Huff to auditors: We will ask the public if we should obey the law

Considering that the Joplin R-8 Board of Education only met for about a half hour to respond to the state audit and some of the responses are lengthy, it would indicate that the Huff Administration spoonfed the responses, many of which were misleading and some were downright combative.

One such instance was Huff's response to the auditors' recommendation that the Board of Education follow the law and reveal the results of certain votes that take place in closed session.

These included:

-"On January 12, 2012, the Board voted to begin negotiations for a land purchase. The final contract purchasing the land was not approved by the Board or disclosed in the open minutes."

-"On March 27, 2012, the Board voted and approved to sell a Franklin Technical Center built house. The district did not disclose the approval of this real estate sale in open minutes."

-"On April 21, 2014, the board voted and approved a settlement agreement with a vendor. The district did not make public the approval of the settlement agreement."

-"The Board did not provide final approval in open session to some contracts approved in closed session. These contracts included the Superintendent's contract and various construction contracts entered into after the May 22, 201l, tornado."

Huff's response:

"The district will review procedures and practices currently in place with a citizens' panel to determine the best path going forward related to this recommendation. Historically, the district has released results of closed session publicly disclosable votes when requested by the public to satisfy Sunshine Law requirements. However, further discussion with our community on this topic is important to ensure we are consistent with reasonable community expectations."

In other words, another "community panel" almost totally handpicked by C. J. Huff to allow him to keep secret what he wants kept secret.

The auditors were not buying any of it.

"Public disclosure of votes taken and decisions made in closed meetings is a requirement under the Sunshine Law. Approval of settlements under Section 610.021(1) as well as purchase and sle of land under Section 610.021(2) require votes to be 'made public' upon final disposition or execution. The release of these votes only upon request does not satisfy the requirement of the statute that upon approval or execution the votes must be made public. Made public requires more than waiting for a request to be made. Furthermore, because the general public would not have sufficient information to know what occurred in closed session to make such a request, disclosure only upon request defies the intent of the statute."

Audit gives Joplin R-8 School District next to lowest grade

The state audit of the Joplin R-8 School District, released moments ago, gives the district a "fair" grade, the next to lowest score that can be received.

Among the report's findings, taken from the citizen's sumary:

-The district's general fund balance has declined from $29 million in July 2011 to $5 million in June 2015.

-The district "has not adequately segregated the duties of receiving, recording, and depositing or transmitting monies at any of the five schools auditors visited or perform documented reviews of accounting records.

-Collection procedures at the student run store need improvement. Neither the teacher nor students maintain proper inventory records.

-The district used the same provider to serve as financial advisor and bond underwriter for all bond and lease participation certificates, and "sold general obligation bonds using a negotiated sale rather than a competitive bid process.

-The district made payments "totaling approximately $4.3 million to the rebuild projects construction manager for general conditions fees and acceleration costs without obtaining adequate supporting documentation to ensure reasonableness and compliance with contract terms."

-The district overcharged on Sunshine Law requests.

-The Board of Education did not make public the results of some votes taken and the final disposition of matters discussed in closed meetings, when required.

-" District personnel do not reconcile the Bright Futures Joplin store inventory to purchase and sales and do not conduct periodic physical inventories."

-"The district did not require 11 at-risk fourth grade students who were reading below a third grade level at the end of the 2013-2014 school year to attend summer school prior to the district promoting them to fifth grade.

-The district has not bothered to perform an annual physical inventory of assets since 2010 and the asset listing does not include $11.7 million in capital assets purchased after the tornado.

-Mileage logs are not always complete.

-The district "hired some employees for positions in which they did not possess the minimum required qualifications and there was no documentation supporting the district's acceptance of other qualifications or experience in lieu of the stated qualifications.

-The district has "not documented the basis for administrative employee mileage stipends and does not have a policy to address meal allowances, mileage reimbursements, mileage stipends and the submission of related supporting documentation."

-

Missing Joplin runaway located

(From the Joplin Police Department)

The Joplin Police Department is grateful to announce that Christian N. Goodwin has been located. He was located, uninjured and in good condition, by the Newton County Sheriff’s Department.

As always, we take runaways seriously. In light of the specific facts and circumstances in this case, and in consideration of the intemperate weather, we deemed it prudent to identify Christian as an endangered missing person.

In this case, the Joplin Fire Department, Redding’s Mill Fire Department and the Joplin Police Department collectively responded to locate Christian. We are also appreciative of the other surrounding agencies that contributed to this successful outcome.

Additionally, we are thankful for the community’s response via social media and those that called in to the special phone lines. In these cases, the information that we receive from the community helps us to better direct our resources and our efforts.

Search continues for missing Joplin child

(From the Joplin Police Department)

At this time, Christian N. Goodwin is still missing-endangered.

 We will continue our efforts to locate Christian. In these cases, the information that we receive from the community helps us to better direct our resources and our efforts. Call volume has reduced such that we have found it no longer necessary to staff the extra phone lines. We once again encourage the public to call the regular, non-emergency line and press 0 for a dispatcher.

The non-emergency line is 417-623-3131. Updates will continue through the night as necessary.

State Board President: Schweich had deep concerns about education

In this KOLR report, Peter Herschend, Silver Dollar City co-owner and president of the State Board of Education, talks about the death of his friend, State Auditor Thomas Schweich:

Herschend says over the last few weeks he had also talked with the State Auditor on the phone.

"They were on matters of deep concern about education," says Herschend. "This is Schweich’s voice, 'help me understand about something in education, help me understand what this means, help me understand how this helps kids."

"We talked about family, we talked about his coin collection... we talked about all those things," he says, "none of them pointing in the direction of self-inflicted."

"I don't understand that, and I don't think I ever will," says Herschend.

Post-Dispatch article explores pressures that were facing Schweich

The pressures that were facing State Auditor Thomas Schweich in the days before his death are explored in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article by veteran reporter Virginia Young:

But the tension in a run for governor was becoming clear.

Though the election is more than 20 months away, Schweich faced a mocking radio ad comparing him to Mayberry Deputy Barney Fife; constant barbs through fake accounts on social media; and a pending Sunshine Law request for every email he had written the last three years, apparently part of “opposition research” aimed at digging up dirt.

Moreover, at the Kansas City Reagan-Lincoln Days event last weekend, party leaders sided with his opponent in a straw poll and elected a new chairman whom Schweich believed was involved in a whisper campaign against him based on religion.

“We knew he was bothered by this, but we didn’t know how deeply he was bothered by it, by the negativity of it all,” said Spence Jackson, his office spokesman.

Joplin Police searching for missing endangered child

(From the Joplin Police Department)

The Joplin Police Department is searching for a missing endangered child.

Christian N. Goodwin, (twelve years old, 5’3”, 93 pounds, straight blond hair, blue eyes, fair/light complexion and thin build) is declared as a missing endangered child and an Amber-Alert will be issued shortly.

Christian was last observed on a business video at 4:34 PM on south Range Line Road. 

Christian was last seen wearing a blue hooded-sweatshirt, blue jeans, a black shirt and bright green tennis-shoes.

Christian is a runaway that is considered missing-endangered due to the hazard that the extreme temperatures pose to a young person.

The Joplin Police Department and The Joplin Fire Department are working collaboratively to locate Christian. We are not requesting volunteers at this time. However, we do ask that citizens remain vigilant. 

If you think that you see or may have seen Christian please contact the Joplin Police Department at the non-emergency line. (417-623-3131)

Stacey Newman: My memories of Tom Schweich

(From Rep. Stacey Newman, D-St. Louis)

We are still in shock after the tragic news of the sudden death of Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich several days ago. Our thoughts are with his family during this very sad and difficult time.

The auditor was my friend and constituent. He never failed to call and congratulate me on my victories every single election which I truly appreciated, even though we belonged to different political parties. Our daughters attended high school and the University of Missouri together and we had many friends and neighbors in common.

As many are doing now in remembrance, I am reflecting on the last time we spoke.

The State Auditor's office must testify each year in my Appropriations Committee as to their proposed budget for the next fiscal year. The auditor and I hugged and greeted each other as always before the committee hearing began several weeks ago as he was prepared to offer his budget.

We caught each other up on our family's lives and he spoke so warmly of his daughter who had found teaching as her new profession. She was student teaching in my district and living close to home. He asked about our daughter and we both remarked how wonderful their own public education had been to prepare them to stay engaged and involved in our community.

I will always remember how passionately the auditor spoke of his daughter and family. We talked of politics and the toll it takes on our respective families. We talked of his announced race for governor and recent puzzling remarks by one of his opponents. He asked my opinion, as a citizen and a fellow public official (which I found refreshing in this day of potent partisanship) of his latest campaign controversy. He remarked that he himself did not understand using negative remarks about women as a campaign ploy.

The whole time we spoke we both were aware of others noticing our conversation before the committee began. I remember the auditor expressing how he wished more of us on both sides of the aisle could talk civilly and with respect of one another.

The rest of that day I reflected on our conversation and was more certain that the auditor was humanely committed to public service.

And now, as we are left to remember him. I will carry with me the lessons he taught me in our own friendship, particularly the value of respect of each of our own differences.

The value he seemed to hold dear of his own family's faith heritage means a great deal to me but not just because I am Jewish. It is that family heritage is to be valued, not used in a manner to incite hate.

This is the lesson we all should carry with us. That each of our own family's struggle to immigrate, prosper, grow and live free in our country, regardless of origin or faith, is to be upheld and respected, not used for political gain. Let's do better. Let's be a better state.

Let us remember Tom Schweich for what he truly worked and stood for. As we prepare to publicly memorialize him, our hearts are heavy. We will truly miss him.

School closings for Monday, March 2

The following schools have dismissed classes for Monday, March 2, due to weather conditions"

Avilla
Cassville
Diamond
East Newton
McDonald County
Monett
Neosho
Pierce City
Sarcoxie
Seneca
Washburn-Southwest
Westview
Wheaton

This list will be updated as closings are announced.

C. J. Huff: Wallace-Bajjali caused all of district's financial woes

The spin machine is already going full blast.

The state audit of the Joplin R-8 School District is scheduled to be released Tuesday morning and it is shaping up to be one that is extremely critical of Huff's management (or lack thereof).

So Huff, whose entire tenure in Joplin has been marked by show instead of substance and manipulation of the local media has started damage control.

Actually, that is an inaccurate statement. Damage control started long ago when Huff told KZRG shortly before the audit began that he had not followed proper policies and procedures for 18 months after the tornado because he thought it was more important to "put people first."

The collapse and departure of the City of Joplin's master developer Wallace-Bajjali has also worked in Huff's favor. Huff can blame the slick talking Texas con artist David Wallace because the school district will not receive the $13 million payment Wallace had promised would take place during the third year of the tax increment financing (TIF) district.

Why didn't any of us see this? It wasn't the incredible expansion of administration during the Huff years or the series of endless expensive programs that add hundreds of thousands to the budget, but fail to keep test scores from dropping.

And most of all, it wasn't expensive cost overruns and millions of dollars in "might-as-well" spending and okaying additions that have not been approved by government agencies with the expectation that the money would be repaid.

The same superintendent who boldly talked in 2012 about the possibility of returning leftover money from the bond issue to the taxpayers, has had to recommend approval of $73 million in loans just to keep his house of cards from collapsing.

Then Huff has the nerve to tell us he and his administration had foreseen all along that this could happen.

And everything would be under control- if it were not for Wallace-Bajjali and the TIF district.

Whenever the heat has been turned on C. J. Huff  (and that has not happened anywhere near as often as it should have), he has turned to his most reliable supporter, the Joplin Globe, to save his bacon and he has followed the same path now that the audit is about to be released.

In today's Globe, Huff blames everything on Wallace-Bajjali. From the Globe article:

Huff believes that the school district's financial woes are the result of promises that Joplin's former master development principal, David Wallace, made to foster agreement for the TIF district. Huff said that redevelopment plan has failed and asks if the city council or TIF Commission should reconsider the plan and discuss what could be done to divert money to the school district.

It was the Globe that rode to Huff's rescue after Joplin High School students revealed in a blog entry that he was accepting paid speaking engagements from the Washington Speakers Bureau, also smoothing over criticism of his frequent speeches by referring to it as "thank-you" travel to repay those who had helped us after the tornado.

It was the Globe that delivered Huff's spin about the need for a six-and-a-half-mile ribbon at the dedication of the new Joplin High School, when many saw it as excessive and not at all in keeping with the serious nature of the event.

Probably worst of all, the Globe has helped Huff in his efforts to make the departure of more than 300 teachers in the past three years seem nothing unusual, accepting at face value his remarks that some teachers couldn't handle the expectations of the Joplin Schools, or teachers left because their spouses found jobs in other communities, or they were too traumatized after the tornado. Huff has never admitted that his administration could even be partially responsible for teachers leaving.

In a horrific twist of fate, the meeting that appeared likely to shed some critical light on C. J. Huff and his co-conspirators on the Joplin R-8 Board of Education, the release of the state audit, will now be relegated to only a couple of public events, both arranged by C. J. Huff- a press conference at 10 a.m. Tuesday when the audit is officially released and another event later in the day when Huff will answer questions from the public.

The complete audit will be available to the public, both on the state auditor's website and on the school district website, but with no state auditor or even representative from the state auditor's office to answer questions, the voices that appear on the evening news, and those that are quoted in the Joplin Globe are most likely to be those of C. J. Huff and/or R-8 Board of Education President Anne Sharp, two people are among those the most responsible for the financial and professional disaster that the Joplin School District has become.

As for Wallace-Bajjali being responsible for the district's horrendous financial situation, it should be noted that school districts almost never support TIFs because they remove tax money from schools. Both Huff and CFO Paul Barr, the district's representatives on the TIF Commission, voted for the TIF, something David Wallace told Missouri legislators during a hearing a few weeks later almost never happens.

The TIF would have passed with or without the votes of Huff and Barr, but Wallace was able to promote the complete approval of the TIF by all taxing entities as he pushed successfully for state legislation that would enable the TIF to go forward.

While it is obvious that the city of Joplin should have done more research into Wallace-Bajjali, it is equally obvious that C. J. Huff and his team bought into the $13 million payment and the promise of a new school without looking into the Texas firm's history.

One of Huff's employees at the time sounded the warning about Wallace-Bajjali even before the company became the city's master developer. In the March 31, 2012 Turner Report I featured details on the SEC fines and that the company was going to have to repay $1.2 million to cheated investors (none of whom has received a cent to this day).

I wrote that less than two months after Huff's H. R. director (and now chief operating officer) Tina Smith had sent the message through East Middle School Principal Bud Sexson that I was to stop writing about politics and politicians.

In the Huff Administration, truth always takes a back seat to spin.