CHARLES TOWN — Nearly six weeks to the day that former Jefferson County Administrator Stephanie Grove came to a separation agreement with the county, the county’s finance director, Michelle Grove, tendered her resignation this week.
The move came after Gordon accepted another job in Maryland, Commission President Steve Stolipher explained late Thursday. The plan moving forward, he said, is to begin advertising for the position at the commission’s next meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 6.
In the interim, President Stolipher said he hopes to hire Gordon back on a part-time basis to help the county get through its budgeting process, which is on the horizon. The next county finance director will most likely settle in once that process is completed.
Gordon’s departure comes after a pair of controversial months, during which Gordon was at the center of a report from Jefferson County Perspective, a local watchdog group, on its Facebook page, that she misused funds when in 2013, she served as the finance director in Hagerstown. In addition to being accused of misusing city funds, Gordon was also allegedly charged with child abuse in 2000, according to the website.
Initially taking the bulk of the heat for the allegations was Grove, who the website repeatedly called out for hiring Gordon in the first place — a notion that has been questioned publicly by council members past and present. As such, former Commissioner Patsy Noland spoke last month during the public comment portion of a meeting to set the record straight.
“Commissioners, and not the administrator, conduct the interviews for the people we hire,” Noland explained. “I was part of the county commission that hired the financial director, and we conducted a thorough background check. … It’s a real travesty what’s happening on county commission with your own staff. I think you need to make a public apology to both Ms. Gordon and Ms. Grove.”
Jefferson County Sheriff Tom Hansen, meanwhile, weighed in on the controversy surrounding Gordon last month when he addressed his concerns regarding her in a statement. Noting that he would make no further comment beyond the statement, Sheriff Hansen focused on how he believes Gordon’s actions had been “overreaching” in the past, and while he has expressed his concerns before, he feels they have fallen on deaf ears.
“To be clear,” Sheriff Hansen said, “once the county commission approves the budget of an elected official, it has little to no control over how the elected official chooses to spend their budget as long as the official stays within their set budget. I have questioned the actions of the financial director, who has continuously exerted excessive control over my budget.
“As a former member of this department, who worked intimately with the budget before retirement,” he continued, “I find this overreach troubling, as I have not witnessed this type of control with any prior administration. I am confident that if a review of my spending were conducted, it will show it has all been for the betterment of the department and the community.”
Conversely, the move to part ways with Grove last month, along with the allegations made against Gordon, didn’t sit well with everybody on the commission, as Commissioner Jane Tabb explained at a regular meeting last month.
“I think it’s a very sad day for Jefferson County that we’ve reached this point,” she said. “A lot of this attack on personnel has been through misinformation and totally unfair. There is no money missing from county coffers.
“I don’t think anyone can comprehend how hard that job is,” Tabb added while referencing Grove, “but some folks thought it was a nice target and they went after her. She will be hard to replace.”
Gordon was unavailable for comment Thursday.
