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Lineweaver tells Council a bar code filing system will help fix his office
Embattled Juvenile Court Clerk Vic Lineweaver was pressed very little by Metro Council members at his office’s budget and finance committee meeting Thursday — except for answering questions on the possible implementation of a new bar code filing system.
Lineweaver was asked why the bar code system was necessary when no other Metro departments, or court offices, use such a system.
Such a system would come out of the Metro capital budget and not the juvenile court clerk’s operating budget, which was what was supposed to be discussed at Thursday’s meeting.
“In the last three budget cycles we’ve asked for the bar coding,” Lineweaver said in response to a question from at-large Councilman Charlie Tygard. “It’s only as good its user, but it will let us know where the file last was.”
Lineweaver said the other juvenile court clerk system he was aware used a bar code filing system is in Shelby County. His office is in charge of documents related to juvenile court, in particular child support records.
In his budget proposal with Mayor Karl Dean earlier this year, Lineweaver had asked for a car for an obscure in-school docket program that wasn’t even used last year. Dean turned down the request for a car and proceeded to cut the juvenile court clerk’s budget by 11 percent.
Lineweaver said Thursday that budget cut would mean layoffs from among the juvenile court clerk’s staff of 35.
“We’re going to continue on, even though we’re going to be cut [11 percent],” he said. “However this will involve the elimination of at least four positions within the agency. The current level of service we are providing will not suffer because we will have increased our cross-training efforts and work some on the weekends, as we’re currently doing now.”
Lineweaver, who has said he will run for re-election this fall, was arrested last year on contempt of court charges after he failed to produce critical court documents for the juvenile court.
Earlier this year, a local Channel 4 report showed Lineweaver at his home in his bathrobe during regular work hours.
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Will be be stupid enough to elect him again?Last election he was already under a cloud and the people choose him over the #2 man that was a career employee.
You might be, idgaf, I'm not.
If they can't keep track of things in their current system, how do they think they can handle a new barcode system?At my job, I went through a series of file clerks who either didn't know the alphabet, couldn't grasp the concept of filing chronologically, or just didn't care as long as the To Be Filed in-basket got emptied. I now know some documents were even thrown away because a clerk couldn't figure out where to file them. People have to be willing and able to follow filing procedures or NO system will work. If the clerks are willing and able to follow procedures, ANY system will work.
This man needs to go the way of Pedro.Bad thing is the voters don't pay enough attention to make it happen.
PS Who is selling this NEW system? How much is it? Did the council get multiple bidders? What does Vic get out of it?Remember barcoding is OLD technology. This "system" should be dirt cheap anyway.
Strange people run for public office and strange people get elected.
I'm with the skeptic. Follow the money.
If he would stay ion his office and do his job there would be no need for a new system. It doesn't matter what kind of system is implemented when the office has no discipline or leadership the results will be the same.Get rid of Lineweaver and the biggest problem will be solved.
I would imagine that the bar coding would be part of a system that would facilitate a chain of custody. So a bar code would be instantly scanned when a file is checked out showing who is in pocession of the file. Then when it is returned, the bar code is rescanned and the system shows it being back in the main filing system. A chain of custody system sounds like a good idea in an office that apparently is notorius for missplacing important files and documents. Without chain of custody no one knows who had a file last or who may have made changes or deletions to the content of a file folder. With the system someone can be reprimanded if the system fingers them as being the last user in posession of a legal entity. I know nothing of the people in this office or Lineweaver, but it sounds a lot like we have a situation where people are resisting new technology and change in their jobs (have I seen this a LOT).
There was an airtight chain of custody with those laptops that were stolen at the Election Commission, and a series of rules that by the commission's own admission were broken. And yet, no one was punished in any meaningful way. Why even bother; Lineweaver's continued presence on the job says all we need to know about how tight a ship Nashville Metro is.