Tuesday, April 04, 2017

R-8 Board candidates Gander, Gould surprised when they saw National Association of Realtors ads

The first time Joplin R-8 Board of Education candidate Derek Gander knew he was receiving support from the National Association of Realtors was when a friend told him about the flyer he had received in the mail.

The first time he knew that the NAR had supported him to the tune of $11,898.26 was when he read it Monday night in the Turner Report.

"I didn't expect this."

Gander said he had asked for a grant in the neighborhood of $250 to $300.

Gander, who runs a home inspection business working on a regular basis with realtors, was aware that the organization gave money to political candidates and applied for it several weeks ago.

"I knew a grant was written for Mike Woolston (former Joplin City Councilman) and Cody Smith (state representative) and I decided to apply for it."

Gander's application was sent to the local realtors' chapter, who approved it, as well as the application of his fellow R-8 candidate Deborah Gould, and forwarded it to the national association.

Gander and Gould had no say in how the money was spent. That was done independently by the organization with guidance from the local chapter.

The NAR files reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission on each of the candidates it supports.

Gould was also taken by surprise when she learned that the NAR was working to support her candidacy.

"I put in for a grant and they gave it to me. They did robocalls, mailings, and social media advertisement for me. I didn't know I got it until I saw the Facebook advertisement.

"I didn't know what all they did until peple told me that they got it in the mail and received a phone call. I didn't even know how much it was and when I found out I contacted the board office and they told me I don't have control over how they spend it or how much it is.

"I thought it was high for this area, but I was blessed to have received it."

Gander and Gould are making their first bids for elective office, as are the three other candidates on the ballot- Ron Brewer, Brent Jordan, and Elizabeth Talkington.

(Photo- Candidates, from left, Derek Gander, Ron Brewer, Deborah Gould, and Brent Jordan answered questions at a recent forum.)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

My guess is the NAR would support members because those members have a vested interest in making the school district great. A great school district brings in more people to the district and more housing sales. The NAR probably didn't even talk to the candidates before they put up their money.

Anonymous said...

If Gander claims that Mike Woolston did it first then everything is a-ok!

It's not like they were applying for welfare or an Obama phone-they just asked for some hep from their friends!

Anonymous said...

Haven't voted yet, will not vote for either of these Koch supported hucksters.

Anonymous said...

Oh yes- Derek Gander's reasoning - if it's ok Mike Woolston applied for and got a Grant then it'd probably be ok for Gander to buy and sell favors like Woolston. Get bids for his friends and Over-inflate them to the district. Just saying! Any of us who lived through the tornado debacle may just not want to repeat these mistakes.

Anonymous said...

Ooooh that smell / Can't you smell that smell /


$11,898.26 per R8 school board candidate means someone is very interested in supporting these people. If these candidates can't explain their good fortune in having fatcat friends ready and willing to make it rain on them, then they might be someones clueless sock puppets.

Is there an actual money or control connection between the NAR and any Koch entities or any of the Koch fellow travelers?

Anonymous said...

@ 8:49 am

>>>The NAR probably didn't even talk to the candidates before they put up their money.<<<

Excerpt Gander knew to ask them for money by applying for a grant?

Your attempt at explaining falls a little short imo.

Anonymous said...

To 3:02, I think that 11:22 means "Jeff Koch supported" (he is pushing them on Facebook), not "Koch Brothers"! It would be rather frightening that they might have an interest. LMAO

Anonymous said...

Maybe James Heron should pick better mentors ....

JP said...

It seems like Gander only reference as to how he knew to apply, not an insinuation that woolstein did it and to follow his lead!
I think people try to make something out of nothing!!

Anonymous said...

In reply to 9:04

This post has a quote attributed to Derek Gander:

"I knew a grant was written for Mike Woolston (former Joplin City Councilman) and Cody Smith (state representative) and I decided to apply for it."

>>>It seems like Gander only reference as to how he knew to apply, not an insinuation that woolstein did it and to follow his lead!<<<

So Gander clearly states that he knew Woolston did it, and that he then decided to do it. So, not sure where you get the idea to deny there was such an insinuation in Gander's quote, as Gander himself stated that Gander knew what Woolston did and then Gander did it. Although I suppose that you could try to deny there was a cause and effect relationship between Gander knowing about the grant and Gander applying for the grant.



Back to nearly $24,000 spent by outsiders on the R-8 school board race.

Another case of "people try to make something out of nothing!!"?





Anonymous said...

Maybe the real question here is "why are NATIONAL organizations funneling tens of thousands of dollars into local school board elections".....
You can bet they didnt do so without some expectations of being able to have some influence and/or recouping those moneys and then some

Anonymous said...

Two people with the same church affiliation as well real estate affiliation get big , big money.
Who is pulling the strings? There's more to this story
Keep digging Randy

Anonymous said...

@11:22 and @5:32 don't place the sole campaigning on Jeff Koch
Chris Sloan not only pushed Gander on Facebook but recruited him to take his place- how much you wanna bet he'll be whispering in his ear what to say and what to do ...

Anonymous said...

@4:15 Sloan is no longer on the BOE. He only had a one year term.