Polk County Clerk of Court Melissa Keith Jenkins believes continued questions over a compensatory (comp) time pay request for one of her former employees are politically motivated.
Speaking to the county commission, Jenkins said, “Commissioner (Dewey) Esquinance has made this a personal matter ... I have corrected everything he’s asked, and every time he’s found something else ... Now I have to defend myself.”
Jenkins was referring to comp time questions involving the employee that has been in front of the commission for several months. The way Jenkins approves that time has been at the center of several allegations.
Jenkins said, “We have a history,” referring to herself and Equinance. She then held up what she said was a police report she filed accusing him of inappropriate treatment of her son.
A copy of that report, filed in June 2016, was later obtained from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. In it, Jenkins said that her son, who was attending summer school, “came home soaking wet and stated that the teacher ... (Esquinance) ... had poured water on him.
The report continued, “As the week progressed, (juvenile name redacted) began to tell Melissa more about how uncomfortable Mr. Esquinance is making him feel by rubbing his shoulders and dumping water directly on the genital area of his clothing.
“On Thursday, June 16, 2016, (juvenile name redacted) told his mother, Melissa, that Mr. Esquinance made him really uncomfortable by running his fingers through (juvenile’s name redacted) hair.”
The report also accused Esquinance of accusing the juvenile of watching “porn when he is at home.”
Jenkins’ son reportedly told her he did not feel safe to go to school “while Mr. Esquinance is there.”
Responding at the meeting, Esquinance said, “I was never questioned,” but students were.
Polk County Sheriff Steve Ross said his office contacted the District Attorney’s office and they, in turn, advised the Department of Children’s Services (DCS)of the complaint.
But Jenkins’ allegations against Esquinance did not stop with the 2016 police report.
She accused the county commissioner of a conflict of interest because his wife, Lita Esquinance, has announced she will run against Jenkins for the Court Clerk post in this year’s Polk County election.
Esquinance did announce her candidacy for the post at the Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner in January.
During the commission meeting, held February 1 at the Copper Basin Community Center in Ducktown, District 1 Commissioner James Woody made a motion to pay the employee for 45.75 hours of compensatory time, a motion that stopped the exchange between Esquinance and Jenkins.
The commission unanimously passed the motion, with all commissioners present except District 3 Commissioner Daniel Deal.
The original request for comp time was for 142.65 hours, but that had been reduced by the commission.
Jenkins said, “I’m requesting (the employee) get paid ... (she) needs paid for what she did,” explaining the employee had worked the hours, which included night and weekend work to sign court documents.
During the discussion over comp time and the way Jenkins approved it, she pointed out that there were no instructions in the Polk County Personnel Policies against the way she runs her office and that neither did the policies give specific guidelines for comp time.
She said when she took office four years ago, the outgoing clerk, who she defeated in the election, provided no help in the transition.
One of the main contentions raised early in the comp time discussions was the fact Jenkins allowed an hour comp time for all her employees during lunch when her office was closed. She started this practice in the beginning, and several employees who have left were paid comp time under her policy.
If this was a problem, she asked Commissioner John Pippenger why it has not been brought to her attention before now, to which Pippenger replied, “I’ve never noticed it before.”
Pippenger explained that while Jenkins’ predecessor had closed the office an hour for lunch, the lunch was non-paid for employees.
After the meeting, Jenkins addressed the personnel policy that says an employee may accrue up to 240 hours of compensatory time. She said the commissioners should not even be involved in the operation of elected officials’ offices until that amount is exceeded.
The Polk County Personnel Policies were last amended in 2011.
There have been several statements among the current commissioners that the handbook needs updated and reviewed, and at least one committee meeting scheduled in the last year to consider changes, but nothing has taken place.
When asked why she did not pursue the complaint further in 2016, Jenkins said she was raising three children on her own, making $10 an hour and did not have the means to get a lawyer, which she felt would be needed.
Emails to Dr. James Jones, director of Polk County Schools, seeking comments and information had not been returned by press time.
The News Observer is seeking the DCS investigative report of the incident.