This video from KODE offers no details on why Seneca Superintendent Steve Wilmoth is being given the heave-ho, but the details have been unfolding in a series of hard-hitting investigative reports by Editor Chad Hayworth of the Newton County News.
The following passage comes from an April 23 Newton County News article written by Hayworth and reporter Rob Wright:
Wilmoth's ouster comes two months after he told his bosses about a deal he struck with the Missouri Ethics Commission on February 13, in which he admitted to secretly taking money from Ombudsman Educational Services while guiding the Seneca district to hire the company and then failing to disclose those payments to state regulators.
In a consent order signed in February by Wilmoth and James Khlar, the Ethics Commission's executive director, Wilmoth admitted to signing a contract with Ombudsman to work as a "business development liaison" for $5,000 a month less than two weeks after he was hired in Seneca in February 2011.
In the fall of 2011, Wilmoth guided the board toward hiring Ombudsman to provide the district's alternative education services, but never disclosed to his bosses that he was taking money from the company.
Wilmoth's secret job wasn't discovered until February 2012 when a district employee caught him working on a company-owned computer.
Wilmoth quit Ombudsman shortly thereafter, the consent order shows.
Wilmoth's actions created a conflict of interest, as defined by Chapter 105.454 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, the Ethics Commission found.
Under the law, it is illegal for a public executive or administrator to take money from an outside company while trying to influence his public employers to use the private company's services.
Further, Wilmoth didn't disclose the $55,000 he earned from Ombudsman on financial disclosure forms he's required to file annually with the Ethics Commission, a violation of Chapter 105.487 of the state's statutes.
Wilmoth was fined $55,000 for his ethics violations, but the fine was reduced to $8,250, on conditions he pay immediately and have no further ethics troubles for two years.
A Newton County News investigation of Wilmoth's dealings with Ombudsman found that he had guided his last three employers- Seneca and two Georgia school boards- to hire the company to provide alternative education.
Wilmoth had been a given an extension through the 2016-2017 school year at $116,880 a year, but three new board members were elected in April.
2 comments:
What is questionable about the dealings?
Conflict of interest? Incomplete and misleading required personal financial disclosure reports?
Seems like someone got caught concealing a conflict of interest by not reporting it on required reports.
This should have violated some school board administrative policies. If not, the policies apparently need to be updated.
It's pretty impressive how the Globe is repeatedly shown up by almost every area news organization. Whether the Globe considers this their beat or not, at least the Newton County News is showing us the way that newspapers are in part meant to operate, by uncovering corruption in the interest of the public.
KZRG's facebook page is even a better news source than the Globe! No disrespect to KZRG, it's just that the Globe is the area's newspaper of note. It's sad that Carol Stark's mother passed away, but it's crazy that the personal interests of the editor repeatedly take precedence over the public interest. Even the Rohr documentation was only pursued with any vehemence because Stark happened to feel strongly about it personally. The rest of the time, it's Andra Stefanoni's adventures in heartwarming.
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