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watchdog66
F L I N T O I D
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Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:57 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Monday, January 17,2011
Alleged remark by Forsyth elections director prompts interest by state officials
By Jordan Green
An allegation that the Forsyth County elections director made an inappropriate comment to a former employee prompted a fact-finding visit from Raleigh on Jan. 13 by the State Board of Elections top lawyer.
Don Wright, general counsel for the State Board of Elections, met first with Linda Sutton, the Democratic chair of the Forsyth County Board of Elections, and then conferred with Rebecca Vanderklok, the former employee, at the Clemmons Branch Library. Finally, he paid a visit to Forsyth County Elections Director Rob Coffman at the Forsyth County Government Center in downtown Winston-Salem to get his side of the story.
Vanderklok told Don Wright that she and department training specialist named Jacob Wright — no relation — had become close friends, albeit separated by three decades when the alleged remark was made around August 2009. Vanderklok said she was sitting behind the counter when Coffman and Wright walked past.
“I said, ‘Where are you taking my young’un?’” Vanderklok recalled. “And they both turned around and came up to the counter, and Rob made a statement: ‘Well, do you have a MILF relationship?’
“I didn’t understand what he was talking about, so I said, ‘What’s he talking about, ‘MILF’?” Vanderklok continued. “Jacob said, ‘You don’t want to know.’… I sat there in my office on my computer and Googled it on county property, and I was very taken aback as to what the insinuation was. I had never heard of it.”
MILF is a crude acronym for a sexually attractive middle-aged woman.
The conversation was recorded Vanderklok and Wright’s knowledge on a device owned by Terry Cox, another former employee. A copy was provided to YES! Weekly.
Vanderklok resigned in October 2010. In an earlier interview with YES! Weekly, she cited a lack of professionalism on Coffman’s part as the reason for her departure.
Coffman denied the remark in a phone interview with YES! Weekly, but said that the term might have come up during a conversation among employees and that he recalled telling Vanderklok she would have to look it up herself when she inquired about the term’s meaning.
At Coffman’s instigation, Jacob Wright spoke to YES! Weekly. At first, he declined to speak on the record. Then Wright called back, and denied overhearing the remark.
As a reflection of the severity of the allegation, Coffman said, “This is a career ender.” He added, “This event never happened. It’s insulting.”
Don Wright acknowledged to Vanderklok that Coffman holds, at the very least, a reputation for inappropriate remarks.
“There’s no question that Rob Coffman can be the biggest jerk in the world,” Don Wright told Vanderklok during their meeting at the Clemmons library. “You’re right: It’s been consistent from Day 1. He’s consistent. The question is: How does that affect the operation of the office?”
The alleged “MILF” remark to Vanderklok is among a string of similarly inappropriate comments that former staff members have attributed to Coffman.
Cox and Pamela Johnson, another former employee, told YES! Weekly that in September 2008 Coffman humiliated an African-American woman employed as a temporary worker as the “local crack ho on loan to us from the jail.”
Don Wright alluded to the remark during his meeting with Vanderklok, suggesting that he and other top officials at the State Board of Elections have been apprised of it.
Coffman did not deny having made the “crack ho” remark.
“I went through a training that was not necessarily diversity, but it was racial relations,” he said.
“There was one issue in 2008,” he added. “Is that a pattern?”
Cox, who retired from the board of elections in March 2010 following several months on medical leave, said he learned that Coffman told staff that Cox “was out on sick leave having a sex change operation.”
Coffman denied making the statement. He also denied an allegation by Vanderklok and Johnson that he made fun of a current employee for her weight, calling her a “blob.”
“How can you say that doesn’t affect the office?” Vanderklok asked Don Wright. “I think it creates a hostile work environment.”
Wright said he and Coffman have talked about his propensity for inappropriate remarks.
“Rob admits he’s a jerk, too, if you confront him,” Wright said. “I said, ‘Rob, you’ve said so many stupid things at the most stupid times.’ I’ve told him that. He’s said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Can’t you control your mouth?’ He said, ‘I have trouble.’ I said, ‘You’ve only got yourself to blame.’”
Wright and Vanderklok discussed the possibility of removing Coffman, with Wright noting that Coffman could lose support from the local board of elections when new members are sworn in, in July.
“If 2012 comes about and the situation is Rob Coffman is still in there — basically, Rob’s a jerk. He says the wrong things. He doesn’t treat people well, but he does get the election out. So basically, if anything’s going to be done, it’s going to be 2011. It has to be, because we got to take the interests of the people to get the election done.”
The recording reveals Don Wright making disparaging remarks about Lamar Joyner, the deputy director of elections in Forsyth County.
“He’s got no initiative,” Wright can be heard saying to Vanderklok, “very little backbone.”
The question of Joyner’s competency is discussed in the context of his status as the next in command should Coffman be removed.
“If Rob Coffman goes a month before an election and Lamar is in, what will happen?” Wright asked.
Vanderklok laughed aloud.
“See my point?” Wright asked.
During the 45-minute conversation, Vanderklok briefly raised a concern about potential violations of election law at the Forsyth County Board of Elections. Vanderklok served as absentee ballot coordinator up to the time of her resignation.
“The election violations, like the ballots from the time I’ve worked there, the absentee ballots from the time I’ve worked there, there’s never been a board member present when they were counted,” Vanderklok said. “Address that for me, please.”
“Absentee ballots can be processed,” Wright responded, “but they are counted by the board in an open session.”
Vanderklok rejoined, “It wasn’t ’til the next meeting after I left — ever done.”
“It should be done in that standard operating procedure,” Wright said.
“They were opened two days before,” Vanderklok said.
“Uh,” Wright said, and Vanderklok let the subject drop.
Asked about Vanderklok’s concern, Wright told YES! Weekly: “It needs to come before the county board of elections and get that established. And of course we’d be interested in the findings.”
Frank Dickerson, one of the two Democrats on the three-member Forsyth board of elections, said he strongly believes that the board and its staff take their jobs seriously, and are committed to fair and open elections.
“We certainly want to hear from her, because we have a policy of having at least two board members present when we count absentee ballots,” he said. “She should come forward to us. Or maybe we should invite her.”
Asked about the findings of his visit to Forsyth County, Wright said, “I have confirmed that the people complaining have not appeared before the board of elections to present their concerns.”
Johnson and Cox have met with Sutton, who chairs the board of elections, to discuss their complaints about Coffman’s management. Johnson has brought her concerns to the State Board of Elections about why no action has been taken. Vanderklok, Johnson and Cox have all said that they are willing to address the local board of elections in closed session, but for Johnson and Cox the impasse is that they will not do so with Coffman in the room, while state election officials contend that Coffman has the right to hear the complaints against him.
“We have never been given any invitations by the board,” Johnson said.
Don Wright told Vanderklok that he had spent two hours earlier in the day speaking with Sutton about Coffman’s alleged remark, among other matters. Wright said Sutton had shared a letter from Vanderklok with the Forsyth County Board of Elections, but that the three-member board had opted to take no action. Sutton declined to comment on the matter to YES! Weekly, citing state personnel law.
Dickerson said he believes that if the rules allow the board to hear from an employee or a former employee in closed session without the director being present, “we would allow that to happen.”
“We certainly have an open-door policy to any employee or former employee to talk to us,” he said.
Jerry Jordan, the sole Republican member of the Forsyth board of elections, indicated he holds little interest in hearing from Vanderklok or any of the other former employees.
We’ve talked about all this stuff before,” he said. “It’s old news. I think it’s just a bunch of disgruntled employees that are unhappy because they’re not working there anymore. All this stuff has been addressed.”
Near the end of their conversation at the Clemmons library, Wright suggested that he might be able to line up a reference to help Vanderklok obtain employment in another election office.
“You would like the opportunity to work in elections again,” Wright said. “But with Coffman here, that’s not going to work, for you or for him. I am unaware of anything in adjacent counties. I’m not going to look for you. However, if you hear something and want to contact me — ’cause I think Linda Sutton can verify that you did good work.”
Wright suggested Vanderklok maintain distance between herself and others who are raising questions about alleged improprieties in the Forsyth board of elections office. He suggested that Vanderklok avoid associating with Gardenia Henley, a candidate for NC House last year who has been investigating the local board. Wright indicated to Vanderklok that she should resist the inclination to view her circumstances as being similar to other former employees.
“Your situation is different from that of Terry,” Wright said. “Now, Terry’s a nice guy.”
“Rob rooted him out — there was no doubt,” Vanderklok said.
Wright added, “But Terry also had the opportunity….”
Vanderklok interrupted: “To be director.”
“Absolutely,” Wright said. |
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Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:12 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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from April 2010 Flint Talk
SUIT TARGETS JOBS CENTRAL EXECUTIVE
Publication: Flint Journal, The (MI)
Edition: FIRST
Date: July 26, 1995
Page: C3
Record Id: 0349834343
Author: Dan Shriner JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
28 of 32 matches
287 words
A former employee at Jobs Central has filed a lawsuit in Genesee Circuit Court claiming her civil rights were violated by the executive director of the organization and two others.
The suit filed by Sandra R. Jackson names Jobs Central executive director Gregory Eason, employee Jacqueline Foster and former employee Robert Coffman.
The lawsuit contains many of the same allegations in a complaint Jackson made with the Michigan Civil Rights Commission
Genesee Circuit Court 95-037855 CK Washington
Rob Coffman was reprimanded for telling other employees that a female wearing a pink jumpsuit and a black jacket looked like an "uncircumsized penis". |
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Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:21 am |
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watchdog66
F L I N T O I D
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Election board hears from staffers about boss Coffman
By Wesley Young
Published: January 22, 2011
The Forsyth County Board of Elections met for about four hours in a closed session Friday but didn't finish interviewing employees as they probed allegations of improper behavior made against Rob Coffman, the county's director of elections.
The board will resume its closed session at 10 a.m. next Friday. Elections board members said that they interviewed some current employees but that the former employees who have made accusations against Coffman have so far declined to meet with them.
The former employees claimed that Coffman repeatedly made inappropriate remarks with sexual references — even after acknowledging he said something wrong in 2008 and receiving counseling.
Coffman says he has not made improper remarks to employees since the 2008 incident, in which he was accused of calling an employee a "crack ho."
Former employees have also said that Coffman violated elections law, but neither state nor local officials have found evidence to back up that charge after conducting their own probes.
"Mistakes get made, but I have seen nothing at all to suggest that there was any intentional effort to change the results of elections and continue to make violations of the law," said Frank Dickerson, a Democrat on the three-member local elections board. "When we find out about mistakes, we put in place procedures so that they do not happen again. And there have not been material mistakes."
The state elections board has the ultimate authority over an elections director's employment. A local board can recommend the dismissal of the director.
JoAnne Allen, who has become a spokeswoman for two of the former employees, issued a statement Friday in which she said there was "evidence of voter fraud," and that Coffman and the local elections board should all resign or be removed.
Allen also expressed dismay with the findings of state elections officials that no election law violations had been uncovered. She said there are many witnesses to Coffman's "disreputable conduct."
Former employees listed on the statement could not be reached for comment Friday.
Dickerson and Jerry Jordan, the Republican member of the local elections board, said Friday that despite invitations, none of the former employees has come forward to talk to the elections board in person.
Jordan, who has called the accusations "garbage," said he is keeping an open mind as the board conducts its new probe.
Nathan Tabor, the chairman of Forsyth County GOP, called on Thursday for Coffman to be "let go."
"Sexual harassment claims are serious and should be investigated and are not 'garbage,'" Tabor said, differing with Jordan. "When someone in a workplace feels they are getting sexually harassed, they need to have that investigated."
Fleming El-Amin, the chairman of the local Democratic Party, said he hopes the issues "get resolved so that people have confidence in the activities of the board of elections." |
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Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:21 am |
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watchdog66
F L I N T O I D
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Accusations should be fully investigated
By JournalNow Staff
Published: January 20, 2011
Remarks that lean toward sexual harassment, and other inappropriate remarks in general, can't be tolerated in the workplace, especially the government workplace. So officials should promptly discern whether Rob Coffman, the Forsyth County elections director, made remarks that some of his former employees say he did.
Coffman is a good elections director by most accounts, but he must be held to the same standards as any other employee.
He's accused of asking a female employee in 2009 if she was a "MILF" — a gutter term for a mother who is considered sexually attractive, the Journal's Wesley Young reported. Coffman is also accused of wrongly telling employees that a co-worker out on medical leave had a sex-change operation. He denies making the remarks.
"I understand that I run an office of public trust and should be held to a higher standard, and I accept that," he said Wednesday. "But when they're baseless allegations that do nothing but hurt me and my family, it's hard to not take it personally."
The State Board of Elections is looking into the complaints. One member of the local elections board, Jerry Jordan, said the allegations against Coffman are "garbage" and have been heard and dealt with. But another member, Frank Dickerson, said the board should take another look at the allegations.
Dickerson is correct, given Coffman's history. In Michigan in 1995, he settled a lawsuit brought by a former employee of a nonprofit group who accused Coffman and two other employees of sexual harassment in connection with remarks they allegedly made about an employee's dress and body parts. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission had earlier dismissed the allegations as baseless.
In his job here in 2008, Coffman was accused of calling a black female employee a "crack ho." Coffman said that he was "completely in the wrong" in a comment that was meant in humor, although he would not say what he said. "I went through some counseling because of it," he said. "I took very seriously what my board and the county human-resources people told me at the time, and that was the end of it."
State and local election officials should quickly determine whether that was in fact "the end of it." They should either clear Coffman or dole out a disciplinary action sufficiently harsh to ensure that such comments are over |
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Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:24 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Coffman used to laugh about how he told Burton candidates how to circumvent the complaint process. The first time Jaime Curtis ran he filed a waiver saying he would spend less than one thousand. When Burton residents amassed copies of his mailings, noted he had a political consultant, and alleged Curtis actually spent closer to $20,000, the complaint went nowhere. Coffman could not resist grinning and telling people he told Curtis not to respond as election laws were so weak there was nothing the complaintant could do. |
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Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:31 am |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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All very interesting
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_________________
Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Sun Jan 23, 2011 11:46 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| MILF is said to mean Mother I'd Like to F***! No wonder the lady was offended. |
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Tue Jan 25, 2011 7:29 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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| Really? Most of the Women I know who are 30's 40's like to call themselves that. While I can see how it can inappropriate. But it's amazing to me When that type of thing is not wanted. The first step is to SUE SUE SUE. Instead of just letting the other person know you don't appreciate that type of conversation. I believe most will be more careful what they say in the future. |
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Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:13 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Np one is suing, at least not yet. They are filing complaints about language and behavior they find inappropriate. |
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Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:19 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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quote:
Ted Jankowski schreef:
Really? Most of the Women I know who are 30's 40's like to call themselves that.
Ted that doesn't say much for your east side lady friends. |
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:16 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
untanglingwebs schreef:
quote:
Ted Jankowski schreef:
Really? Most of the Women I know who are 30's 40's like to call themselves that.
Ted that doesn't say much for your east side lady friends.
Ho, Ho, Ho.  |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 9:01 am |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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| LOL Love how ya point to the eastside. But it really doesn't have anything to do where in Flint. Now 20 years ago it was considered almost taboo to use that term. But with so much else that has been accepted as norm. It's become part of Culture. Look at how for years we've attempt to remove the N word from public speaking. Now it's used in Songs constantly. I'm just saying if someone is sensitive to that language or offended. Before calling it sexual harassment. They should make their objection known and then if it persists Then sue. |
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:35 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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Election board hears from staffers about boss Coffman
By Wesley Young
Published: January 22, 2011
» 6 Comments | Post a Comment
vote
nowBuzz up!
The Forsyth County Board of Elections met for about four hours in a closed session Friday but didn't finish interviewing employees as they probed allegations of improper behavior made against Rob Coffman, the county's director of elections.
The board will resume its closed session at 10 a.m. next Friday. Elections board members said that they interviewed some current employees but that the former employees who have made accusations against Coffman have so far declined to meet with them.
The former employees claimed that Coffman repeatedly made inappropriate remarks with sexual references — even after acknowledging he said something wrong in 2008 and receiving counseling.
Coffman says he has not made improper remarks to employees since the 2008 incident, in which he was accused of calling an employee a "crack ho."
Former employees have also said that Coffman violated elections law, but neither state nor local officials have found evidence to back up that charge after conducting their own probes.
"Mistakes get made, but I have seen nothing at all to suggest that there was any intentional effort to change the results of elections and continue to make violations of the law," said Frank Dickerson, a Democrat on the three-member local elections board. "When we find out about mistakes, we put in place procedures so that they do not happen again. And there have not been material mistakes."
The state elections board has the ultimate authority over an elections director's employment. A local board can recommend the dismissal of the director.
JoAnne Allen, who has become a spokeswoman for two of the former employees, issued a statement Friday in which she said there was "evidence of voter fraud," and that Coffman and the local elections board should all resign or be removed.
Allen also expressed dismay with the findings of state elections officials that no election law violations had been uncovered. She said there are many witnesses to Coffman's "disreputable conduct."
Former employees listed on the statement could not be reached for comment Friday.
Dickerson and Jerry Jordan, the Republican member of the local elections board, said Friday that despite invitations, none of the former employees has come forward to talk to the elections board in person.
Jordan, who has called the accusations "garbage," said he is keeping an open mind as the board conducts its new probe.
Nathan Tabor, the chairman of Forsyth County GOP, called on Thursday for Coffman to be "let go."
"Sexual harassment claims are serious and should be investigated and are not 'garbage,'" Tabor said, differing with Jordan. "When someone in a workplace feels they are getting sexually harassed, they need to have that investigated."
Fleming El-Amin, the chairman of the local Democratic Party, said he hopes the issues "get resolved so that people have confidence in the activities of the board of elections." |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Fri Jan 28, 2011 6:29 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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| DAve Thanks for the Article. It was very interesting. I enjoyed reading it. Good job. |
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Sat Jan 29, 2011 3:09 am |
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