After HR probe, Richmond officials suggest ‘restructuring’ of election office • Virginia Mercury

Human resources officials in the city of Richmond recommended an “immediate departmental restructuring” of the city election office after an internal investigation concluded the city’s registrar and deputy registrar violated nepotism and ethics policies.

The results of the HR investigation into the Richmond election office — which is separate from a more far-reaching probe underway by Richmond’s inspector general — were sent to state and local election officials on Tuesday. The Virginia Mercury obtained copies of the findings through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Richmond inspector general investigating city’s elections office

During the investigation, Registrar Keith Balmer verified nepotism allegations lodged against his office from three ex-employees, the documents show. It was their complaints that initiated the HR review, which produced three similarly worded investigative reports on the complaints and a summary of the findings.

The recommendation for a swift reshuffling of staff, including the proposed “transfer or removal” of all employees in a line of supervision that includes a family member, suggests a shakeup could be coming to the office that runs elections in Virginia’s capital city. 

Though none of the allegations deal directly with voting or ballots, registrars are typically expected to be sticklers for following protocol given the sensitive, high-security nature of their work.

The management issues in Richmond are also bubbling up during a presidential year, when election officials around the country are at their busiest.

The Richmond controversy highlights the at-times confusing lines of supervision for registrars, who are hired and fired by unelected boards made up of appointees picked by local political parties and confirmed by judges. Though Balmer doesn’t report to City Hall or Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, the city’s investigation says he’s still subject to city policies.

In an interview Wednesday evening, Richmond Electoral Board Chairman John Ambrose said he and the rest of the board that oversees Balmer’s office had received the findings and would consider them as part of Balmer’s annual evaluation in July.

“Since we have an election next week on June 18 and the priority for the board is the correct and transparent conduct of the June 18 primary I don’t think it’s appropriate to take any emergency action at this time,” Ambrose said.

The nepotism accusations were laid out in a document titled “Nepotism Tree,” which says Balmer hired his brother and one of his brother’s friends to jobs in the election office. The office also contracted with a company owned by Balmer’s wife to provide training on how to accommodate voters with disabilities. That contract, amounting to $2,300, didn’t go through the city’s procurement office, according to the records.

Two grandchildren of Deputy General Registrar Jerry Richardson, the second-in-command, work in the office, as do several people connected to the grandchildren, according to the “Nepotism Tree” document both Balmer and Richardson confirmed as accurate to city officials.

Richardson’s grandson, Christian Javins, works as the office’s elections services manager. Javins’s girlfriend, Kara Wilson, works as a policy analyst. A cousin of Wilson’s and a longtime friend of Richardson’s also work in the office, according to the records, which detail several other familial relationships among lower-level employees.

City HR officials found that people with ties to Balmer and Richardson “were hired or promoted without transparent and fair recruitment processes.”

“Favoritism towards relatives of senior management undermined the principles of fairness, impartiality and equal opportunity for all employees,” city officials wrote in reports dated May 16. The reports were signed by Employee Relations Investigator Josh Underwood and HR Division Chief Timeko Hunte-Brown.

Though the HR investigation appeared to be completed last month, the city sent a “notice of investigative findings” this week to state and local election officials who work with Balmer.

Balmer said Wednesday evening that he had not yet reviewed the HR findings. He noted that, apart from his brother, the other family connections in the office predate his time as registrar, which started in 2021.

“I will ensure that no family member reports directly to a family member,” Balmer said in an email.

City HR policies set broader limits than that, aiming to prevent employees from making decisions that could benefit a relative “regardless of the working relationship.”

“Any employee with supervisory responsibilities shall not have a family member under their scope of responsibility,” the policy says.

Both Balmer and Richardson acknowledged to HR officials that people in their office often got jobs after recommendations from existing staff, according to the records. Richardson also indicated the office didn’t have a formal interview process for open positions and said it was “common practice for just a conversation as an interview.” 

“Their failure to maintain transparency in hiring practices and neglect to address employee concerns violated the trust and integrity expected from organizational leaders,” the HR reports say.

The three former employees who complained about the office’s management also alleged they suffered retaliatory firings after raising concerns about nepotism and other issues. City HR officials ruled those claims unfounded, while noting that registrars can hire and fire employees at will and faulting the office for being unable to provide clear documentation laying out why the workers were let go.

Balmer told officials the three employees were terminated because of issues with their performance.

Investigators ruled Balmer and Richardson violated two city administrative regulations. One is an anti-nepotism policy meant to prevent preferential treatment for relatives and ensure employees don’t supervise their relatives. The other is a more general ethics policy outlining rules against using public office for personal gain and conduct that inhibits “the confidence of the public in the integrity of government.”

The investigation also revealed that Richardson had sold Kate Spade purses, wallets and money clips to employees during work hours to raise money for a nonprofit animal rescue organization she runs. The cost of the items ranged from $20 to more than $100.

“Considering Richardson’s managerial role, selling items on city time to employees that are within her chain of command may give the perception of favoritism for those who purchase from Richardson or create an environment in which employees feel purchasing the items to be obligatory,” the report says.

Richmond HR officials recommended “an immediate departmental restructuring to correct any nepotism,” the implementation of more thorough hiring practices to ensure jobs are awarded on “merit and qualifications,” mandatory training on ethics and other city policies and potential discipline for those involved.

It’s unclear when Richmond’s Office of the Inspector General is expected to complete its investigation into the election office.

City officials suspended government credit cards issued to the registrar’s office after concerns were raised about improper spending, much of which has been reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The inspector general is believed to be looking at that issue and others that deal with finances and accusations of improper conduct that go beyond HR rules.

The reports issued by HR officials point to some of those other allegations.

One of the ex-employees who filed a complaint also alleged his former co-workers took unused copper wire from the building that houses the elections office and sold it for scrap.

A footnote in the HR report says an investigator in the inspector general’s office didn’t seem too concerned about that claim because “the copper wires were considered trash.”