END OF SUMMER... September (Part 90d)

In spite of my promise not to discuss the ”Leo situation“ I just had to find out what had happened to Leo. I’d planned to eat lunch with John but told him I had an emergency at home. I told Elle about what had happened and then promptly called Jay. I wasn’t sure he’d be there but he was. I could tell from his voice that he was excited as well. However, he claimed that he knew no real details of Leo’s demise. The one thing that he did say was that he knew there had been some meetings with ”high level people“ at the Controllers office. It wasn’t much but when I asked if he thought it had to do with the botched payroll he laughed. At that point I knew that he had more information than he was letting on to. At that point he said he’d said too much and said he’d get back to me.

When I got back to the office I made a special trip down the hall to take a peek into the DP office. I caught Rena’s eye and motioned for her to come out into the hall. I tried to be interested in her progress with her lawsuit but she saw through that ruse right away. She said that the whole staff had been told by the Controller not to discuss Leo’s resignation. I did ask one question... was everybody happy? The smile on her face was enough of an answer. As she turned to go back inside I asked if Charles, the new machine operator was there. Her answer was a laugh as she shut the door behind her.

It wasn’t as much information as I’d wanted but it was enough to satisfy me for the time being. I was able to focus on my work that afternoon and spent time working with John. My goal with him was to ”stack the deck“ with my thoughts on how to make the Clerk Typist examination process more efficient. I knew Vi would be there the following Monday and I wouldn’t be able to institute any changes. But, I felt that John would be able to see how bad it was and would support my ideas when it was just the two of us working the testing.

Wednesday morning I got a call to report to the Board of Supervisors office. I’d never been down there and when I walked in was greeted by a rather large middle aged woman with obviously dyed hair. I don’t think I’d ever seen that shade of red before. I told her who I was and in a matter of fact tone I heard her say ”We used to be related.“ That got my attention because I couldn’t remember ever seeing her before. Long story short... she’d been married to one of my father’s cousins before I was born. But, because of that ”tie-in“ I was able to glean some more information about Leo’s demise but not before I was ushered into the board room.

There were four men around this huge oval table. They introduced themselves as Supervisors. A while back I explained how the County government was structured. There were ten townships and each elected a Supervisor. Those ten were responsible for overseeing the County government. In the last election there were six Republicans elected so they ”controlled“ the Board. The Controller (who oversaw the Audit and Control department) was also a Republican and was technically supposed to select his assistant. Reality was that the controlling party of the Board made the selection and Leo, a Republican ”lifer“, was inserted into the position. The four men that were around the table were the Democrats who were on the Board.

I was in the room for about fifteen minutes. All the questions had to do with my observations on Leo’s management style including what had led to my being fired. I could’ve talked for an hour but all I could do was to answer specific questions. When I walked out I saw my very first ”boss“, Irwin, from when I first started with the county. One thing I distinctly remember was the smirky smile and wink he gave me when he walked past me.

Once the door closed I asked the lady what was going on. She smiled and said she wasn’t supposed to talk about it to anybody but since I was ”family” she would. She told me that this group of Supervisors wanted to “stick it to the Republicans” and that evidently they were collecting evidence against Leo and the Controller. I did ask who else had been called in and she told me that Gina, Leo’s secretary, was the first. I didn’t fully understand the magnitude of it as I left. I didn’t have long to wait though.

It was also Wednesday when I got a call from Elle telling me the “big news” about our neighbor, Lil. She’d decided not to return and was going to stay with her parents and had put her boys into the school there. Andy had stopped making payments on the mobile home and was “being a real jerk”. Elle said that she’d cleaned out most of their clothes while she was there. My reaction was a bit mixed. Her decision eliminated the concern I had on how to react when she was around but then I also knew I’d miss her “free shows”.

Friday afternoon I got to meet John’s wife. Have you ever met someone for the first time and taken an immediate dislike? Louise was one of those people. Haughty to an extreme, she just exuded a sense of superiority. I was really taken aback. In just the few days I’d worked with him I’d come to like his approach to work. Very easy going and yet anxious to learn, his style and mine seemed to be a perfect fit. I’d seen a picture of his wife and found her to be plain but not unattractive. In person she was, to put it bluntly, a bitch. As they left the office I actually felt sorry for him. Marty had also been introduced to her and, wanting to see if my “read” of her was off base, I asked him his thoughts. Although not quite as harsh as mine they were still pretty much in line. I wondered if John and I became friends would she become a problem.

To be continued...