COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A top aide to Ohio’s lieutenant
governor has resigned after irregularities were found in her timesheets,
a spokesman for the office said Friday.
Laura Johnson, chief of
staff to Republican Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, stepped down Thursday at
Taylor’s request, said Taylor’s spokesman Chris Brock. Johnson’s
administrative assistant also resigned Wednesday.
Records indicate
their working hours and parking records do not match, according to
Taylor’s office. There were days when both women reported work hours
either before entering or after leaving the garage.
Taylor’s
office became aware of Johnson’s timesheet irregularities several weeks
ago while responding to a public records request made in April by the
Democratic-leaning blog Plunderbund, Brock said. The blog asked for
payroll records, timesheets and parking logs for Johnson and the
assistant.
The matter has been referred to the Ohio inspector
general and State Highway Patrol to review. In a memo to those agencies,
Taylor’s office said the hours the women’s cars were recorded as being
in the office’s parking garage was "significantly less" than the hours
they said they had worked in the four-month time period.
Johnson did not immediately respond to messages sent to her Facebook page. A phone number for her was not
immediately available.
Johnson had been given some flexibility to work from home when needed after she had a baby in 2011, Brock
said.
Taylor said in a written statement Friday that she was disappointed by the discovery of the
irregularities.
"As
a working mom, I know it’s hard to juggle both family and a job so I’ve
tried to be supportive of my own staff as they juggle those demands,"
Taylor said. "Unfortunately, the flexibility I’ve tried to show the
chief of staff of my personal office hasn’t been appropriately respected
and the workings of the office have suffered."
Taylor, a former
state lawmaker from suburban Akron, has served as lieutenant governor
since 2011. She and Gov. John Kasich are running for re-election this
fall.