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Harper Problems in office more than imagined

Editor
Posted 5/13/08

Kathyrne Harper Speaking Monday to the noon luncheon meeting of the Fayette Area Community Betterment Group, Howard County Clerk Kathyrne Harper said problems besetting the clerk's office were …

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Harper Problems in office more than imagined

Posted
Editor
Kathyrne Harper


Speaking Monday to the noon luncheon meeting of the Fayette Area Community Betterment Group, Howard County Clerk Kathyrne Harper said problems besetting the clerk's office were 'bigger than ever I imagined.'

She told of her first several months in the post after being appointed Feb. 25 in the wake of former clerk Mark Hill's departure. Facing possible legal action, Hill had resigned under fire after numerous irregularities had come to light.
Harper said she and her deputy director, Sherri Woodard, still are attempting to identify all areas of deficiency. 'We simply have had to create a road map outlining how to fix the problems,' Harper said.

While saying she did not want to be overly-critical of her predecessor, Harper nonetheless reported that many records are missing, non-existent or incomplete.

Voter records, she said, are of particular concern, pointing out that it's impossible to have nearly 8,000 registered voters in a county with a population of fewer than 10,000 persons.

Harper said she has discovered many duplicate voters, dead voters, those who have moved, incorrect names, and persons voting in two different places.

Also, some names are incorrect such as when a name change occurs because of a marriage.

She also noted that residents in Burton were voting in two different places.

Harper told the betterment group that the solution is to fix each voter name as errors occur, stating that between 3,500 and 4,000 registration cards have been returned by the post office. The new county GIS system will help with future registration, she added.

A number of budget problems also have surfaced, she said, and an effort is under way to seek grants for some federal funding.

Procedures were not followed, she noted, with respect to sick leave and vacations, the Fair Labor Standards Act, health insurance and so forth. For example, too much was being taken out of the paychecks for county employees in some cases and already some $5,000 has been refunded to courthouse employees.

She also expects to save money by improved oversight in the county's dealing with vendors, some of whom had taken advantage of the office because of duplicate payments.

Getting the county's budget in shape is, according to the clerk, another hurdle to overcome. She notes that most of her office's budget already has been spent this year and currently there are no funds for additional computers or personnel.

Harper, a Republican who will seek election to the post in November for the remaining two years of Hill's term, praised the cooperation she has received from other county offices holders, in addition to assistance and understanding from state officials who are monitoring the office.

Known as both a hard and efficient worker, Harper said that her own personal transition into the office has been, at times, stressful in light of other business obligations and her role as a wife and mother.

Nonetheless, many procedures can be streamlined and made more efficient and her experience as a CPA will come in handy as efforts to clean up the office continue, she asserted. 'We can do it,' she said. 'We simply need to work hard and work smart.'

Harper also noted that efforts are urgently needed to revamp the courthouse to better catalog and store county records. It could be that a bond issue may be needed sometime in the near future to improve the 120-year-old building's effectiveness.

Most courthouse observers agree that the clerk's office is the linchpin for what happens in the courthouse.

The clerk carries many titles including the election authority, budget officer, clerk to the county commission, administrator of elections, keeper of public records and records management, administrator of all county transactions including payroll, issuer of some licenses and bonds and liaison between the county assessor and the collector.

The clerk is tasked with keeping track of all tax rates levied by the various county political subdivisions - school districts, cities, fire districts and others.

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