Contributions as Probate Judge of Elmore County




THE CASE FOR HIRING A FULL-TIME ELECTIONS EMPLOYEE

[Remarks delivered by probate judge John E. Enslen to the members of the Elmore County Commission at a regular public meeting of the commission held at the old courthouse in Wetumpka, AL, on October 28, 2013.]


(The context for this address was the county commission’s continued refusal to provide an elections employee to assist with the elections in Elmore County. A public expose’ and chastisement of fellow elected officials of this nature at the local county level is extremely rare, especially where the office of the one doing the chastising is totally dependent financially upon the local officials being chastised.

We would have more efficient government if there were term limits, and if there were no lucrative retirement systems for career politicians who manage to get elected at least twice. I was not a candidate for re-election to the office of probate judge or for election to any other office. I was not attempting to qualify for any retirement payments. In fact, because I did not have 10 years of state service, the retirement system by law was allowed to keep half of the income that was earned on the money that I was forced to pay into the retirement system.

My major concern was serving the people. Below is the address I gave to the county commission in a public meeting. Documents to support my points were provided to the commission members and to the public in attendance. Private one-on-one meetings to secure adequate funding had totally failed.)

There is nothing more fundamental to safeguarding our system of government by the people than fair and efficient elections. None of my duties supersede my position as Chief Elections Officer of Elmore County.

First, let me say that we will have honest, fair, and efficient elections in Elmore County, even if I have to work until midnight three nights a week, as I have been doing the past few weeks preparing for a special election. I am taken from my other duties because I am the only probate judge in Alabama that does not have an elections employee. The upcoming special election will not be perfect because there has never been a perfect election, but the job will get done. The 2014 elections present a much more complex challenge.

We have not had a functioning elections specialist in the county since the end of the 2012 elections. As I have previously told you, since Cyndi Mann was your independent contractor with a lucrative contract, a system no other county in the state has ever utilized, I could not manage or supervise her. I could not compel her to simply fulfill her contractual obligations with you—like training her replacement or keeping the poll workers list updated. I am convinced that she felt protected in her unwillingness to work because of a very close personal relationship which she had with one of you commissioners.

When she finally chose to resign last April or May instead of doing her job, the commission decided to teach me a lesson for messing with their system. But when the commission makes vendetta decisions about adequately funding any county public office, you do not personally hurt the elected official responsible for that office. You only hurt the citizens of Elmore County who expect you to be wise stewards of your power and the public treasury.

I know that the commission has a strong desire to “appear” frugal with the taxpayers’ money by declining to fund the hiring of an elections specialist—but you are anything but passionate about not wasting the taxpayers’ money.

In the very meeting on July 22 that the sheriff, the circuit clerk, and I requested an employee to handle elections, the commission was thanked for making a gift of $25,000 to the Wetumpka Boys Club, which is nothing more than an after school babysitting service without a baby sitter, and there is no public accountability for how that money was spent.

In the meeting on August 12 when you unanimously and proudly voted to deny anyone to assist with elections, you voted to donate $5,000 of the people’s tax monies for a fishing tournament. That was in addition to $15,000 that you had already budgeted for a different fishing tournament.

In the last fiscal year, the county’s revenues—the funds that you manage as a sacred trust for the taxpayers, was 26 million dollars. With that money you have been voting to give away foreign aid—$15,000 to the Ladies Professional Golf Association which is 80% foreign nationals.

The commission budgeted $10,000 for the Wetumpka Crater Dream when the City of Wetumpka has a larger surplus in its budget than the county.

There is no requirement for the commissioners to hire their own personal lobbyist with the taxpayers’ money, but you do. There is no requirement for the commission to spend a continuously increasing amount of money on a “survey” or “study” or “consulting contract” to tell the commission about the county’s future needs. The future arrived about 30 years ago and the needs are more than obvious. ***

Here is the worst. You funded a private corporation, not a governmental agency that has accountability for expenditures, purportedly for promoting economic development. You financially propped up a career politician/lobbyist with a 90 thousand dollar-plus salary and gave him high priced office rental space and a staff of employees, at least one of whom made a trip to China.

Now the citizens have to pay for a special election, and due to the delayed and postponed official resignation, the person elected will likely miss the legislative session in early 2014, leaving most of Elmore County unrepresented in the legislature.

The county commission budgeted $229,000 for that private corporation in the most recently completed fiscal year. With two months still remaining in that fiscal year, the commission had already given ECEDA $319,650! I have my doubts whether you passed any legal resolutions to exceed the budget by 40%.

Here is the point: That figure of $319,650 is more than half of the entire annual budget of the entire Elmore County Probate Office, and we actually collect for you almost $10 million dollars a year. (There is a separate budget for the tag office.) The whole wasteful affair has been a glorified crony welfare system with no real benefit to the citizens.

[If the commission were truly frugal, the people of Millbrook would already have the upgraded satellite office that I have urged the commission to approve since taking office.]

Your hypocrisy in claiming not to have the funds for a $36,000 college educated elections specialist knows no bounds.

Less government and less government waste needs to start in our own backyard. The essential, fundamental functions of local government—like conducting elections—should be adequately funded, and if there is excess, then lower the taxes that are collected and return the money to the citizens, instead of using the money to purchase influence for your re-election.

The Code of Alabama sets forth the proper relationship which you have with the probate office and other constitutional offices:

ALA. CODE § 11-8-3 (1975) “The budget adopted, at a minimum, shall include…reasonable expenditures for the operation of the [office] of the judge of probate.”

That’s exactly what the law says. Zero is not a reasonable expenditure for an elections employee.

Please notice that the code did not say anything about your micromanaging the probate office through your purse strings or outsourced independent contracts or any other corrupt manner. My goodness, you’re seeking to employ your fourth county administrator in five years and you recently fired the assistant administrator who is threatening to sue you for her wrongful termination—and you want to micromanage the probate office instead of simply adequately funding the probate office?

I am asking you on behalf of the citizens of Elmore County to now advertise for the budgeted position of elections specialist so we can put someone to work on the 2014 elections as soon as practical. If you will not abide your own budget that you unanimously passed in the last meeting held in September, then revise the budget and allot whatever you are going to allot. If that figure is zero, then the circuit court will decide if zero is reasonable, and the commission will waste more of the taxpayers’ money defending that lawsuit.

Thank you for your time and attention.

***The probate office is the only county office that occupies the same courthouse space it was given in 1931 when the old courthouse was dedicated. Herbert Hoover was President and the Bibb Graves Bridge did not exist. Since 1931, the population has almost tripled and the probate office has been charged with the additional responsibilities of selling car tags (former Revenue Commission duty) and issuing drivers licenses (former Department of Public Safety duty). The group that did the ridiculously expensive “future needs” survey never visited the probate office or talked with me or my staff.

Historical Prologue


In the ensuing 2016 election, the voters replaced four of the five members of the Elmore County Commission seeking re-election: Commissioners David Bowen (Chairman), Stephanie Smoke, Trey Taylor, and Mark Hragyil. One commissioner, Joe Faulk, was narrowly re-elected, but he never took office. His forfeiture of the office was required by his felony ethics conviction for criminal conduct which came to light after his re-election but prior to the time he was to take the oath of office. Thus, all members of the county commission to whom this address was given were replaced about three years later.

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