Friday, June 06, 2008

St. Charles laundering operation provides $6,000 for Rita Hunter

How much is the job of Jasper County public administrator worth?

To two district committees operating out of St. Charles, it must be worth a lot, since both contributed $3,000 to incumbent Rita Hunter's re-election campaign.

According to Missouri Ethics Commission documents, the 12th District Republican Legislative Committee and the 19th District Republican Legislative Committee, both operated by treasurer Brad Harmon, with a St. Charles post office box number listed as the address, gave $3,000 contributions to Friends for Rita Hunter.

The contributions were made on March 31, the final day of the last reporting period and likely did not arrive at the Hunter campaign until April so they are not included on Mrs. Hunter's April 15 disclosure report.

Ethics Commission documents indicate the 127th District Legislative Committee contributed $6,000 to the 19th District Committee on May 13.

A final note: On March 25, the 127th District Committee contributed $450 to Grassroots for Hunter. On the state level, that committee no longer exists, since Rep. Steve Hunter and his treasurer and wife, Rita Hunter, filed termination papers for the committee in October.

Therefore, the 127th District Republican Legislative Committee has essentially contributed $6,000 in a roundabout fashion to someone running for Jasper County Public Administrator, and $450 directly to someone running for the Carl Junction R-1 Board of Education.

With the new "transparency" law going into effect Aug. 28, these shenanigans are supposed to be done in the open. Unfortunately, some of our legislators were so intent on abolishing campaign contribution limits, that they neglected to eliminate the committee laundering system.

As usual, it's going to be hard to tell where the money is coming from. Hopefully, some of the media will at least make the effort.

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