Elections chief Bartlett's pals work for him; one fired for harassment

RALEIGH -- At least four hometown friends of state Elections Director Gary Bartlett have been hired at the agency he runs.

Collectively, they are known in the office as the "Goldsboro Mafia," a reference to their cozy relationship with the boss and to the carpool three of them and Bartlett shared between Goldsboro and state election headquarters in Raleigh.

"They all got the jobs based on their own merit," said Bartlett, 56. "All of them have done a great job but one."

That one is former business officer Ralph Gable, who was fired from the agency July 29 after numerous female employees complained of inappropriate behavior. They say he called female workers pet names, sometimes made sexually inappropriate comments and installed what appeared to be a camera in the office.

Gable, whose job included making sure the agency complied with federal laws barring workplace discrimination, is trying to get his position back and says the allegations came from "sad, little bullies" conspiring against him.

Bartlett's friends still working at the agency are:

Neil Baddour, 56, who said he has known Bartlett since kindergarten. The former manager of a real estate office, Baddour was hired last year as an elections technician, earning $53,647. He is the younger brother of former state House majority leader Phil Baddour Jr.

Paul Bridgers, 57, a field auditor in the campaign finance division hired in February. Bridgers said he and Bartlett have known each other since the 1980s, when they occasionally played golf. Bridgers has experience in accounting and had helped run a family hardware store. He earns $52,231.

Beverly York, 58, a district elections technician hired in 2006 to oversee operations in seven coastal counties. Bartlett said his wife, Mary, and York became friends when the women served together on the board of a private school their children attend. York does not live in the district she supervises, instead working out of her house in Goldsboro. She is paid $53,647.

In each case, Bartlett said that when his friends applied for jobs at the agency he disclosed the personal relationship to the manager under him who was deciding whom to hire for the open position. Asked whether he thought telling a subordinate that a particular applicant was a friend might help that person get the job, Bartlett said that was never his intent.

The résumés of the other people who applied are not public records under state law, making it impossible to independently judge whether Bartlett's friends were the most qualified candidates.

The executive director at the State Board of Elections for 17 years, Bartlett is supervised by a five-member board composed of three Democrats and two Republicans appointed by Gov. Bev Perdue to oversee the state's election system. He is paid $117,397 a year. Before getting hired at the board in 1993, Bartlett served as chairman of the Wayne County Democratic Party.

Gable, 64, previously owned a television sales and repair business in Goldsboro, a town of about 40,000 that is an hour's drive east of Raleigh. Gable said he ran into Bartlett, whom he has known about 20 years, in the parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly and mentioned he was looking for a career change. Bartlett suggested he check the state's website for open jobs.

In April 2007, Gable was hired as a compliance specialist in the campaign finance office. Asked what in Gable's experience qualified him for the job, Bartlett said, "dealing with the public."

Bartlett carpooled to Raleigh with Gable, and Baddour and Bridgers joined once they were hired. Gable in particular made no secret of his close relationship with the boss.

When asked by a manager why he missed work on a Friday, Gable responded in a 2008 e-mail message that questions about his schedule should be directed to Bartlett. Later, Bartlett and Gable adopted a four-day-a-week "flex schedule," where they had Fridays off.

Early complaint

Soon after Gable was hired, a receptionist complained about his behavior to Kim Strach, the deputy director for campaign finance.

Strach said last week that she could not comment on the specifics of the woman's concerns or what might have been done about them, citing state personnel privacy laws.

Johnnie McLean, deputy director for administration, said the 2007 complaint revolved around comments Gable reportedly made that were interpreted as sexist.

Despite the receptionist's complaint, Gable was promoted in October 2008 to become the agency's business officer, an administrative position that gave him ready access to personnel files and put him in charge of enforcing federal workplace discrimination laws. He was paid $48,650 a year.

In February, Strach met with Gable and McLean , then his supervisor, to discuss complaints about Gable from several women. Among the issues was what appeared to be a small video camera in the ceiling of the office Gable shared with a female employee.

McLean said Gable took down the device before she ever saw it, so she could not know whether it had been a working camera.

Gable said Wednesday that he had installed a lens in the ceiling over his desk after he believed his officemate had been going through his work papers. The lens was not attached to a working camera, he said, but was simply to serve as a deterrent.

After the February meeting, McLean said, both she and Bartlett informally counseled Gable about being more sensitive. Bartlett said it was the first time he was aware that there were any concerns about Gable's behavior.

'Princess,' 'Fat Ass'

After it appeared no formal action would be taken, Strach collected sworn affidavits from four women who reported numerous complaints about Gable's behavior since he was hired at the elections board. They said he had used such pet names as "Little Princess" and "Fat Ass" when speaking to or about female colleagues. On other occasions, they said, he made sexually charged remarks, such as suggesting a co-worker wrap her nude body in Saran Wrap as a gift to her husband.

In the affidavits, which were provided to Bartlett and McLean on April 26, some of the women said they were scared to complain about Gable in writing for fear of retaliation from him and because of his close relationship with Bartlett.

Gable was placed on paid leave May 11, but he was allowed to return to work on June 23. McLean said that after an investigation found some of the complaints credible, she shifted some of Gable's duties to other workers and restricted his access to personnel files.

McLean said that after Gable returned from leave, however, she received new complaints about his behavior. He was fired July 29.

In an interview last week, Gable called the women who had complained about him "fabricators" and said he is the victim of "sad, little bullies." He has hired attorney Jack Nichols to appeal his dismissal. Nichols is also chairman of the Wake County Democratic Party.

"Any reasonable person can see that I have been singled out and am a victim in a coordinated, tainted and vindictive movement carried out in a very surreptitious way," said Gable, reading from a prepared statement. "I now know how the Duke lacrosse team felt after being falsely accused."

Asked about some of the specific allegations against him, Gable admitted that he had used some of the nicknames described in the affidavits, including "Fat Ass." Gable said that he heard others using the nickname and that he appropriated it.

"She suffers from a glandular disorder," Gable said in his defense. "We live in the United States of the Offended."

He also acknowledged his habit of referring to women in the office as "Babe," "Hon" or "Sweetie," names he said he uses for his wife and daughters. Asked if he would think it was appropriate for one of his daughters' male co-workers to call them "Fat Ass," he replied that it wouldn't happen because they are thin.

Recent changes

Bartlett said he has started driving to Raleigh alone as a result of the complaints about his carpool buddy. He no longer works a four-day-a-week schedule and said he sometimes works from his home in Goldsboro.

Bartlett supervises 60 employees at the elections board. He said his friends aren't treated any better or worse than anyone else.

"There's no favoritism," Bartlett said. "If they are qualified, why focus on the fact they are from Goldsboro?"

News researcher Brooke Cain contributed to this report.