Political payoffs?
Ihave been hesitant to bring up the subject in my campaign but due to the concern which has been expressed by the voters I have spoken to, I feel I must address the issue. The specific incident I refer to is a hiring by INDOT of Melissa Woodruff, wife of Destrict 64 rep Troy Woodruff. Previously information had been reported by the Evansville courier that due to a reorganization each INDOT district had created a Human Resources Manager position. In November of last year Mrs. Woodruff officially filled the position locally. I do not have any doubt as to her qualifications for the job as she had previously been employed for several years in a similar position with a large private company. I would like to state that I do not think that there was any intention by the Woodruffs to commit any wrongful acts. However the circumstances behind the hiring suggest that not everything was "above board".
The circumstances I refer to aren't in dispute and have been confirmed both publically through officials with INDOT, And through my own sources within the department.
1. The position was never advertised either publically or internally.
2. Only two people were interviewed for the position
3. Mrs. Woodruff was not seeking employment, rather, she was sought out specifically to interview for this position.
All of this came following Troy Woodruff's controversial vote in favor of Daylight Savings Time Legislation and just weeks before "Major Moves" legislation would be introduced.
The suggestion which comes to mind is that someone wanted to so make sure Troy knew who his friends were, so to speak. He had already cast one controversial vote and would possibly be asked to cast another. Many of the residents of this district believe that this was a payoff of some kind. Even Mr. Woodruff must have had some idea of the ramifications. When the offer was made, he sought advice from an Indiana House staff Attorney. If he believed that the offer was legitimate and posed no ethical questions why did he seek legal counsel?
The underlying facts of the hiring present the appearance of cronyism and the people deserve answers. People need to be able to trust that government officials are working in their best interest not simply furthering a political agenda. To that end, I will make every effort to ensure that this incident is investigated. If Iam elected it will high on my list of priorities. If this was a misguided attempt by officials within the Daniels Administration to gain votes at taxpayer expense, then those responsible should be made to pay for breaking the public trust in this manner.
