Thursday, June 02, 2005

Not enough money for Hohulin

Apparently, the Hohulins dropped out of the license bureau business because there wasn't enough money in it to deal with all of the controversy surrounding it.
Postings on www.lamarmo.com 's classified section indicate the former Walters Studio building where the Hohulins had planned to put the license bureau is available for rent. A poster named hohulin4, who definitely appears to be former State Representative Bubs Hohulin, on May 31 said a building is for rent near the square, 913 Gulf, for $350 per month or $300 per month with a one-year lease.
In another posting, just after midnight this morning, Hohulin said, "It wasn't an easy decision to turn down the license bureau after all the work we did and the money we spent, but it got to where it wasn't worth the hassle for what it was going to pay."
The announcement that neither Hohulin or his wife, Marilyn, was going to run the bureau came May 17 and was first publicized in The Turner Report. The news release from the Department of Revenue said, "The Missouri Department of Revenue announced today that the Lamar licensing contract office will not transition to a new agent this week as was announced on May 12. The department previously announced a tentative employee who has since withdrawn from consideration."
That referred to Marilyn Hohulin. In the May 16 Turner Report, it was mentioned that the site that had been designated by the Hohulins as the location for the fee office, 913 Gulf, had a "For Rent" sign on it. The site had been criticized as not having enough parking. The awarding of the Lamar license fee office, which right now is still being run by Bob Medlin, has been an embarrassment for Governor Matt Blunt.
Initially, a news release was published earlier this year saying that the contract office had been awarded to Bubs Hohulin. No mention was made of that appointment being tentative either, so the Missouri Democratic Party filed a complaint with the state Ethics Commission. That complaint was dismissed when the Commission ruled that Hohulin had not been officially appointed to the position. After that, a Department of Revenue spokesman told The Joplin Globe that Hohulin's name was no longer under consideration for the position. Shortly after that, Hohulin's wife, was "tentatively" appointed.

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