Has the Plain Dealer run out of county officials to expose as patronage kings? Maybe -- because now they're investigating a city official: Earle Turner, the Cleveland municipal court clerk.
Both stories are by Mark Puente, the reporter whose exposés of former sheriff Gerald McFaul I wrote about in this month's Cleveland Magazine.
I'll let Puente's latest work speak for itself:
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Turner averaged about seven hours in the office per week last year, according to parking records at the Justice Center.
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Turner has hired 127 clerks since taking office in 1996, but none of them have taken a civil service test. ... Turner said state law allows him to use the "chief deputy" title on all hires. The label is not used to skirt civil service laws, he said. But he later added that if his employees took entrance tests, the city's civil service commission would oversee it and determine how many workers the office needs.
"I would lose my power," Turner said. "I wouldn't have no authority."
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4 comments:
Erick,
The Plain Dealer has not run out of county officials to investigate. I cover the police beat, which encompasses the sheriff and the city's clerk of courts office inside the Justice Center.
Mark
Keep up the stellar work, Mark. You're a daily reminder of the crucial importance of good beat newspaper reporting.
Thanks for explaining, Mark. No criticism intended.
Checkout the new option this year... search google for "elect phil cleveland clerk".
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