By Chris Moore

chris.moore@panews.com

 

NEDERLAND — Two candidates for Jefferson County clerk have some clear differences in how they view working conditions for employees in that office.

Incumbent Carolyn Guidry says seniority matters and it weighs into how office employees choose vacations and even when they go to lunch.

“We have a schedule that is picked by seniority,” she said. “Their vacations are picked by seniority. Their lunch hours and breaks are picked by seniority. I think seniority should have a place in the workplace.”

Challenger Bailey Wingate, though, sees possible worker dissatisfaction within the clerk’s office. He suggests that morale is low, that employees are leaving even for lower-paying jobs elsewhere in county government.

Guidry, a Democrat, and Wingate, a Republican, discussed those differences during a forum at First United Methodist Church in Nederland on Monday.

Experience and accusations of unfavorable work conditions took center stage during their time with the microphones. Each candidate was given seven minutes to state his or her case for election.

Guidry touted her experience as clerk for the past 13 years.

“I’ve made sure that I’m your official public record keeper,” Guidry said. “As you know, we didn’t always have computers. We weren’t always on our cellphones.”

She said her office is “in the process of digitizing all of the records, which we have done millions of pages since I have been there.”

Guidry said she has overseen the county clerk position changing from the use of punch cards to electronic voting.

“When we first went to electronic voting, our experience wasn’t very great,” Guidry said. “We had calibration issues. Over a period of time, we were able to fix it and it has worked very well.”

Guidry said she balances the budget every year and is fiscally responsible with the money allocated to the county clerk’s office.

“I am proud to say that my office contributes $4 million to the budget through fees, fines and services,” she said.

Guidry said she supports unions and said she believes in respecting seniority in the workplace.

Wingate, though, questioned employee morale, which he suggested was low.

“It’s been confirmed to me directly and through reliable resources and through ex-employees who believe that morale is a major issue in that office,” he said. ”There is also a high turnover rate. That means you now have to spend county resources and time to train more folks to get them in line.”

Wingate said some clerk’s office employees have left for other positions in the courthouse for lower pay.

“I think that only echoes the issues with the morale in the county clerk’s office,” Wingate said, maintaining a point of difference with Guidry that he has alluded to in other public meetings.

Wingate also mentioned some of the various community organizations in which he has participated and talked about the importance of community involvement.

That community involvement led to his commitment to helping the area after Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey.

“It was after I decided to run for the position, but it gave me a new resolve to run for public service,” he said. “I want to serve you. I believe we need fresh leadership. We need to believe that offices belong to the people. I will never forget that.”

Wingate said he wants to restore integrity to the elections.

“Over the past few election cycles, we had ballots come in late,” he said. “We’ve had polling location issues and issues with absentee ballots. When you have a breakdown in confidence in the election process, it brings an issue with the entire structure of the country and confidence in how it is run.”

Wingate said he would work with both parties to make sure elections are fair.

Early voting begins Monday and runs through Nov 2. Election day is Nov. 6.