Department Hire Challenged Amid Claims Of Not Being Qualified
By: Nichelle Sullivan
Updated: July 18, 2012
Members of the deaf community communcating and reacting to the discussion in Tuesday's legislative meeting.
"We're really mixed in our feelings about today's hearing," signed Flint Fears, member of the deaf community.
It was a back and forth battle between career education director Bill Walker and a dozen lawmakers questioning his hire of Clara Taylor, a former employee at his funeral home."We hired someone that's not qualified to pass the minimum test, and that's my opinion," said Representative Bryan King.
Walker was adamant in his defense in saying Taylor's experience growing up with a deaf sister. and signing every week in church along with her 20-year career as a state employee qualified her as a rehabilitative interpreter.
Walker remarked, "We think we made a good decision, based on several different factors, and we ask for the chance to prove ourselves"
But committee chairman Bryan King wanted to know why the agency passed on seven other certified candidates when Taylor failed the video portion of an American Sign Language test.
"This lady that was hired, don't want to be mean to her," King continues "but she was not qualified."
With members of the deaf community scrutinizing every gesture, looking for a sign lawmakers have their best interests at heart.
The committee voted to send the hiring to legislative research.
They'll take a deeper look at the process... And send their findings back to the committee.
As one member pointed out...It's their job to decide whether a candidate should be hired but they've never fired anyone.
So the fate of the interpreter remains to be seen.
