”
Wright: “Well, he’s got the experience to be a director somewhere. We don’t know where he will end up. We’re aware of his situation.”
VanderKlok: “And Chris may go back, you know?”
Wright: “Well, he was expected to stay there and take over. Things [are] rather shaky in Davidson County in view of the recent activities down there.
“And you are aware of the fact that on the [Forsyth County] board you have [Democratic chair] Linda Sutton, who has thoughts on Rob that are not necessarily shared by [Republican member Jerry] Jordan and [Democratic member Frank] Dickerson. There’s three people on the board.”
VanderKlok: “Mm hmm. I know.”
Wright: “And one should not assume that they all think the same. But you know as well as I do it takes two members of the board to do something.”
VanderKlok: “Well, and I’m really kind of surprised about Frank not acknowledging, nobody acknowledging. I’m really, really surprised about that, because I know Frank’s wife. We played golf together. Frank knew me. Of course, we didn’t have any kind of camaraderie.
“Frank asked me, he came to me one day, and it was about two months after he had been on the board. And he said, ‘I want to ask you something.’ He said, ‘How’s the atmosphere in here?’ Well, you know, I got along with Rob. I was a Rob fan. You know, you have to play Rob’s game, you know? I said, ‘Everything’s fine in here.’ Which was a lie. I said, ‘I think Linda Sutton just has it out for Rob.’ Because at that time you could tell that there was tension between ’em.
“But that’s kind of been smoothed over, and you would think they were best buddies. So something — I don’t know — something’s not right there.”
Wright: “Do you regret lying — or not stating the truth?”
VanderKlok: “Yeah. Yeah because you want to stay on the good side of Rob.”
Wright: “Well, the thing is, Dickerson’s taken a lot of that to heart. And what feelings Sutton has isn’t necessarily shared by Dickerson, and she’s outvoted. Jordan is firmly — there’s no secret — firmly behind Rob. But Dickerson is with Jordan. And so Linda, she can rant and rave….”
State elections lawyer on process for removing county director
During a 45-minute meeting with former Forsyth County Board of Elections employee Rebecca VanderKlok in Clemmons on Jan. 13, Don Wright, general counsel for the State Board of Elections discussed in detail the possible removal of county Elections Director Rob Coffman.
Don Wright: “The State Board of Elections — there’s the five — they are in control of the executive director [Gary Bartlett], and they generally — they’re also in control of the county board of elections, they can remove for cause any member of the county board of elections, but they do not deal with the relationship between the county board of elections and county board staff. Other words, hiring an assistant or a campaign finance person, that’s up to the county board.
“However, the executive director, by statute, for cause, can take action against a county director with or without the consent of the county board.”
Rebecca VanderKlok: “I’m aware of that.”
Wright: “Now, the State Board of Elections, if anything further’s going to happen to the county director, they have to become involved, and what they would generally do is they would unite with the county board and try to work to see where there’s a consensus, but if they think the county board has not taken the correct position they can deal directly with the director. Also, two other situations: When we have removed the director and the county board says, ‘We don’t know what to do,’ we will staff a county. And that’s generally small counties. We’ve run county boards for several months at a time. A office the size of y’all, it would be looked to the staff, and say, ‘Who can do it?’
“Another thing is when Pam [Johnson] and Terry [Cox] and staff — the channel is this: To the county board. And you did the right thing, Rebecca, by writing [county board chair] Linda Sutton. You’re disappointed because the county board took no action. I’m down here basically to find out what’s going on, confirm our opinions so I can report to the executive director: ‘This is the lay of the land and if you want my opinion,’ so, da da da da. ‘These are steps that will be taken,’ da da da da. When, deadlines, that sort of thing. If something’s going to happen, it’s going to be this year; it’s not going to be 2012. I don’t know what will happen. It will be up to basically my executive director and the state board, and a possibility which may make you feel good. ’Cause come June 2011 the county board has to be reappointed.”
VanderKlok: “Mm hmm. Right.”
Wright: “And rumor has it that [Republican board member Jerry] Jordan doesn’t want to be reappointed.”
VanderKlok: “I’ve heard that.”
Wright: “Rumor has it that [Democratic board member Frank] Dickerson is not all that enthusiastic. I think Sutton is leaning towards wanting, if they would re-nominate her, to re-nominate her ’cause she feels she has unfinished business.”
VanderKlok: “Hmm.”
Wright: “Which means, that’s a new board with probably, I’m guessing, two sets of new eyes to look at items which have been looked at before and resulted in inaction. I can’t tell you if there are going to be two new board members or not. I can’t tell you if Linda Sutton will be re-nominated or not because that’s up to the political parties. But if there are two new board members, they’re going to be looking at stuff anew. And also, too, there are going to be two new board members that haven’t had time to come under the influence of the county….”
VanderKlok: “Right. Oh, he’ll schmooze ’em real quick. He’s good at that.”
Wright: “Well, we understand that but we also understand that probably new board members here probably would benefit from an orientation….”
VanderKlok: “Well, that’s true….”
Wright: “… by the state board staff and also lay of the land by somebody staying on — one person. So there’s some events happening.”
Don Wright: “The State Board of Elections — there’s the five — they are in control of the executive director [Gary Bartlett], and they generally — they’re also in control of the county board of elections, they can remove for cause any member of the county board of elections, but they do not deal with the relationship between the county board of elections and county board staff. Other words, hiring an assistant or a campaign finance person, that’s up to the county board.
“However, the executive director, by statute, for cause, can take action against a county director with or without the consent of the county board.”
Rebecca VanderKlok: “I’m aware of that.”
Wright: “Now, the State Board of Elections, if anything further’s going to happen to the county director, they have to become involved, and what they would generally do is they would unite with the county board and try to work to see where there’s a consensus, but if they think the county board has not taken the correct position they can deal directly with the director. Also, two other situations: When we have removed the director and the county board says, ‘We don’t know what to do,’ we will staff a county. And that’s generally small counties. We’ve run county boards for several months at a time. A office the size of y’all, it would be looked to the staff, and say, ‘Who can do it?’
“Another thing is when Pam [Johnson] and Terry [Cox] and staff — the channel is this: To the county board. And you did the right thing, Rebecca, by writing [county board chair] Linda Sutton. You’re disappointed because the county board took no action. I’m down here basically to find out what’s going on, confirm our opinions so I can report to the executive director: ‘This is the lay of the land and if you want my opinion,’ so, da da da da. ‘These are steps that will be taken,’ da da da da. When, deadlines, that sort of thing. If something’s going to happen, it’s going to be this year; it’s not going to be 2012. I don’t know what will happen. It will be up to basically my executive director and the state board, and a possibility which may make you feel good. ’Cause come June 2011 the county board has to be reappointed.”
VanderKlok: “Mm hmm. Right.”
Wright: “And rumor has it that [Republican board member Jerry] Jordan doesn’t want to be reappointed.”
VanderKlok: “I’ve heard that.”
Wright: “Rumor has it that [Democratic board member Frank] Dickerson is not all that enthusiastic. I think Sutton is leaning towards wanting, if they would re-nominate her, to re-nominate her ’cause she feels she has unfinished business.”
VanderKlok: “Hmm.”
Wright: “Which means, that’s a new board with probably, I’m guessing, two sets of new eyes to look at items which have been looked at before and resulted in inaction. I can’t tell you if there are going to be two new board members or not. I can’t tell you if Linda Sutton will be re-nominated or not because that’s up to the political parties. But if there are two new board members, they’re going to be looking at stuff anew. And also, too, there are going to be two new board members that haven’t had time to come under the influence of the county….”
VanderKlok: “Right. Oh, he’ll schmooze ’em real quick. He’s good at that.”
Wright: “Well, we understand that but we also understand that probably new board members here probably would benefit from an orientation….”
VanderKlok: “Well, that’s true….”
Wright: “… by the state board staff and also lay of the land by somebody staying on — one person. So there’s some events happening.”
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