|
|
| King County Jail director on paid leave |
| By AP |
| Published: 01/17/2005 |
|
Kenneth A. Ray, the King County, Wash., acting chief jailer, has been placed on paid leave without explanation pending an internal investigation after less than five months on the job. "There's not much I can tell you," Carolyn Duncan, spokeswoman for County Executive Ron Sims, said Thursday. "He was placed on paid leave pending a review of some workplace concerns." Contacted Thursday at his home in Issaquah, Ray told the Yakima Herald-Republic he didn't know what prompted the action and couldn't comment further. Sources familiar with the suspension told The Seattle Times the action stemmed from the way Ray treated some employees, including some of what he said to them. The Herald-Republic reported that "managerial style" was involved. Ray, 46, was head of the Yakima County Department of Corrections and Security for 10 years before being hired in August by Sims, who touted him at the time as "an innovative leader in the field of corrections in this region." He was paid $90,000 a year in Yakima, where he oversaw a dramatic increase in jail programs that were financed by renting jail beds to other counties, towns and federal agencies. Ray stood to earn $120,500 a year if confirmed as King County director of adult and juvenile detention. County Council action on the nomination of Ray was expected next week, "but I can't see it moving forward at the moment," Duncan said. Ray's deputy, Reed Holtgeerts, who has worked in corrections for King County since 1976, will be interim director until the issues are resolved, she added. Jared C. Karstetter Jr., a lawyer for the King County Corrections Guild, said the union had just begun an investigation into Ray's background to determine whether to endorse him for confirmation and had gotten both positive and negative information. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
Login to let us know what you think