3 Ohio Officials lose jobs over Joe-the-Plumber Records Search

Regardless of which presidential candidate you supported, and regardless of your personal feelings toward Joe Wurzelbacher; this can't be seen as anything other than a victory for maintaining privacy, greater protection against identity theft from state actors, greater safeguards against official misconduct.

Yesterday, the Houston Chronicle reported that Ohio governor Ted Strickland accepted the resignation of Helen Jones-Kelley (Director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services). She commented at the time of her resignation that "this decision comes after a time of pause, in which I realize that I continue to be used as a political postscript, providing a distraction from urgent state priorities".

Jones-Kelley Resigns
Governor Strickland, through his spokesman, said "he understands her decision and accepts her resignation". No word on whether Jones-Kelley offered her resignation of her own volition, or whether the governor asked for it. I leave it to you to draw your own conclusion.

I do, however, think it noteworthy that never at any time did Jones-Kelley make an admission of wrong-doing. She never came forward to say that she had made an error in judgment. She never begged the pardon of Mr. Wurzelbacher or the people of Ohio who she serves.

Assistants Dismissed
So that no one is under the mistaken impression that Jones-Kelley is in the right, her two deputies (Fred Williams, the Assistant Director is out on January 31, 2009 and Doug Thompson, Deputy Director for Child Support is likewise out on December 22, 2008) are getting the axe for their involvement in the misdeeds.

More to the point, Jones-Kelly continues to proclaim her innocence. In the statement accompanying her resignation, she continues to practice denial saying that she will not allow her reputation to be disparaged. I find it curious that no matter how often or how loudly she trumpets that what she did (investigators confirmed that she accessed Mr. Wurzelbacher's records) was proper, the public is not half so thick as she believes and has consistently asked for her to be held to account.

That day has come.

Ohio is expected, in the wake of this smear on the Ohio public officials, to adopt new restrictions today on who can access personal records and for what purpose .

Reconciliation?
Perhaps Jones-Kelley will at some future day to reach deep inside and grasp the courage and insight sufficient to admit to herself that she did wrong and then attempt to make amends. Judging from her resignation statement, her deepest regret seems to be, not that she did something wrong, but rather that she got caught. Not a positive start on reconciliation process, but perhaps the end of a career will grant her the time and space to make the admission.

In the meantime, she should count herself fortunate that the consequences arising from her misdeeds resulted only in the self-inflicted wounds of: losing her job, trashing her reputation, and likely ending her career as a public official. It might have gone worse if the attorney general had wanted to aggressively pursue the issue by seeking not only her resignation, but also fines, and jail time.