I was there to see the Big Cheese, but he was unavailable, so I sat in the Lackawanna County Commissioners conference room chatting with Recorder of Deeds Evie Rafalko McNulty.

Commissioner Chairman Pat "Cheese" O'Malley, D-(for now) and Vice Chairwoman Laureen Cummings, founder of the Scranton tea party, had just announced the hiring of Andy Wallace — a longtime aide to the late U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter — as county chief of staff. The job belonged to Mrs. McNulty until Sunday night, when Mr. O'Malley phoned her to say she was out.

"He was loud and I was louder," Mrs. McNulty told me. "He said, ‘You're not loyal to me.' "

She said Mr. O'Malley accused her of saying he took a bribe for his support of the county's potential purchase of the former Globe store property. Mrs. McNulty denied making any such comment, and the two people present for the conversation backed her up.

"I told him, ‘You're sick,' " she said. ‘‘ ‘And if you really believe that, I don't want your job.' "

In a Monday statement, Mr. O'Malley said his decision was based on what he perceived as Mrs. McNulty's lack of qualifications. He also denied saying anything about a bribe and told TV reporters Mrs. McNulty was never a lock for the job — a preposterous claim considering she had attended training, was issued business cards and stationery and had moved into her office.

Her name was on the door.

Mrs. McNulty was recruited by Commissioner Jerry Notarianni, Mr. O'Malley's running mate and an apparent outsider after Monday's bizarre reorganization meeting. The top vote-getter in the November election now looks like an also-ran.

After Mr. Wallace was appointed, Mr. O'Malley receded to his office. I asked county spokesman Joe D'Arienzo to tell him I was there and wanted to talk with him and Mrs. McNulty face to face to clear up the discrepancies in their accounts of the phone conversation. Joe returned a few minutes later and said Mr. O'Malley was "in a meeting" but would "get back to me later," apparently by the end of the new year.

In the meantime, Mrs. McNulty told me Mr. O'Malley's denial that he accused her of suggesting he took a bribe was "an absolute lie." She also bristled at Mr. O'Malley's swipe at her qualifications.

"He shouldn't talk about qualifications," she said. "He is the last person who should bring that up."

I asked Mr. D'Arienzo to go back to Mr. O'Malley and tell him Mrs. McNulty had called him a liar. I thought that might bring him out, but he refused. Mrs. McNulty and I waited a while, but Mr. O'Malley never emerged. I should have taken a camera.

I have known Evie McNulty for the better part of 20 years. She is no damsel in distress. If she has a problem with you, she will address it face to face. I know this from experience. She showed up for Mr. Wallace's hiring and could not have been more gracious. By contrast, Mr. O'Malley's refusal to speak to me with her in the room was disgraceful.

Behold the new Big Cheese of Lackawanna County government — a shameless self-promoter who never passes on a photo-op, but is too timid (or guilty) to own his own words.

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, Contact the writer: kellysworld@timesshamrock.com, @cjkink on Twitter. Read his award-winning blog at blogs.the (times-tribune.com/kelly.