Helen Jones-Kelley

[Plane]

Helen Jones-Kelley was appointed director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) by Governor Ted Strickland effective January 8, 2007. As director, she oversees an agency of more than 4,000 full-time employees and an annual budget of more than $17 billion. The department provides a wide range of services including Unemployment Compensation and Workforce Development to Ohio's job-seekers and employers. In addition, the department supervises the provision of a variety of services to Ohio families including Medicaid, TANF cash assistance, food stamps, child welfare and child support.

Previously, Jones-Kelley served as director of the Montgomery County Department of Job and Family Services after the Montgomery County departments of Job and Family Services and Children Services merged. She served as the executive director of the Montgomery County Children Services department since 1995. She is also a licensed attorney.

http://jfs.test.ohio.gov/ocomm_root/director.stm



http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/37586

Joe Wurzelbacher, the now famous Joe the Plumber, was exercising one of his most basic rights as an American when he questioned Barack Obama about the Democrat's tax plan and spoke out against. It was political speech specifically protected by the Constitution.

That exchange brought him a lot of attention, some welcome, some not so welcome and some frankly sinister. He became practically the third person on the stage at the last presidential debate, being invoked 23 times by the candidate. He has appeared at a Sarah Palin rally.

It also turned out that he was an unlicensed plumber and that he was in arrears on some tax and hospital bills.

The sinister attention came from the state of the Ohio where. According to the Columbus Dispatch, a state agency, the Department of Job and Family Services, pried extensively into his background, using state computer systems to check for whether he was paying child support, receiving welfare assistance or behind on unemployment compensation taxes.

Wurzelbacher had told Obama that he hoped to buy out his boss's plumbing business for $250,000, also a very American thing to do, wanting to own a small business. Supposedly it was the money that attracted the agency's attention.

Its head, Helen Jones-Kelley wrote, "Given our understanding that Mr. Wurzelbacher had publicly indicated that he had the means to purchase a substantial business enterprise, ODJFS, consistent with past departmental practice, checked confidential databases."

The wise Ohio entrepreneur now knows not to discuss his business aspirations within earshot of the state government unless he wants to be run through those "confidential databases."

The state denies any political motivation in the computer search, but, the Dispatch notes, Jones-Kelly is an Obama supporter and donor.

If the highly screened sleuths at the National Security Agency can snoop on Americans' calls and e-mails for their private amusement, it's probably too much to expect state employees to resist the same temptation to snoop. But it's still wrong.

As for Joe, he's signed with a Nashville personal management company with a view towards a possible career in inspirational speaking and country music. Watch what you say, Joe. You never know who's paying attention.

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/27/copy/joe28.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Ohio's inspector general is investigating why a state agency director approved checking the state child-support computer system for information on "Joe the Plumber."

Helen Jones-Kelly, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, confirmed today that she OK'd the check on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher following the Oct. 15 presidential debate.

She said there were no political reasons for the check on the sudden presidential campaign fixture though the Support Enforcement Tracking System.

Amid questions from the media and others about "Joe the Plumber," Jones-Kelley said she approved a check to determine if he was current on any ordered child-support payments.

Such information was not and cannot be publicly shared, she said. It is unclear if Wurzelbacher is involved in a child-support case. Reports state that he lives alone with a 13-year-old son.

"Our practice is when someone is thrust quickly into the public spotlight, we often take a look" at them, Jones-Kelley said, citing a case where a lottery winner was found to owe past-due child support. "Our practice is to basically look at what is coming our way."

Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles confirmed today that he is investigating the incident to determine if "Joe''s" records were legally accessed by Job and Family Services employees.

The use of a state computer system to search for information on Wurzelbacher is the fourth uncovered by The Dispatch.

Democrat Gov. Ted Strickland is satisfied that there are no political overtures to the check on Wurzelbacher, a spokesman said.

"Based on what we know to this point, we don't have any reason to believe the information was improperly accessed or disclosed by a state employee," said Keith Dailey, Strickland's press secretary.

The state attorney general's office said today that information on "Joe" was accessed from a test account it shared with contractors who developed a computer network for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police.

The State Highway Patrol is investigating the "unauthorized access," said Jennifer Brindisi, spokeswoman for Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers. Access to the account was given to the unidentified contractors four years ago, she said.

State Highway Patrol records indicate that investigators have a suspect, who is identified as a contractor for the Ohio Department of Insurance. The patrol has seized an agencycomputer as evidence.

Donna Braxton, acting executive director of the Dublin-based police chiefs group, said she had not been notified of an investigation.

At least four state computer checks on Wurzelbacher were conducted shortly after Republican John McCain frequently brought up "Joe the Plumber" during his final presidential debate with Democrat Barack Obama on Oct. 15.

State and local investigators are attempting to determine if the computer systems were illegally accessed when they were used to pull up information on Wurzelbacher.

Republicans have seized on the incidents to suggest that the checks were politically motivated invasions of Wurzelbacher's privacy and attempts to dig up dirt to discredit the man. Obama's campaign says it has nothing to do with the incidents and joined Republicans in calling for investigations.

 

The attorney general's office was unaware contractors for the police chiefs' association still had access to state information, Brindisi said. The contractors developed the Ohio Local Law Enforcement Information Sharing Network, which now is operated by the attorney general's office. Security codes since have been changed and access limited to test accounts, she said.

The Dispatch reported Saturday that authorities are investigating why driver's license and vehicle registration information on "Joe" was pulled from Bureau of Motor Vehicles computers.

BMV information on Wurzelbacher also was obtained through accounts assigned to the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency and the Toledo Police Department. Both checks are under investigation.

 

[MissusDe]

Its head, Helen Jones-Kelley wrote, "Given our understanding that Mr. Wurzelbacher had publicly indicated that he had the means to purchase a substantial business enterprise, ODJFS, consistent with past departmental practice, checked confidential databases."

Huh.  So if I happen to say that I'd like to live in a little house on a beach somewhere, that's the same as saying I have the means to purchase one?

[BT]

Please don't confuse dreams with hope. Apparently they are not synonymous.

Can one love dreams like one loves hope?

It is all so confusing.

[MissusDe]

Dreams       
by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

[_JS]

Dreams       
by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Careful Missus,

Langston Hughes was both a homosexual and a Communist (i.e. collectivist). You may be looked upon in a terrible light for associating yourself with the literary work of such a dangerous  and radical individual.

[BT]

He was black, too.

In case that matters.

[Plane]

Dreams       
by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Careful Missus,

Langston Hughes was both a homosexual and a Communist (i.e. collectivist). You may be looked upon in a terrible light for associating yourself with the literary work of such a dangerous  and radical individual.

Right is right and the test of right is its recursive rightness.
Langston Hues could have been wrong in every thought but one and this one being that poem the poem suffers not the wrong of every other thought from the same head , but benefits rather from the broken clock rule.