If Allegheny County Sheriff Pete DeFazio were an office manager in the private sector, he'd be fired by now. The reasons are as clear as they are abundant.

On his watch there have been three federal indictments, which led to two guilty pleas, one conviction and assorted pleadings of the Fifth. Superiors hit up their underlings for "contributions" to the boss's political war chest. While on sick leave, one worker put 7,800 miles on a county vehicle and charged the taxpayers for $1,600 in gasoline. Sheriff's employees did landscaping during work hours -- not at county parks or public gardens, mind you, but at the home of one of their superiors.

Now a county controller's audit reveals that weak oversight, archaic methods and general chaos have hobbled financial collections at the sheriff's office. To Pete DeFazio, this is public service?

According to Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty, the sheriff's office collected $2.5 million in fees that were unnecessary (and now the county Law Department must decide how to handle overpayments). Some checks intended to pay for sheriff's sales were never cashed, while some canceled checks are missing. Eight voided cash register transactions totaling $23,919 have no supporting records. Forty-five of the 55 sheriff's sale transactions sampled by county auditors were paid late. And with only an antiquated note-card file keeping track of the $10 million in monthly sheriff's sales, the office was unable to tell the controller how much it owes creditors.

Although the controller said he found no evidence of illegal activity, the practices reflect gross mismanagement and disarray in a major county office. And Sheriff DeFazio can't blame anyone else -- he's been in charge for eight years.

Last November, voters had a chance to replace the Democrat when he came up for re-election, but they gave his Republican challenger 43 percent of the vote -- a strong showing for a relative unknown but not enough to clean house. Now the office that was a hotbed of criminal activity is also revealed to be a lousy record-keeper and pathetic collection agent.

The county can't afford it, and the public doesn't deserve it.

Mr. DeFazio's new chief deputy as of April, William P. Mullen Jr., said, "We're grateful to the controller for doing this audit. It's bringing us into the 21st century. It's long overdue."

His desire to fix the operation is right, and the sheriff's office can only benefit from someone with Mr. Mullen's reputation as a well-regarded veteran of the Pittsburgh Police Bureau. But it's not up to the controller to make the sheriff's office work, it's up to the sheriff.

If Pete DeFazio is incapable -- and evidence of that is mounting -- he should step down and let someone else do the job. Otherwise, the public will need to seek other remedies.