[RagingBullPa]

Nov. 21--Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is standing by an agency director who OK'd improper computer checks for confidential information on "Joe the Plumber" and used state e-mails for political fundraising.

Strickland announced yesterday that Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Department of Job and Family Services, will be placed on unpaid leave for one month in response to an inspector general's investigation.

The investigation found Jones-Kelley had no legitimate reasons to check on Toledo-area resident Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, who was popularized as "Joe the Plumber" by Republican presidential candidate John McCain. It also confirmed she improperly used her state e-mail account to raise campaign money for President-elect Barack Obama.

Some Republican leaders, who cited the report's findings to call on Democrat Strickland to fire Jones-Kelley, were stunned that she will remain on the job.

"The actions described in this report cross the line of what you can do and lead a state agency. She violated the public trust," said House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering.

"The governor's lack of firm action here sends a message he is going to be tolerant of a state government that acts in inappropriate ways. He promised a higher standard and this is a lower standard."

State Auditor Mary Taylor also called for stronger action. "I urge Gov. Strickland, who campaigned on the promise of running an ethical administration, to ask for the resignation or terminate Ms. Jones-Kelley immediately," she said yesterday after the report was released.

Strickland said that while he accepts the inspector general's findings, he values Jones-Kelley's contributions over her career and decided on what he called a "fairly severe" but fair penalty.

"Now, she's made a bad judgment and I've acknowledged that," Strickland said. "But I do not believe that a lifetime of honorable public service can be just discounted in the face of what has happened."

The governor also issued a directive to state agencies to better control access to information the state holds on Ohioans.

The report by Inspector General Thomas P. Charles found that Jones-Kelley "had no legitimate agency function or purpose" in authorizing the checks. It said the reasons Jones-Kelley offered for the checks in child-support, public assistance and unemployment tax databases "were not credible."

According to a transcript of an Oct. 28 interview with investigators, Jones-Kelley said she ordered the checks based on media calls that the department was getting as a way to be "proactive."

"It's just that somebody hits notoriety very quickly and you do these kinds of checks to make sure that taxpayer dollars for which we have responsibility are being appropriately handled," she said, adding that it had been done for three or four other people since she has been director.

The report found no evidence that any information on Wurzelbacher was improperly shared. Investigators said they could reach no conclusion whether the checks were politically motivated.

"However, the circumstances surrounding the unauthorized searches are exacerbated in light of the director's sending and receiving e-mail related to a political activity through state resources," the report said.

Strickland placed Jones-Kelley on paid leave Nov. 7 after e-mails requested by The Dispatch revealed she used her state e-mail account to help raise campaign money for Obama.

The inspector general's report found that the e-mails violated Strickland's policy on political activity and constituted a "wrongful act" as an inappropriate use of state resources.

The report also faulted other agency employees for their role in the computer checks on Wurzelbacher.

The report found that assistant agency director Fred Williams and Doug Thompson, a deputy child-support director, bore some responsibility for the checks run the day after the Oct. 15 presidential debate.

"Thompson's conduct is further called into question" by his directing a Job and Family Services employee to send a "deceptive" e-mail to another agency official explaining that the check she ran on Wurzelbacher was for child-support purposes.

Charles' report recommended more stringent steps and policies to govern access to confidential information on Ohioans in agency computer systems and called for the creation of an audit trail to determine who is running checks on whom. Legislative Republicans have introduced related legislation.

Charles said his report would be sent to the office of Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien for review. Jones-Kelley could not be reached for comment. Her attorney, Ritchey Hollenbaugh of Columbus, did not return telephone calls.

Wurzelbacher became a national political fixture after he questioned Obama's tax policies during the Democrat's campaign appearance in the man's neighborhood. McCain then frequently referred to "Joe the Plumber" during his Oct. 15 debate with Obama.

Jones-Kelley said there were no political motives behind the checks. She had contributed $5,000 to the Obama campaign in late July.