Jones said he joined Sequoia because he wanted to keep his hand in the elections business and had a long relationship with the company, which has operated a ballot printing plant in his home district. "I would not support Sequoia if I did not think it had a good system and good people," he said.
Part of Jones' job, Charles said, is to counteract misinformation put out by competing firms. "Bill does not have a sales role per se," he said. "Bill's style ... is to offer counsel to election officials.... He's a resource for them and us."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday November 13, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 31 words Type of Material: Correction
Voting machines -- An article in Monday's Section A about voting machine companies hiring former government officials misspelled the surname of former Sacramento mayor and state Assemblyman Phillip Isenberg as Eisenberg.
Secretary of State Shelley says he plans to tighten rules in his office to avoid conflicts and the appearance of them, and he wants local officials to consider similar reforms.
One rule being drafted would bar a state employee from influencing or participating in decisions that even indirectly would affect businesses if they were discussing future employment. Another would prohibit an employee from exploring a job with a business if the employee had taken any action within the previous year affecting the company, even indirectly. Violation could result in disciplinary action, including dismissal.
In a recent interview, Shelley said his action was prompted by concerns expressed about Jones and others.
"It is a public confidence issue," Shelley said. "I can't do anything about what happened in the past, but I can address it going forward.
"It's about transparency, sunshine and building confidence that every decision that is made is in the public interest and not the interest of a vendor."
Before he left state service a year ago, Jones was troubled when Lou Dedier, his point man in the election machine certification process, abruptly left to join Election Systems & Software, causing some competitors to express fears that he was taking trade secrets.
Jones called on the state Fair Political Practices Commission to investigate and publicly accused Dedier of undermining the credibility of the certification process. Upon taking his new job, Dedier said in a news release that ES&S "has by far the best elections systems." The matter remains under investigation, according to the FPPC.
Dedier said he showed no favoritism toward his new employer, had taken no secrets, was not involved in sales and has scrupulously avoided lobbying his former employer. "I just do tech stuff," he said. "I was never hired to do the other."
