COMMENTS ON COMMENTS: 9

We at Clerk of Court Watch need to respond to a Johnson supporter (Albert E. Porter) who wrote a very favorable letter to the editor of the Sandusky Register about Barbara Johnson. You can see the letter here.



First Mr. Porter says, "Recently I've read several letters talking about Mrs. Johnson, Erie County Clerk of Courts, and her handling of the clerk job.


I've learned it is so easy to criticize a person instead of looking at the real problem. The real problem isn't Mrs. Johnson or anybody else can't do anything without the necessary funds. See I have been down there myself and have seen first-hand the hard work Mrs. Johnson and her staff do."



Well, we can at least agree on one thing; her staff does indeed work hard. However, Johnson does not work hard at her job. If she did, her office would not be in the absolutely chaotic state that it is in at this time. It has taken 20 years for that office to get into the mess that it is currently in and that has been during all of Johnson's 6 terms!

Why has the office become so chaotic during Johnson's "tenure?" One of the big reasons is the fact that before the 2008 election, she was rarely in her office and was even overheard telling an employee that she only needs to be in the office 1 day out of 90. And that is exactly what she did! You can not run an office efficiently if you are rarely there. That is one of the reasons why the move from the 2nd and 3rd floors to a smaller space on the 1st floor was such a disaster.

She does not hire in new people to replace ones that retire or leave (even when she has the permission from the Commissioners to do so), she doesn't keep basic office supplies on hand for her staff to use, and then there are the "11 Areas of Concern" articles in our left side-bar. She was elected to lead and manage that office and she has failed miserably in doing so. She is to blame and no one else! The buck stops with her! !

So Mr. Porter, don't try to convince us that she is a hard worker, because the past 20 years she has not proven that. The only thing that she has proven is that she is our "NOTHING" Clerk! As the banner at the top of our website states, "She has done NOTHING over the past 20 plus years, and NOTHING has changed since the 2008 election."

Mr Porter continues: "Now when it comes to Mrs. Johnson personally, I have to look at her character. First she is a born-again Christian, trustworthy, honest, kind and is respectable. Some of us like to point fingers but never even take time to get to know the person."

We have already covered this "Good Christian woman" arguement in this article. Actions speak louder than words Mr. Porter and her "NOTHINGNESS" speaks volumes. As we said in April 2009, "What is in question are her management skills (or lack thereof) which has cost the citizens and tax payers of Erie County hundreds of thousands of dollars over her past 6 terms of over 20 years. This evidence will be gathered during the next 4 years and will be made available to the public for the 2012 election." Just because she is a Christian does not automatically make her a good manager and leader. Frankly, we don't care if she is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddahist, Wiccan, or Satist. The bottom line is that she is NOT doing her job, period! ! ! !

Here is another point that we can agree on: Yes, she is a good Christian and she is kind. However, even though she would never deliberately take any money from the county (the trustworthy, honest and respectable issues), she has cost the county millions of dollars by not doing her job. So in that respect, she has robbed the tax payers.

Mr Porter concludes, "Mrs. Johnson is a person who will always give you her very best. I will take people with character any day over people with popularity."

Yes, we too will always take people with character over people that are popular. Barbara Johnson's character is not in question as much as her manager and leadership skills are. And those are two BIGGIES needed to run and operate that office.

As far as Mrs. Johnson always giving us her very best. . . . well, we think this entire website disputes that beyond a shadow of a doubt.