Huff went ballistic when the report first came out, one source said, and immediately set up an interview with a sympathetic media source, the Joplin Globe, which would explain all of his speaking appearances.
Most of them, according to the story by Emily Younker, were a result of a thank-you tour as Huff went from place to place, state to state, thanking different groups for their support of Joplin following the May 22, 2011 tornado. That tour cost R-8 taxpayers $89,000, according to the article.
The Washington Speakers Bureau was dealt with in one small paragraph in which Huff said the Bureau had approached him, he had done one speech for them and that was it.
That version of events conflicted, not only with what the high school students had written on their blog, but also a recorded conversation between one of the students and a representative from the Speakers Bureau, who said Huff had spoken frequently for the Bureau.
The issue was never raised again in the Joplin Globe, nor were any speaking fees mentioned in the financial disclosure forms C. J. Huff filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission for 2011, 2012, and 2013, with the most recent one being filed earlier this month. Those forms, which Huff signed under penalty of perjury, indicate that he had no outside income during 2011 and that his only outside income during 2012 and 2013 came from a family house rental business.
After the Joplin Schools Watch blog post, administration sources indicate,Huff instructed Bright Futures Executive Director and Joplin R-8 executive director of communications and community development Kim Vann to keep a second calendar, one which was not available to the media, for his outside speaking engagements.
Not long after that, I received an e-mail from C. J. Huff asking that I not write about his speaking engagements because he had received threats and he was worried about his family's safety.
It is appearing more and more likely that R-8 Board of Education members will be asking C. J. Huff for a breakdown of how many speeches, if any, he has made for pay over the past three years, how much he was paid for those speeches, how much time he has spent away from the school district, and for good measure, they need to ask whether he received any taxpayer reimbursement for any speech that he was paid for.
And good heavens- can you imagine the taxes someone would have to pay for a series of $8,000 speeches (plus travel expenses).
It would probably be a good idea if C. J. Huff simply provided his income tax forms so all questions to be put to rest and his name could be cleared.
10 comments:
Surely Dr. Huff hasn't violated any laws. Could he really be fame-whorey enough to risk his entire career, and then be arrogant enough to think he doesn't have to report the income? Really? I think there is a lot of sketchy stuff going on in Joplin Schools, but this is just too out there to be true. Right? Did this really happen? Is he that maniacal? It can't be true. If it didn't happen, Turner better be ready for a defamation suit.
2:40- Show me where Mr. Turner says CJ cheated on his taxes. All Turner did was question how much someone would have to pay in taxes on $8000 speeches and suggested that CJ should produce his income tax returns so that no one could possibly think that he was cheating on his taxes. I would say instead of defaming CJ Huff's character, Mr. Turner is defining it.
Considering the vicious way Huff treated Turner, I am going to be surprised if perjury and tax evasion are the only crimes that have been committed, excuse me, allegedly committed.
I think the weirder thing is that anyone would threaten violence towards the superintendent of a school district, particularly to the point that they would follow him to his various speaking engagements. I understand the need to take threats seriously, but he's not an Israeli prime minister. If he felt truly threatened, would he not be more concerned about people knowing where he's likely to be in Joplin? Hire a guard, or at least one of those guys that used to put the cape on James Brown when he fell down?
The more obvious conclusion, of course, is that this was a lame excuse to keep folks from writing about his speaking engagements. And if he would lie about that, which is such a ridiculous thing to lie about, what other things do you think he would lie about? This is a "reasonable man?"
This is nothing less than flat out tax evasion by the same man who raised my taxes to support his school. Thanks to Huff and Banwart's efforts, I pay a bunch more in taxes. And this man doesn't even pay taxes into the pool that he misappropriates from.
Send him down the road. You'll get no support from me or anyone I know until you do.
I did a Google search and came up with far more than ONE boohoo speech. They're all the same. He humbly thanks those he can't do this without. Chokes up at the mention of his precious wife, struggling back at home to oversee the children's private swimming lessons in their private pool, and then in his folksy way proceeds to tell how he, and he alone, "saved" Joplin after the tornado.
If only it were true, CJ, if only it were true. Sadly, the only ones believing this bunk are Banwart, Burlingame, Flowers, and Landis. And they are just too proud to admit they were wrong. Idiots.
Show us the money, CJ, show us the money.
Gosh, gee whilikers, it was just a week ago that we watched Huffy boy standing on the stage and saying to the kids that they must learn to distinguish between having character and being a character, and admonishing them to always do what is right. So, hey, Huff, show us your taxes so the kids will know you did what was right. Let's say every year since 2011?
And once again our local Caped Crusader proves that superheroes are the stuff of comic books and real people are weak and subject to temptation and greed. Thanks for clearing that up, CJ, so everyone can take their silly blinders off.
CJ Huff has made a fortune off of the misery of those in Joplin. It's sinful.
Didn't CJ say that pitchforks and lanterns should be used on those who violate the public trust? How does one hold the lantern and poke oneself with the pitchfork simultaneously? Please, CJ, put this on YouTube so we can know what to do.
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