Sources: State audit critical of Mike Woolston

City Hall sources indicate the state audit of the City of Joplin included criticism of City Councilman Mike Woolston.

The council members heard the results of the audit during a heated closed session last week. The city will submit responses to the auditors' findings, which will be included in the final report, likely to be revealed during a public session late this month or sometime in July.

The criticism reportedly dealt with some of the same issues addressed by the Loraine Report, which was highly critical of Woolston's efforts to buy property in the tornado-stricken area for Joplin developer Charlie Kuehn, who, in turn worked with former master developer Wallace-Bajjali and sold the property to the Joplin Redevelopment Corporation at a higher price.

Loraine accused the councilman of using insider knowledge and playing on his status as a city councilman and as the tornado mayor in his efforts to convince people to sell their property.

The auditors took the unusual step of issuing subpoenas to some of the CART (Citizens Advisory Recovery Team) members, who brought Wallace-Bajjali to Joplin.
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The background of CART, Mike Woolston, the Loraine Report, and Wallace-Bajjali are covered extensively in the new book, Silver Linings in a Funnel Cloud, available now online and soon in the Joplin area.