(From the City of Joplin)
Citizens interested in running for a City Council seat in April 2016 may pick up their nominating petitions from the City Clerk starting Tuesday, November 17. Petitions must be returned to the City Clerk by 5 pm, January 12, 2016 to be eligible for the April 5,2016 election.
The Council will have five seats on the ballot, including three general seats and the seat in both Zone 2 and Zone 3. Currently Morris Glaze, Bill Scearce, and Dan McCreary hold the general seats. Melodee Colbert-Kean holds the Zone 2 seat and Benjamin Rosenberg holds the seat in Zone 3. All seats would be elected for a term of four years, with the exception of McCreary’s general seat. This position will be a two-year term in order to complete the four-year term Mike Woolston previously held. He resigned in September this year, and Council members elected McCreary to fill the seat through the April 2016 election.
In order to be eligible, citizens are required to be a qualified voter and have been a Joplin resident for at least four years immediately prior to the election. They will also be required to show their voter identification card to the Clerk when applying for the election.
Zone candidates need to live in the zone they are seeking a position, and will need to obtain 150 signatures from registered Joplin voters, with 75 of those coming from the represented zone. Their election is included in the citywide ballot. General seat candidates should obtain 150 signatures from registered Joplin voters throughout the city. All candidates will also be required to sign a declaration of candidacy with the City Clerk’s office.
Candidates can seek the state requirements for filing financial reports on their campaigns through the County Clerks’ offices.
The City Clerk will provide a booklet on “Council Election Guidelines” to interested parties. It can also be found on the City’s website at www.joplinmo.org/electionguide . For more information, contact the Joplin City Clerk on the second floor of City Hall, 602 South Main or call 624-0820, ext. 220.
Thursday, November 05, 2015
Wednesday, November 04, 2015
Federal grand jury indicts Neosho man on drug, weapons charges
Jason L. Harper, 33, Neosho, and Allicia Ulloa, 27, Rogers, Arkansas were indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, two counts of possession with intent to distribute meth, and one count of possession of a firearm while participating in drug trafficking activity, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The indictment also asked that forfeiture proceedings be brought against Harper and Ulloa for items including $20,749 on July 28 at 3344 South Main Street, Joplin.
Bajjali wants judgment thrown out, says Joplin owes him money
In documents filed in Jasper County Circuit Court, Bajjali's attorney, Bill Fleischaker, says his client was not properly informed of the lawsuit and that the former master developer is also owed money for some of the work the company did for the City of Joplin. The motion can be found at this link.
KOAM's coverage of the motion is featured below:
KOAM TV 7
Kim Frencken: A few words about those in the trenches- the teachers
What is wrong with education?
Ever heard the saying ‘too many cooks in the kitchen’? I think that would apply to education. We have too many giving out orders or coming up with new ways to do things, but not enough willing to put forth the effort. Guess who gets to do all the work in the trenches? Yep, the teachers. And, they get blamed for everything in the bargain. If a new program isn’t successful, it isn’t the one who suggested it that takes the heat. It is the teacher that didn’t have adequate time or training to implement said program. What about the student that is bullied? The teacher reports it, but administration ignores it. Who hears about it at parent/teacher conferences? Right again! The teacher.
And, what about those meetings? I’ve said it before (and I’m sure I’ll say it again), what is the point of having a meeting just to have a meeting?? And, yes, some schools are famous for these meetings. These are the meetings that could have been more efficiently handled in an email. Or, what about those meetings that teach you how to have meetings? I’ve sat through some of those, as I am sure that you have.
Do I dare say discipline? I’m feeling brave, so why not? Let me introduce you to discipline. Discipline is a fair, just consequence for an inappropriate behavior. The goal is to teach the individual that this type of behavior has negative results and will not help them succeed in the real world. Discipline teaches responsibility and accountability. Discipline is absent in most schools. Kids are running the schools. With no guidelines, no boundaries, no structure. Teachers are not supported. End result? Children attending school in an unstructured, unsafe environment with an unmerited sense of entitlement. Yes, a lack of discipline does result in an unsafe environment, both physically and mentally. Students need to realize that there are boundaries and they need the structure of discipline to function safely. Kids being kids is not always safe. Just think about some of the crazy things you tried as child!
And, since I brought up the dirty word entitlement, let’s run with that for a minute. Where did this sense of entitlement come from? When did the rules change stating has to win. I’m watching the World Series. The Royals won. Does that mean that the Mets will also be given a trophy since everyone wins and no one loses? How does that work? Why do parents support such thinking? They are setting their kids up for failure. Because…. In the real world there are winners and there are losers.
Maybe, just maybe, we should rewind the clock and start really preparing our kids for their future.
Judge tosses former principal's lawsuit against Huff, Besendorfer, Doerr
The decision apparently marks the end of the road for Masters' legal action against the former R-8 officials. Masters had already been given a contract to be Royal Heights principal for the 2010-2011 school year when allegations surfaced that cheating had taken place on the annual MAP tests.
Court filings indicate that Doerr and former Curriculum Director Chris Templeton investigated and found no evidence that there had been any cheating. Though no evidence of wrongdoing was found, the investigation turned in another direction, with claims that Masters and teacher Kristi Stuck were creating a "negative and intimidating" environment.
Following a closed door session of the R-8 Board of Education, Masters was demoted from building principal to teacher, a step that had to be taken since he was a tenured teacher.
Though the steps that led to Masters' demotion were carried out by Doerr and Templeton, evidence from the closed session that might have implicated Huff and Besendorfer was never allowed to be examined.
When Masters first filed his lawsuit two years ago, the only defendant was Besendorfer. A deposition had been scheduled for former R-8 Board member Jim Kimbrough, in which Kimbrough was apparently prepared to share what had occurred in the closed session. Judge David Dally agreed with Besendorfer's attorney, Karl Blanchard, that the information from the closed session was off limits. His ruling was appealed and Masters also lost in the Southern District Court of Appeals.
At that point, the first lawsuit was dismissed by Masters' attorney and a few days later, the second complaint was filed, adding Huff and Doerr as defendants.
In an October 19 filing, Masters' attorney Raymond Lampert, Springfield, refuted the points Blanchard made in his motion to dismiss.
1. That the record contains no evidence of ill will
2. That the defendants made no misrepresentations or improper acts
3. That there is no evidence that the defendants acted without justification
4. The defendants are protected by official immunity, and
5. Because there is no underlying text, there is no basis to find a civil conspiracy.
The record shows that there is sufficient evidence to support each element of the plaintiff's claim and therefore summary judgment is inappropriate.
Plaintiff Masters had been offered a contract to continue his term as a principal of Royal Heights Elementary in Joplin by the Board of Education in 2010. Immediately following this, Defendant Doerr began investigating alleged improprieties involving the administration of the MAP test at Royal Heights Elementary. When the investigation failed to uncover any wrongdoing on the part of Plaintiff Masters, Doerr instead began to interview the teachers at Royal Heights about allegations of "bullying" and "intimidation."
As the deposition excerpts above show, this investigation also failed to uncover any tangible evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Larry Masters. Rather, the investigation found vague allegations that some teachers stated they felt intimidated by one of Masters' subordinates, Kristi Stuck. Again, as the deposition excerpts show, none of the complaints involved allegations of misconduct or even any specific wrongful acts on the part of Ms. Stuck or Mr. Masters.
Although Masters was not personally aware of the statements the Defendants made to the Board because said statements were made in a closed meeting without him personally present, Defendant Doerr did testify as to his own statements to the Board.
When asked about his report to the Board of Education, Mr. Doerr testified that he recommended that the Board rescind its offer of employment to Mr. Masters because "there was a lot of unrest in the building and that the climate was not conducive to a positive learning environment."
This report was based solely on allegations that certain teachers at Royal Heights had negative feelings about one of Mr. Masters' subordinates. Based on this, Dr. Doerr recommended that Mr. Masters be demoted from his position and lose his status as a principal.
A finder of fact could reasonably conclude that Dr. Doerr acted with malice and without justification in making such a recommendation after having failed to uncover any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Masters or any evidence that he had permitted Kristi Stuck to take any improper or wrongful action.
Likewise, if a finder of fact determines that Dr. Doerr acted in bad faith, then that would defeat his claim of official immunity and the Defendants' claim that there is no evidence of civil conspiracy.
There is sufficient evidence in the record to show that the Defendants made a decision to remove Larry Masters from his position as a principal or Royal Heights Elementary. When Doerr was unable to uncover any evidence that Masters had committed any wrongdoing with the MAP test, he instead decided to find a reason involving allegations that teachers had negative feelings toward Kristi Stuck, and that therefore Masters should be removed because of those feelings, absent any solid testimony that either Masters or Stuck had actually taken action to "bully" or "intimidate" any of the teachers.
This recommendation was supported by the co-Defendants, who were present at and participated in the decision in front of the school board. Summary judgment is therefore inappropriate and the Defendants' motion should be denied.
Tuesday, November 03, 2015
Joplin man sentenced to six years on child porn charge
A Joplin man was sentenced in federal court today for possessing child pornography.
Donald Eugene Ruddick, 39, of Joplin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to six years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Ruddick to pay $2,500 in restitution to each of two victims. Following incarceration, Ruddick will serve a 15-year term of supervised release.
On June 4, 2015, Ruddick pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. Ruddick admitted that he used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to download child pornography over the Internet.
On Dec. 26, 2012, law enforcement officers identified Ruddick’s computer as sharing child pornography with other computers. Officers executed a search warrant at Ruddick’s residence and seized a desktop computer, a laptop computer and compact disks.
According to court documents, forensic examiners discovered a library of child pornography on Ruddick’s computers that included hundreds of images and hundreds of additional videos depicting children and toddlers being raped and sexually abused, many of which were in excess of five minutes in length. Ruddick possessed material depicting the sadistic and masochistic abuse of children, including the sexual violation of toddlers and children being forced to engage in sex with dogs and horses.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.
Ted Jones inducted into Hall of Famous Missourians
On October 9th of this year, the Missouri House of Representatives inducted Edward D. “Ted” Jones, Jr. into the Hall of Famous Missourians, making Jones the 45th inductee into this very elite group. Located on the third floor rotunda of the State Capitol in an area between the House and the Senate chambers, the Hall houses bronze busts of all 45 inductees.
The Hall of Famous Missourians was originally established by members of the House of Representatives, and choosing a new inductee to this Hall is at the prerogative of the current Speaker of the House. The unofficial rules that were adopted specify that selection of members to the Hall would not be a matter of partisan politics and that no living politician would be inducted. Selections are to honor the achievements of the greatest of Missouri’s citizens.
The first inductee into the Hall was on September 8, 1982, and it was no surprise that Mark Twain was selected. On March 29, 1983, George Washington Carver—especially dear to us in southwest Missouri—was inducted. The expense of the gallery has always been maintained by private contributions and no state funds are expended for its upkeep.
Other famous Missourians who are members of the Hall include Thomas Hart Benton, Daniel Boone, Charles Lindbergh, Harry S. Truman, Walt Disney, J.C. Penney, baseball great Stan Musial, and others, including our newest inductee, Edward Jones.
Ted Jones, Jr. was born and raised in St. Louis. After WWII, he worked at the NY Stock Exchange before joining his father, Edward Jones, Sr. at the investment company his father started. Ted Jones saw the financial services business much differently than did his father and, consequently, recognized the opportunity to bring highly personalized plans of financial services to investors and communities of all sizes, both large and small. Jones believed the people in rural areas also needed quality financial advisors, and so in 1957 he opened the first branch office in Mexico, Missouri. The concept of branch offices set the Edward Jones company apart from other financial firms, and under Jones’ leadership, the company became a Fortune 500 firm. Today, this business has more than 12,000 branch offices serving 7 million clients across the U.S. and Canada. The company ranks number six in Fortune Magazines’ 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2015.
Ted Jones (who died in 1990) and his wife, Pat, who was present during the induction ceremony, shared a lifetime passion for nature and conservation and had a devoted love for the farm lands of our state. They recognized the potential to turn a 225 mile stretch of abandoned railroad into a Missouri state park and were generous donors and the driving force behind the creation of the Katy Trail, which is now a segment of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and the American Discovery Trail. Because of their efforts and leadership, the trail attracts 400,000 hikers, cyclists, and joggers each year.
During the induction ceremony, Speaker of the House, Todd Richardson made this comment about Jones’ life: “From his incredible vision and work ethic in his professional life to his passion for the natural beauty of our great state of Missouri, to his devotion to his friends and family in his personal life, Ted Jones was a role model for all of us who hope to achieve that perfect balance in all aspects of our lives.”
Besides Jones being one of our state’s most successful businessmen and dedicated conservationists, it is fitting to know he is now a part of an impressive list of individuals who made a lasting impact on our nation and on our state.
Nixon: The time for ethics reform is now
Missourians deserve a state government that reflects their values of honesty, integrity, and accountability. And while there are a great many dedicated public servants in the Missouri General Assembly, their efforts are often tarnished by a culture in which some lose their way. That is why, when legislators return to the capital in January, few issues are more important than restoring the public’s trust.
Missouri’s ethics laws are the weakest in the nation. Lawmakers in Missouri can accept unlimited gifts and meals from lobbyists. They can receive unlimited campaign donations from special interests. They can pay each other for political advice. And they can immediately trade in their legislative positions for lucrative lobbying jobs. This broken system is an embarrassment to our state, an affront to our citizens, and it must be fixed.
Over the past several months, I have been heartened that a broad range of officeholders and candidates from both parties have come forward to express support for ethics reform. I would encourage these individuals to go further and adopt specific, detailed proposals for what meaningful ethics reform legislation should contain.
As governor, I am committed to working across the aisle to make state government more transparent, ethical, and accountable to the Missourians we serve. I have called for comprehensive ethics reform, including strict campaign finance limits, every year since I took office. And while I understand that many elected officials in Missouri do not share my support for curbing unlimited campaign contributions, this cannot be an excuse for inaction.
That is why, in addition to restoring strict limits on campaign contributions, I look forward to working with legislators from both parties to pass the following specific reforms into law next year:
- Banning all gifts from lobbyists – period. That means no more free meals for officeholders catered by special interests and no more special perks at lobbyists’ expense.
- Shortening the legislative session. The purpose of a citizen-legislature is to ensure representatives and senators stay connected with their communities and the issues facing ordinary families. But the Missouri General Assembly is in session from January through May, nearly half of the year. Shortening the session will save taxpayers money, sharpen legislators’ focus while in Jefferson City and give them more time to spend living and working in their communities.
- Enhancing transparency. An accountable government is an accessible government. Ethics reform should formally ban the practice of holding legislative committee hearings during the session at private restaurants, country clubs, and other locations that are not accessible to the public.
- Banning officeholders from hiring their fellow legislators as political consultants. This will rein in a practice that undermines transparency and compromises the integrity of the legislative process.
- Closing the revolving door by prohibiting legislators from serving as lobbyists for a reasonable cooling-off period after they leave office. Preventing lawmakers from cashing in on their public service directly after leaving office will help curb the outsized influence of special interests.
- Enacting reasonable limitations on the campaign accounts of former officeholders. We need reasonable safeguards to prevent former officeholders from using the money left over in their campaign war chests to influence their former colleagues.
- Creating a safer, healthier, more respectful working environment in the legislature. The behavior described in news accounts towards female interns and employees is unacceptable and appalling. The legislature must foster a healthy work environment, including establishing an ombudsman to oversee the internship program, requiring diversity and sexual harassment training for all officeholders, and strengthening codes of conduct for legislators and their staff.
Missourians overwhelmingly support stronger ethics laws. The need is clear. The time is now. Working together, let’s break the grip of the special interests and enact strong, meaningful ethics reforms that will make Missourians proud.
Graves: We must get control of the federal budget
Budgets are about priorities. The federal budget has to provide for our military men and women, protect Social Security and Medicare, and it must show that we are serious about getting control of the national debt.
This past week, the House of Representatives passed the Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2015, setting spending for the federal government through next year. This budget includes some positive reforms, but it raises the debt ceiling without cutting nearly enough spending in return. I could not support the debt ceiling increase or the overall budget.
The national debt has grown at an unacceptable level over the past six and a half years. We simply cannot continue raising the debt ceiling without addressing the root of our problems – too much spending in Washington. This bill increases discretionary federal spending by $80 billion over the next two years, and it fails to address the fiscal crisis facing Social Security and Medicare, the two biggest drivers of our debt.
All in all, this budget is more of the same, kicking the can down the road on the serious issues we face as a country. Instead, we need real reforms that will put our economy and the debt on a sustainable path going forward.
Monday, November 02, 2015
Joplin City Manager provides weekly update
Good afternoon, everyone. Please see below for this week’s update.
Key Meetings
-On Monday I attended the monthly JACC board of directors meeting at the Chamber offices. I updated the group on the recent adoption of next year’s budget, our ongoing construction projects around town, and briefly discussed the new priority-based budgeting process. One element of getting public engagement will include reaching out to business leaders and other interested groups to invite them to attend public meetings or participate in surveys, etc., as we develop and finalize the results we hope to achieve as an organization.
-On Tuesday I attended a meeting with the CTS Group, an energy services company, to explore ways to make our buildings more energy-efficient. We toured Memorial Hall and visited parts of City Hall so the company could look into ways to help us lower our energy costs. I will keep you posted about any updates and whether we explore the idea any further. They are currently reviewing our electric and gas utility bills for anomalies in the numbers that may point them in the direction of making recommendations.
-Later that afternoon, Director Garrie, Director Haase, and I met with Oscar and Gabe Suarez to discuss a new lease, pursuant to our discussion from Monday night. At our meeting on Monday we discussed the possibility of having a proposal to you by November 16th, but according to Oscar, it will likely take more than two weeks to get an audit done on their financials, and the current year isn’t even completed yet. As an alternative, we have proposed to have Director Haase and Councilman Stanley sit down with the team owners next week to review their financial information, in addition to possibly having a third party do so as well. We may need to call another meeting later in the month if November 16th won’t work.
-On Wednesday I sat down with representatives from Congressman Long’s office to talk about a few issues. We discussed the FEMA reimbursement process, e-Commerce legislation, and our TIGER Grant request for 2015. Regarding the TIGER Grant, we learned today that none of our projects were approved for this year, and there was only one project approved in the State of Missouri. We will apply again next year.
-Earlier today (Friday), I met with staff in my office to get an update on the progress of our policies and procedures. Draft policies regarding a purchasing card program and a revised travel policy have been sent to department heads for review and discussion over the next two weeks. We are also coming close to having a draft change order policy as called out in the state audit.
-Earlier this afternoon, I met with staff to develop a program inventory of the various services/programs we offer through the city manager’s office, as part of implementing the priority-based budgeting process. We identified at least 30 programs through our office alone that are offered internally in support of council or our employees, or external programs that we offer for the benefit of our residents.
-To close out the afternoon, AtCM Kelly and I met with the employee engagement group to discuss next steps for getting employees engaged. It was a very productive meeting and we generated a few ideas that we are going to roll out in the near future to allow employees to provide input on a new vision/mission statement for our organization, as well as revamping our Bright Idea program, which currently allows employees to submit ideas that improve morale/spirit, make things more efficient, or save time and money for the city.
Miscellaneous
-Attached is a list of updates from public works. In addition to those updates…
* We had a power loss at the Turkey Creek WWTP earlier this week. Empire was on site to assist and within a short time had us back up and running, but not before we had an unpermitted discharge into Turkey Creek. Steps are being taken to remediate the creek bed. A bird sacrificed his life to start cause this chain of events.
* The repair to the sinkhole/depression on 15th & Wisconsin has been completed, so the road will be fully opened tomorrow after the concrete has a chance to cure.
* Asphalt overlay and micro-surfacing crews are busy trying to complete their work before colder weather reaches the region. Future street surface maintenance work will be scheduled for earlier in the construction season in order to secure better bids and to avoid the fall weather conflicts.
In the Pipeline
-Human Resources staff will be scheduling a personnel board meeting to review proposed changes to the structure of our parks & recreation department, that would include new job descriptions and using untapped Parks/Stormwater Sales Tax dollars for personnel to fund these changes. The parks board has reviewed the changes and approved them, so the next step is taking them to the Personnel Board for approval to include these positions in the pay plan. The date for that meeting has not yet been set, but I wanted to put this on your radar, as it will be an item of discussion at a future council meeting.
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