BUTLER COUNTY: Carpenter Strikes Back

The following letter was sent to Butler County GOP Members:

Mar 11, 2011
Dear Central and Exec committee member:

With 14 years of service to the public and 40 years of service to the Republican party, I have a respectable wealth of knowledge about the Butler COunty Clerk of Courts office and the Butler County Republican Party.

A deplorable attack to both the office and the party has been launched this week by the newly appointed Clerk of Courts, Mary Swain.

Transperancy, accountablity and public service were the hallmarks of my administration. Our practices often served as models for other counties. We recieved local, state and national recognition and awards. Our staff served as advisors and coordinated projects with the Auditor of the State, Attorney General's office, Governor's office, US Department of State, Ohio Supreme Court, Department of Transportation and the FBI

Mary Swain had not served a single day in office before she began attacking my administration. She felt compelled to launch these vicious attacks to cover her inexcusable action of firing 5 loyal, republican employees with over 100 years of exemplary public service. One employee was seven months short of a 30 year retirement. Another employee relied on the health insurance to cover multiple life threatening conditions.

Mary's actions are so shameful that members of the judiciary, public and the Republican party have told her so. She lost supporters when she broker her promise to the Screening and Central committee members to retain the award winning Clerk of Courts Staff. And, her defensive action to strike out in the press with false statements has harmed the reputation of every Republican candidate seeking office. Defying party leadership, Mary has continued to attack me.

The Auditor of the State stands by the results of the previous 14 months audits of my administration, where salaries were allocated as a whole-a process designed to ensure teamwork, flexibility, operational stability and appropriate health insurance deductions. The Butler County Prosecutor declined to validate Mary's conclusions because no documentation was provided. The fact is that from 2002 to present, the allocation between payroll accounts was 50/50. No money is missing. No money was missallocated. No money was misspent. Every employee worked for every penny they earned and every penny was accounted for in the proper fund. The attached charts demonstrate these facts.

Unfortunately for Mary, she failed to comprehend that her public political attacks only served to illuminate her shortcomings. She failed to comprehend the proper courtesy of discussing her concerns with me. She failed to comprehend the statutory fiscal oversight of her new office. She failed to comprehend that the operation of her nine departments and two divisions is required by law to be funded and cannot be materially harmed. Further, she failed to interview existing employees for promotion, instead choosing the political hires of school system employees and a judge's wife.

Both Chairman Dave Kern and Chairwoman Judy Shelton can attest that I have worked diligently to keep her political attacks out of the public eye. However, I cannot stand silently and allow the attacks to continue. I reached out today to Mary Swain in the spirit of cooperation to ask that the former and current employees and the reputation of the Clerk of Courts office be spared from further humilitation.

For the sake of our party, it is time for Mary Swain to live up to her own campaign promises. I urge you to encourage the proper channels and to communicate through the proper authorities. As we approach the 2012 elections we must not tolerate those who seek to divide our party.

Sincerely,
(signature)
Cindy Carpenter
Butler County Commissioner
Former Butler County CLerk of Courts