Joplin Globe stands up for public's right to know

From time to time over the past year, I have had readers tell me they cannot see how the C. J. Huff Administration has withstood the barrage of posts I have written detailing corruption, intimidation, misuse of taxpayer funds, and sheer incompetence.

Every time someone has told me that, I have said that as long as I am the only one reporting on these stories, my record for accuracy does not matter, the documents I have posted to back up my reporting do not matter, all C. J. Huff has to do is say that this is just a disgruntled former employee  seeking revenge and the problem magically goes away.

The change will not happen until the rest of the media begins reporting on ringmaster C. J. Huff's circus of horrors.

Slowly, but surely, that is starting to take place.

The first to begin digging into the Huff Administration was KOAM, led by veteran education reporter Lisa Olliges. The station jumped on the infamous $8 million in "might-as-well" spending that CFO Paul Barr mentioned during an R-8 Board of Education meeting, though it did not use Barr's phrase, which has become a derisive term used to refer to almost any spending that C. J. Huff and his crack team recommends.

KOAM also looked into the six-and-a-half-mile ribbon and did a strong two-part report on the school district's push to construct a $15 million early childhood center- a center that would put it in direct competition (with an unfair advantage) over people who make their living operating day care centers.

KZRG's morning team of Chad Elliott and Darren Wright held C. J. Huff's feet to the fire during an August interview after Huff had misled the public by claiming that the new high school had not failed an inspection when the city inspection form clearly was marked with the word "failed." Huff had to admit to KZRG that it had failed, but tried to cover himself by lamely claiming that he did not know those inspections were graded.

And now for the first time, C. J. Huff's efforts to control the message have been called out by two of the biggest news sources in the area, KZRG and the Joplin Globe.

Though neither mention Huff by name, the latest attempt by the superintendent and his R-8 Board puppets to intimidate first-year board member Debbie Fort, was noted by the radio station and the newspaper.

After Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting, KZRG reporter Joe Lancello was asking Dr. Fort questions concerning remarks she had made about teacher professional development and the amount of time it was taking away from the classroom.

The board's attorney, John Nicholas, the same John Nicholas who is on the ballot for a Jasper County judge position next month, interrupted and said that all questions for board members needed to go through Board President Anne Sharp- it was "board protocol."

It was intimidation- plain and simple.

As far as I can tell, neither the Globe nor KZRG asked Nicholas who had given him the order to stop the interview. And though I am sure Nicholas would deny it, he would not have stopped Lancello if the KZRG reporter had been interviewing board members Mike Landis, Lynda Banwart, Randy Steele, or Shawn McGrew.

It was more of the same childish games Huff and the board have been playing with Dr. Fort since she joined the board in April and began questioning the way things have been done- something that someone should have done a long time ago.

Those who have watched the board meetings on television or have seen them in person, have had the opportunity to see Landis roll his eyes when Dr. Fort speaks, whisper back and forth with Huff, and have seen them obviously in the act of sending text messages during the meeting, some have said to each other.

Huff warned her at the end of the last meeting that if she wanted to ask him questions about the board meeting she should let him know beforehand what they were so he could come up with the information.

Board President Anne Sharp slapped Dr. Fort down at an earlier meeting simply because Dr. Fort asked a question that her constituents had asked her about having to pay fees to park at the new high school. Despite the fact that many constituents had been asking that question and the people who had the information were in the room, Sharp coldly cut Dr. Fort off and told her if people wanted to know, they could call the principal.

So much for public service.

When Dr. Fort's questions about the district's out-of-control spending became embarrassing, the Huff team submitted a policy change that would eliminate the Finance Committee. That effort was not successful, but no doubt the idea will be revisited.

On Tuesday night, John Nicholas was sending the message that Debbie Fort was not to talk to the media and if she did she was in big trouble.

You would think a lawyer, soon to be a judge, would have more respect for the First Amendment and more respect for the taxpayers of the Joplin R-1 School District- the people who have paid his hefty fees.

Both the Globe and KZRG reported on Huff's heavy-handed intimidation techniques, with Nicholas taking the brunt of the coverage.

Today, the Globe Editorial Board took it a step further.

The public elects each member of the board, not just a board president. And the last time we looked, the public does not elect the board attorney, or the school's public relations person, to whom Sharp said media should ask questions.

When asked whether a reporter can ask individual board members after a meeting to clarify their statements or explain their positions, Sharp said they should ask those questions through Kelli Price, the school district's public relations person.

Sharp even said that follow-up questions should be directed to Price instead of to board members.

We aren't going to do that and neither should you. By avoiding the media's questions, board members are dodging you.

After all, we are asking those questions on your behalf.

Now that the Globe has thrown down the gauntlet, it is time to live up to its lofty words and carry through with its pledge.

It is time to start asking the tough questions and see where they lead. It may be the only thing that can save the Globe from the embarrassment that is going to take place when the state audit report is released. The report is undoubtedly going to reveal many things that could have been and should have been brought to the public's attention long ago.

It is too late to save the millions that C. J. Huff and his compliant school board have squandered or to undo the harm that has been done to district employees. It is not too late to do something to help the people who still work there and the thousands of children who are dependent on Joplin public schools for their education.

I pose this question to the members of the traditional media- if C. J. Huff is willing to use tactics such as these in an effort to intimidate a board member elected by a wide margin by district voters and do it so blatantly in front of everyone- then why are you having such a hard time believing that he has created a culture of fear that has destroyed a school system that was heading in the right direction before his arrival six years ago?

KOAM, KZRG, the Joplin Globe, and hopefully, others are finally starting to take a look at the monster they have helped create. It should never have taken this long, but as I have told people for the past year, once they join in, C. J. Huff's days in Joplin are numbered.

I am eagerly anticipating the final audit report, but there is no reason for the media to wait for Tom Schweich. Start asking C. J. Huff the tough questions.

It shouldn't be difficult. After all, he's in Joplin at least three days a week.