Effort to sink Carbon clerk candidate fails

An eleventh hour attempt by the daughter of former Carbon County Clerk of Courts William McGinley and one-time acting Clerk Julie D. Harris to torpedo the appointment of Francine Heaney of New Columbus to the row office failed.

Erin D. McGinley sent an email to all 50 senators in the Pennsylvania General Assembly earlier this month urging them not to confirm Heaney and, instead, allow Harris, her mother, to get the appointment.

Erin McGinley’s email came late in the process; it was sent Oct. 15, just days before the Senate unanimously confirmed Heaney. She was sworn in on Oct. 22 and will serve until Dec. 31, 2019. The office will be on the November 2019 ballot, and it will be for a two-year term. The Clerk of Courts salary is $60,699.

William McGinley of Jim Thorpe, who served 28 years in the office, was re-elected without opposition to a four-year term last November but retired on May 1 after only four months into his new term.

Upon William McGinley’s departure, his first deputy would, by state law, have assumed the acting title until a replacement was named, but since the first deputy’s position had been left vacant by McGinley for more than a year, the acting role went to second deputy, Harris, who was married to William McGinley. Harris was discharged from her job last Tuesday, the day after Heaney took office.

“It was a very difficult decision,” Heaney said.

The clerk of courts office was found to be in disarray after McGinley’s departure. In fact, Carbon County Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein called it “a mess.”

Among other issues, including reports of a hostile work environment and high employee turnover, Nothstein said there is more than $100,000 in revenue that the county hasn’t received this year because the paperwork was never filed after defendants were sentenced.

The clerk certifies and prepares bills of costs for the defendants and uses the computerized financial management system to disburse fines, costs and restitutions.

Things were so bad that the state Attorney General’s Office has been investigating to determine whether there have been irregularities. Simultaneously, the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool, the county’s insurance carrier, is conducting an audit of the office to find out whether there are missing or misplaced public funds.

Longtime issue

Although the problems had been ongoing for years, it all came to a boil on July 5 when the county commissioners aired the issue for the first time at one of their weekly meetings.

The commissioners expressed frustration, because, as an elected official, the clerk of courts is not answerable to the board, so while they can recommend action, they cannot demand it.

In her email to the senators, Erin McGinley, a college freshman, made serious allegations concerning Heaney’s competency, drinking and public mode of dress. Heaney had worked in the Clerk’s office previously before moving to a position in the county court administration office.

“Fran would always take personal calls, mess up files and cause issues in the office. I always remembered my parents being stressed, because they would have to go back into the files and redo them because there were so many errors,” Erin McGinley wrote in her email. “She left the office because of how many issues she caused.”

Erin McGinley said Heaney would not represent the county well, questioning her sobriety and how she dresses in public. “Would you really want someone who dressed inappropriately and acts up in public to be a leader in Carbon County?” Erin McGinley wrote to the senators.

In reaction to Erin McGinley’s email, Heaney through the clerk of courts solicitor, Paul J. Levy of Jim Thorpe, issued this statement:

“Mrs. Heaney presumes her record, work ethic, character, past performance and community reputation is what resulted in her nomination for the appointment. It is also presumed her knowledge and experience, as well as these factors, were the basis for the unanimous vote by the Senate to appoint Mrs. Heaney as Clerk of Courts. Although Mrs. Heaney recognizes the monumental task in bringing this office back into the position needed, she is enthusiastic and confident she will be able have this office running better than it’s ever run. She recognizes that this will not be able to be done without the assistance of her extremely qualified staff, as well as the positive input, response and assistance she has received from the commissioners, as well as the other court offices and staff.”

Also in her email, Erin McGinley praised her parents’ “hard work” to try to keep the office running smoothly, despite an alleged lack of financial support from the county commissioners.

“One of the commissioners (she didn’t mention which one of the three) is not a very nice person to my family. Once my father asked for help it was denied. Quickly the office was put behind on work,” Erin McGinley wrote. She claims that when her mother took over the office in an acting capacity, she went to the commissioners and again asked for help, but it was only after the commissioners were pressured by a county judge that clerical help was sought from Lehigh County.

Nothstein said this notion is “completely false.” He added: “He (McGinley) didn’t fill positions, then blamed us for the backlog.”

Attempts to reach Harris by phone and email were unsuccessful. A voicemail request for comment or reaction to her daughter’s letter did not produce a callback.

A spokesperson for state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Carbon and Luzerne, confirmed that the senator received the letter but had no comment on its contents other than to say that the unanimous Senate vote speaks for itself.

When a row office-holder, such as William McGinley, resigns, the governor must nominate a replacement from the same political party, in this case a Democrat.

Harris was one of the candidates considered by the local Democrats but was passed over in favor of Heaney, whose nomination was held up for several months for undisclosed reasons.