Shellie Guin of the Guin Mondorf law firm is "dating" the highest paid superintendent in Missouri, David McGehee of Lee's Summit, according to the Kansas City Star.
McGehee told the Lee's Summit Board of Education about the romanceand says it has not created any problems, even though Guin Mondorf handles nearly all of the district's legal business.
As for his personal relationship with Guin, McGehee said that he notified board members of that last summer.
“It’s not like we’re hiding it from anybody,” McGehee said in an interview after a board meeting last month. “I don’t find that there’s any conflict of interest.”
McGehee said he has since worked with board members to ensure any district business that affects him is not handled by Guin.
McGehee said Tuesday he has always negotiated his contracts directly with the board — not through an attorney — and that his contract is later reviewed by another attorney at Guin’s firm, but not Guin herself.
(Board member Terri) Harmon said the school board brought in an outside firm to review the impact of the relationship between McGehee and Guin and decided there was no conflict of interest.
At least two board members do not agree with that assessment, with one, Bill Baird, calling for the resignation of McGehee, who makes $397,000 a year. McGehee, apparently not appreciating Baird's stance, has publicly called on Baird to resign.
A state audit criticized the hiring of Guin Mondorf without any bidding process, according to the Star article:
McGehee satisfied part of the audit when he signed a written agreement with Guin for her to act as a legal counsel for the district. Baird said he objected that the contract was never approved by the school board.
McGehee said that, despite the auditor’s recommendations, the district does not need to bid out its legal services.
Guin said that to avoid violating Missouri Bar rules, she was having other attorneys at her firm do work that dealt with McGehee directly.
Guin Mondorf represented the R-8 Board of Education last summer when three Joplin residents filed for a writ of mandamus asking a judge to appoint Jim Kimbrough to the board of education and prevent the seating of Jasper County Commission appointees Gary Nodler, Sallie Beard, and Ron Gatz.
Guin is also featured prominently in my book Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud for her role as the prosecutor at my termination hearing on May 23, 2013. Guin has presented seminars to superintendents and school board members on how to get rid of teachers.
The R-8 Board, and more specifically superintendent McGehee, have also committed numerous violations of the Sunshine Law. Also, the superintendent, McGehee, gives contracts to suppliers, et al, with no board input, no vote, and without asking for bids. McGehee often refuses to address the board as a whole, but instead will go to each board member individually and then publicly announce, when called out, that the "board" is in total agreement with him. McGehee took to Twitter in a juvenile rant once Baird went public with his concerns. It was embarrassing to see, and it got worse as the story was plastered across the evening news for days. McGehee has no idea the Board employs him, he treats and acts as if the Board and the people on it are his employees. I've lived in Lee's Summit over 30 years and my children attended the school district here, and never have I seen anyone in the school system as hated as McGehee. Before he came to Lee's Summit he was in Peculiar, and Peculiar residents were heard to say for months that when McGehee moved to Lee's Summit, they didn't consider it a loss, they considered it a gain. A couple of years ago there was a huge stink at LSNorth High School. Millions poured into athletic fields and sports buildings only to find out - Whoa - NO bleachers! Hundreds of thousands of dollars were then spent on bleachers and taken from a budget that could ill afford it. McGehee blamed the shortage on a major shortfall in property tax collections - but when the bottom fell out of the real estate market around here and houses lost half their value, or more, anyone with any sense should have seen that Mac truck coming down the pike. McGehee parallels Huff in so many ways, and this story of conflicting interest with the crooked lawyer lover isn't the half of it. Look into how parents of special needs children, and those children, have been and continue to be treated in the R-8 district. Look into how contracts are awarded. Smell the stink; it's very real.
ReplyDeleteI hope every teacher in the r 8 read that last sentence and remembers it when considering whether they will need union representation or not.
ReplyDelete9:54 The same thing is happening in Springfield that has happened in Joplin and appears Lee's Summit as well. Read Kent Clark's FB page. It gives details from SPS employees (anonymously as no one wants to lose their jobs) that parallel Joplin's experience. At least when Springfield goes down, they can't say they were not warned. They just buried their heads like most school boards seem to do.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Jungmann is a total Huff and overall douche. He has no human feelings for others especially if it not benefitting him. Worked with him too long to not see that coming Springfield. His butt buddy Steward is the same way.
ReplyDeleteRandy, you have Springfield readers. PLEASE start looking into the mess that is going on in our district.
ReplyDelete.....annnndddd....who cares? Bravo, another non-Story.
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