MARK KIESLING: Time to ensure hiring the best, not the relatives

Isn't it amazing how so many of our elected public officials seem to find the perfect candidate for a county job right in their own home?

I mean, there are 496,005 people in Lake County as of the 2010 census. Porter County is not quite as large, but it's still got 164,643 people as of 2010.

Yet with this vast pool of resources, it always seems like the folks in charge seem to find the best qualified people to place on the public payroll right in the next room.

The latest case is point is Tramel Raggs, the son of Gary City Clerk Suzette Raggs, who also was the city's deputy mayor under former Mayor Scott King.

The Lake County Council voted 4-3 to approve the hiring of Mr. Raggs as a county "special assistant" at a time when the county is claiming to try to cut the fat on the budget to the bone.

Not everyone was pleased, including County Councilwoman Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, who went public with her criticism of the hire.

In the wake of this, Lake County commissioners, who made the hire, rescinded their decision and that hiring.

Commissioner Fran DuPey, D-Hammond, who is in her last term, was particularly vocal about the way the hiring was slipped through at the last minute and said there is no need for such a position, much less one filled by the child of a prominent pol.

Before anyone brings up the obvious, yes, DuPey's son is a Lake County Sheriff's Department police officer. But unlike a "special assistant," he had to undergo testing initiated by the late Sheriff Bob Stiglich in response to criticism that there was too much political hiring going on in that department.

Do you think the county's director of the Department of Weights and Measures, Christine Clay, is related to Rudy Clay, the former Gary mayor, county commissioner and county councilman? Yep. Mr. and Mrs. Clay somehow found jobs on the payroll.

Did Lake County Coroner Tom Philpot hire his mother to be his office manager during his first term in office? Or in-laws during his stint as county clerk? You know the answer, which is yes.

The list goes on and on. Lake County Treasurer Peggy Katona hired her mom as her chief deputy. Judges have had wives and girlfriends on the payroll, although not necessarily at the same time.

It's so rife that it has sparked a call for a human resources department to screen and hire job candidates. Of course, who would the HR director be? I'd like to see his or her pedigree.

There's an old Chicago story about a man going to apply for a city job only to be asked, "Who sent ya?"

When the man said, "Nobody," the response was "We don't want nobody nobody sent."

It's time to clean the stable and to make sure the "best" person hired is not someone you sit down to dinner with.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at mark.kiesling@nwi.com or (219) 933-4170.