Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Cooper company handles key study for Soil and Water Conservation Department


A consulting company hired by state Soil and Water Conservation Director Bill Foster has several connections to disgraced former Rep. Nathan Cooper, R-Cape Girardeau.

The state paid $24,475, slightly less than the $25,000 which would have required the job to go out for bids, to Business Improvement Solutions. The resulting study, complete with numerous grammatical errors, appears to recommend stripping local soil and conservation district boards of their power and centralizing the operation in Jefferson City.

Business Improvement Solutions, a limited liability company, was registered with the secretary of state's office on April 27, 2007, with Nathan Cooper as its registered agent. A quick check of corporation records indicates no changes have been recorded. Cooper is also listed as the organizer for the business.

Business Improvement Solutions was also at the center of Cooper's attempt to leave the country for business purposes while he was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to immigration fraud.

As noted in the Aug. 29, 2007 Turner Report:

Former Rep. Nathan Cooper, R-Cape Girardeau, who surrendered his passport as one of the conditions for being released on $10,000 bond, wants it back for a two-week business junket to the Philippines.
In documents filed today in U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Cooper, who is scheduled to be sentenced 9 a.m. Oct. 19 after pleading guilty to immigration fraud, says the trip has been planned since March through Business Improvement Solutions. LLC. According to documents on file with the Missouri Secretary of State's office, Business Improvement Solutions, LLC, was organized by April 27 by Cooper, who also serves as its registered agent.

Cooper's attorneys from the firm of Rosenblum, Schwartz, Rogers & Glass PC listed several reasons why the passport should be returned to their client, including:

-"Defendant has been obeying the conditions of his release pending sentencing."
-Cooper is "prepared to surrender his person and his passport to Pre-Trial Services upon his return to the United States."
-The motion was discussed with the pre-trial officer who "does not have an opinion as to whether or not this motion shall be granted."
-The motion was discussed with Assistant U. S. Attorney James E. Crowe Jr. who "also has no opinion as to whether or not this motion should be granted."

That last point drew a quick response from Crowe, who charitably referred to it as "an apparent miscommunication between counsel," in a motion of opposition, also filed today.

Crowe's motion says, "The United States opposes the pending motion of the defendant, Nathan Cooper, to allow his travel out of the country. Due to an apparent miscommunication between counsel, it was represented in the defendant's motion that the undersigned counsel had no opinion as to the motion. This is incorrect. The United States opposes the granting of the motion."

According to the trip itinerary, which was filed with the motion, if the court approves the motion, Cooper would leave from St. Louis 10:15 a.m. Sept. 13, taking Flight 1448/153 (American Airlines) and then Flight 74 (Japan Airlines) to Manila, where he would spend two days.
The schedule then finds Cooper taking a flight to Davao City, Philippines, where he would stay for a week at the ritzy Casa Leticia Hotel (pictured), which offers the following description in its advertising:


Casa Leticia has 41 exquisitely designed guestrooms including seven suites for the business person on the go. Located in downtown Davao City just 15 to 20 minutes from the NCCC Exhibition Centre, the hotel has wireless Internet access and DSL connection at its business centre. Rooms have IDD phone lines. Casa Leticia introduces guests to Ilonggo cuisine at its Sagay restaurant and houses Toto’s Bar and Fun Dining on its sixth floor. Nearby food and beverage options include the local favorites, Tsuru Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, and Hanoi that specialises in authentic Vietnamese cuisine.



After that, he would return to Manila and spend three days at the Oxford Suites hotel before returning to St. Louis Sept. 27. The following description of Oxford Suites is given in the hotel's advertising:

The rooms of Oxford Suites Hotel in Manila are spacious and elegantly furnished. Guests have a choice of 232 beautifully decorated and spacious rooms. Every one of them has exquisite interior designs and is graced with attractive décor. Large and beautiful bathrooms are there in each of the rooms. The bathrooms feature several upscale amenities.

The Oxford Suites Hotel in Manila offers television, telephone, mini bar and many others in the rooms. The rooms don bright shades of wall paints. Room facilities at Oxford Suites Hotel in Manila feature a wide range of essential amenities that would make your living experience a delight.

The hotel spells delight for the business guests. The conference room is big and spacious and can accommodate meetings and conferences of considerable size. The hotel houses a great restaurant and a café inside its premises. Several mouth watering cuisines feature on the menu list. Other Hotel Amenities and Services at Oxford Suites Hotel in Manila include impressive room service, banquet facilities and photo copying facilities.

So, come to Oxford Suites Hotel in Manila and you would be treated to a fine time indeed. This is worthy of being one of the top hotels in Philippines.



The Business Improvement Solutions study lists 1917 William Street, Cape Girardeau MO 63703" as the company's address...the same address as Nathan Cooper's immigration law practice. A website is listed at the top of the study cover letter, www.bisholdings.com, but it does not appear to be accessible. Google offers a cached photo of the contact page from the site, taken June 15, 2008. A Google search of Business Improvement Solutions, Cape Girardeau turns up only that page, two pages involving the Soil and Water Conservation study, and two mentions in The Turner Report.

I called the phone number listed on the study for Business Improvement Solutions, and it turned out to be a fax number.

The name listed on the study is Ron Randen, project manager, Business Improvement Solutions. In an article in the Aug. 30, 2007, Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian, reporter Rudi Keller talked with Randen:

In the motion filed with the court, Cooper described his proposed voyage as a business trip on behalf of Business Improvement Solutions LLC, a company he created in April. Cooper's connection with the company was not mentioned in the court filing. Cooper's partner in the company said he wasn't aware Cooper was planning the trip.

"He organized the company for us a few months ago," said Ronald Randen of Gideon, Mo. "It never really got started. It was just in a dormant mode."

Any trip would have been at Cooper's expense, Randen said. "There is no money in the company till."


Except, of course, for the recent addition of $24,475 in taxpayer money.


The study can be accessed at this link.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought we were rid of Bill Foster and Nathan Cooper. They have just hit the tip of the iceberg on Nathan Cooper, there's tons more there. And Bill Foster, one quick check of case.net will explain why he divorced his wife suffering from MS in the deposition supplied by his current girlfriend and former secretary. Disgusting.

Anonymous said...

I have first hand knowledge of this "work study" which is very uncomplimentary to the state Soil and Water Conservation Districts who have, in the past, received national accolades for their conservation efforts. I find it very curious that this poorly written report is signed by one Ron Randen. I guess Randen is holding the fort until Cooper gets outta the pokey. You talk about a den of thieves!

Anonymous said...

I thought Bill Foster was Senator from somewhere in the bootheel? When did he stop being a senator and become a DNR director?

Anonymous said...

I was on this site looking for another article when I saw the name Nathan Cooper again. I don't know much about this state agency, but if the director chose to use MY tax dollars to pay a company associated with Nathan Cooper than he should be fired on the spot! If his boss doesn't have the balls to fire him, he should be fired also. This is why we read about so much Missouri political corruption. No one is willing to clean house. Nathan Cooper is in prison and he's still able to slither into our government and someone continues to allow it to happen.

Randy said...

Bill Foster left the Senate in 2004. Rob Mayer currently serves his old district.

Anonymous said...

He was a senator, but he stared having girlfriend and wife problems and a riff with his own party and I think we saw the bad publicity re-election hand writing on the wall. Don't feel sorry for him though because he resigned from a $34,000 a year senator salary and was appointed by the governor to a $94,000 per year committee salary. Darn the bad luck.

Anonymous said...

Why would anyone with an ounce of common sense purposely associate themselves or a state agency with a person like Nathan Cooper? You say this Bill Foster is a former state senator? I just sit here and shake my head.

Anonymous said...

If this BIS company was known for being corrupt, why would this director hire them to do work for the state?

Anonymous said...

Another interesting tid bit from "The Turner Report", June 19, 2007:
Republican Sen. Bill Foster of Poplar Bluff was named Thursday by Gov. Bob Holden to the state Labor and Industrial Relations Commission - the same panel that term-limited Democratic Sen. Ken Jacob of Columbia was appointed to last month.
Over the years, the commission has served as a pre-retirement stop for many former lawmakers and state officials. The three-member panel hears appeals on such things as workers' compensation cases, unemployment benefits and crime victims' compensation.
Its members earn about $94,000 a year and are eligible for a richer retirement plan than what is available to most other state workers or lawmakers.
Foster, for example, would have been eligible for a maximum retirement benefit of $18,288 annually based on his 11-plus years in the House and Senate and some previous military experience.
He can receive $47,615 annually in retirement benefits if he remains on the labor commission through Jan. 1, 2007, said Karen Stohlgren, deputy executive director of the Missouri State Employees' Retirement System.
Foster, 57, who had previously decided not to seek re-election to the Senate, said he accepted the commission position not because of the money, but because he is interested in the job.
"As I sat behind a desk running my own business, I dealt with workers' compensation issues and unemployment issues, and as I was mayor of Poplar Bluff, I dealt with prevailing wage issues," an additional item the commission handles, Foster said.
"For a long time, I said I would like to be involved in that process."
Foster resigned his Senate seat Thursday to accept the six-year commission appointment. He replaces Ken Legan, a friend and former Republican House member whose commission term expired in July.

Anonymous said...

Anybody know what qualified these people had to do this study? Look like another phony business like the ones Cooper got the bogus visas for. When you throw in with a sham and charlatan it also makes one of you, Mr. Foster.

Anonymous said...

So many are asking why this Bill Foster chose this "company"? After reading this report and the BIS report, I can only think of two reasons. Either Foster needed a company that would guarantee the results he needed, or he's laundering state tax dollars through another of Nathan Cooper's ficticious companies. Either way it just makes Foster another dirty politician.

Anonymous said...

Someone should check on this; the following information was taken directly from the State of Missouri Office of Administration.

"In the procurement of supplies, equipment, and services.....all purchases over $3,000 are subject to competitive procurement requirements. For all purchases of
$25,000 or more, a formal, sealed, and advertised procurement method is required.

Was the request for this service presented for bids? I realize it was under $25,000 but is over the $3,000 required for procurement of bids by the State of Missouri.

Someone should request a copy of the submitted bids (if there are any) and if this was not submitted for bids, this entire transaction is in violation of Missouri state law.

Anonymous said...

Blunt appoints Doyle Childers who hires Bill Foster who hires Nathan Cooper's fake business... the 'good ol' boys' are alive and well on Missouri's Capital Hill. Might be funny if it were happening in a state where I DIDN'T live!

schaf said...

$525 below the amount required for the bid process, how convenient....And are we to believe that Bill Foster just let his fingers do the walking in the Yellow Pages and picked BIS randomly??? And how did Bill know the fee BIS charged was going to be just slightly below the $25,000 limit? Was that just an accident?

After reading the juvenile sounding, so called work study, it's beginning to sound like the old "which came first, the chicken or the egg" deal. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Bill told BIS the exact results he expected in return for $24,475. And I love the way the report ends, basically saying further study is needed...I guess for another $24,475.

How stupid does Bill think people are? Did he really think people couldn't see through this scam? I'd bet my mother's virtue that Bill got a kickback from BIS or Nathan Cooper in one form or another. This is carpetbagging plain and simple; apparently Bill and his SE Missouri buddies still believe this is the post-Civil War 1870's.

Anonymous said...

Heard that a bunch of those law breakers... er, I mean, law MAKERS from Southeast Missouri, including Bill Foster, were/are know as the Bootheel Mafia. Guess that's not such a "tonge-in-cheek" description after all. Maybe that's why all the anonyous comments, cement boots don't usualy go with most peoples outfits.

Anonymous said...

I thought the comment about Bill Foster being part of the Bootheel Mafia was strange, so I did some "googling" and found where he proudly linked himself to the the Bootheel Mafia more than once. So let's just review the definition of the word "Mafia"......a secret criminal organization; The criminal underworld; a crime syndicate in the United States;.....Ohhhhh, Ok, now I understand....this explains exactly why he choose a company established by Nathan Cooper, after all, Mr. Cooper is a criminal. So let's just review.....Bill Foster; Mafia; Nathan Cooper; Secret Criminal Organization....yes, that pretty much explains it all.

Anonymous said...

Let's draw a circle shall we? Govenor Matt Blunt appoints Doyle Childers to director of DNR. Doyle Childers appoints Bill Foster to director of the Soil and Water Conservation Program. Bill Foster pays Nathan Cooper's company $24,475. Nathan Cooper is a close personal ally of Govenor Matt Blant; and the circle is complete.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed drawing that circle with you. If you color it in and look real closely, it kind of looks like hush money.