Two employees let go after Republican reorganization of Lake County election office

A full-time employee and a part-time employee have been let go from the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration office after a Republican Party reorganization of the office that included employees reapplying to work in the office and interviews.

Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Assistant Director Jessica Messler, the top Republican member in the office, said the purpose of the reorganization was to review the office’s 11 Republican employees to see where their skill sets best fit.

“It was presented to everyone in a positive way because that’s how we’re viewing it,” Messler said.

In mid-December, employees were asked to fill out an application for employment that asked them to describe how they maintain professionalism in the office, to describe their reliability, punctuality and attention to detail, and why they are a good fit for the office, according to the job application obtained by the Post-Tribune.

The application also asked the employee to sign a statement that he or she would be an at-will employee if a job was offered and to state when they would be available to start work, according to the application.

The employee was then asked to rank the positions he or she was applying for from most desired to least desired. The employees were given an “optional” culture survey where he or she could answer questions about what works well in the office, what needs improvement, what training or tools would be helpful, if communication is clear and how teamwork could be improved, according to the application.

The applicants had to sign an employee acknowledgement that they received a “Republican Employee Handbook,” according to the application.

“We did conduct interviews with everyone to see where their skillsets fit,” Messler said.

When presenting the reorganization to employees, Messler said the employees were given the job descriptions for each position in the office, which allowed employees to apply for new positions if they felt their skillset matched that position.

Ultimately, one full-time employee and a part-time employee were let go, Messler said, adding it’s not uncommon to let a part-time employee go between elections. Messler said a new full-time employee was hired.

There were a few lateral moves as well, Messler said.

“We’re confident that everyone is in the positions they best fit in,” Messler said.

Lake County Republican Party Chairman Randy Niemeyer said “it’s not uncommon to have some turnover” under a new party chairman and election office director. Niemeyer has been party chairman for three years and Messler started a year ago.

“I could’ve replaced the whole office, but we wanted to give people a chance and treat people like humans,” Niemeyer said.

Former Republican Party Chairman Dan Dernulc said in his tenure as chairman, he moved three people between different positions in the office. But the party chairperson has jurisdiction over employment in the office, he said.

“That’s the prerogative of the chairman,” Dernulc said.

Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Director Michelle Fajman said the lateral moves made in the reorganization resulted in two supervisors being “demoted” and two other employees being “promoted” into those positions.

Fajman said she was concerned about the reorganization because the office is “going into a very busy season.”

“I do not think it was the most opportune time to do this as we’re heading into a big election,” Fajman said.

In her 37 years in the election office, Fajman said she’s “never seen” a reorganization that included having employees file an application and conduct interviews. Typically, a reorganization means employees are given new titles, she said.

Fajman said the process was stressful “on both parties” as the Democratic employees were concerned about their Republican coworkers going through the reorganization.

“The Democrats in the office, we will continue to do our job and make sure everything is done correctly,” Fajman said.

akukulka@post-trib.com