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    City manager fired
    Reports recommends Woolston resign or divest business interests

    By Debby Woodin Globe Staff Writer
    February 5, 2014


    http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstorie...-manager-fired
    http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0141#post10141

    JOPLIN, Mo. — City Manager Mark Rohr was ousted Tuesday night after the City Council met in a long closed meeting and then publicly heard the results of a council-ordered investigation.

    The report also concluded that Councilman Bill Scearce was clear of wrongdoing in a FBI investigation of local gambling and that Councilman Mike Woolston should divest his business interests or resign from the City Council.

    When the council voted on a motion by Scearce to accept the report, the count was 8-1 with Woolston voting against it.

    Councilman Benjamin Rosenberg then read a resolution terminating Rohr “without cause” and ordering that any salary owed Rohr be paid.

    Rohr said he wanted the public to note that the resolution was drawn up before the vote to terminate him. He later said the resolution was drawn up before the meeting.

    The vote to fire Rohr was 5-4 with Rosenberg, Scearce, Jack Golden, Trisha Raney and Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean voting in favor of it.

    Scearce then made a motion that City Attorney Brian Head be appointed as acting city manager.

    Both Councilmen Gary Shaw and Woolston said the assistant city manager, Sam Anselm, should be the acting city manager. Rosenberg said Anselm was not the council’s employee, but that Head has reported directly to the council. Head is the only employee qualified to step in and deal with the intricacies of the city’s redevelopment and the details of the redevelopment agreements with Wallace-Bajjali Investment Partners, the city’s contracted master developer.

    That attempt failed 4-5 with the mayor, Woolston, Shaw, Mike Seibert and Morris Glaze voting against naming Head as acting city manager.

    Woolston then made a motion to name Anselm acting city manager and that passed 6-3.

    The meeting concluded minutes before midnight and Rohr called on reporters to hear his remarks in reaction to his firing. He called the report by Osage Beach attorney Tom Loraine “incomplete and inaccurate.” Rohr said that in August there was an effort to force him to resign but that in October he was given a merit raise and was given directives which he had accomplished or was working on.

    “You figure out what’s going in this town,” he said, adding that he intends to look into his legal options.

    The report implies, based on testimony Head gave the investigator, that the city manager made no effort to have development agreements with the Wallace Bajjali firm reviewed by outside legal counsel to protect the city’s interests.

    Rohr said there seemed to be a lot of advance knowledge among some members of the council about what the report would contain and repeated his contention that the resolution dismissing him was written in advance of Tuesday’s meeting.

    “There were agendas at play,” Rohr said.

    Woolston is a real estate agent who initially worked to buy land that was eventually purchased as the site for the proposed new Joplin Public Library and movie theater. Loraine said in the report that Woolston’s repeated abstentions from council votes citing his business interests made it seem he had a personal interest in the redevelopment work and diminished the public’s confidence in the council.

    Woolston one time cited a personal interest as the reason for an abstention and subsequently cited the involvement of his former employer, Pro 100 Realtors.

    Woolston said he was not aware of any inappropriate property dealings. He said the investigator did a poor job and that “he strayed into areas he didn’t belong.”

    He called on the public “to raise up and let them know how you feel” about the outcome of the report and Rohr’s firing.

    He said that the investigation seemed to have been steered and said “it just doesn’t pass the smell test.”

    Woolston said does not intend to resign.

    “They may want me to, but they’ll have to remove me,” he said.

    Scearce had already left City Hall after Rohr and Woolston spoke in reaction to the events.


    All the shit unfit to print

    http://www.joplinglobe.com

  • #2
    Rohr: Joplin City Council probe ‘strayed’ from original charge

    Rohr: Joplin City Council probe ‘strayed’ from original charge

    By Debby Woodin Globe Staff Writer
    February 5, 2014


    http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstorie...riginal-charge
    http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0180#post10180

    JOPLIN, Mo. — Members of the Joplin City Council said little Wednesday about the reasons behind the firing of former City Manager Mark Rohr.

    Rohr, reached by telephone, said a council-ordered investigation that was intended to be about two council members went off track and was used to snare him instead on complaints from disgruntled city workers or former workers regarding personnel decisions he made.

    Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean would not discuss the reasons for Rohr’s dismissal.

    “This was a personnel matter, and we cannot comment on the termination because it is confidential,” Colbert-Kean was quoted as saying in the statement issued by the city.

    Said Rohr: “I wasn’t even the target of the investigation, but the manner in which the investigator conducted the investigation strayed very far from the charge.”

    Tom Loraine, an attorney from Osage Beach who is a former assistant U.S. attorney, was hired to conduct the investigation.

    Rohr said the council’s charge to the investigator was to address questions about the relationship of Councilman Bill Scearce to a gambling bookmaker who had rented an office from him; about how Scearce obtained a memo from Rohr’s desk without his permission; and about whether Councilman Mike Woolston had engaged in improper property dealings. The probe’s report to the council did state that the investigator believed that Scearce had been cleared of any misconduct.

    “It was a surprise to me that we were going to do that because I thought the investigation was about Mr. Scearce and Mr. Woolston,” said Councilman Morris Glaze, who voted against firing Rohr. He said he did not believe the city manager was intended to be a target of the probe.

    Councilman Benjamin Rosenberg, who introduced the resolution to fire Rohr, said of the action: “As you know, investigations can take an odd turn, and this one took an odd turn.”

    Councilman Mike Seibert said he did not believe the investigator’s report listed anything new that the council had not previously considered. A faction of the council in August had asked Rohr to resign.

    “The information that I reviewed in the closed session was similar to information we had seen before, and I didn’t see anything in that report that I didn’t know prior,” Seibert said.

    Rohr is to receive severance pay of $13,206.51 each month for six month or until he becomes employed, according to City Attorney Brian Head. He said Rohr also is due some money for unused vacation and leave time, but he did not know that amount.

    Rohr had been the city manager for nine years. He received a national award in 2012 as a public official of the year for leading Joplin’s tornado recovery efforts.

    Public works probe

    Rohr said much of the testimony against him in the council probe came from employees or former employees who complained about his handling of personnel issues, particularly last summer’s investigation of the Public Works Department.

    Several public works employees and the former chief of the city’s building inspection division, Steve Cope, attended the council’s special meeting Tuesday night at which the investigation’s findings were disclosed.

    Rohr said those personnel complaints came into the council probe through a hot line the investigator set up on a telephone.

    “What it amounted to was a complaint line, and that wasn’t even the charge the council provided to the investigator,” he said.

    Rohr announced last summer that there would be a probe of the Public Works Department after a computer software audit of the department indicated that there was about $150,000 in uncollected or undeposited building code and inspection fees. There also was an incident in which a city garage worker was arrested and charged with stealing supplies.

    A subsequent police investigation concluded that there was no criminal wrongdoing in regard to the uncollected fees.

    The city staff determined that there were problems with the procedure used to collect the fees, and that some unprocessed payments were found on the desk of a supervisor.

    Cope was disciplined, and David Hertzberg was reassigned from public works director to another position in the department.

    Cope and Hertzberg both gave testimony for the report, as did others employed or formerly employed by the city, including Steve Curry, Becky Brill-Pinson, Charles Hartley and most department heads. All of the council members also testified.

    Personnel file sealed

    Rosenberg, who presented the resolution to fire Rohr, said he could not discuss his reasons because it was a personnel matter. “He was dismissed without cause, and because of that it’s a sealed personnel file,” Rosenberg said. He said Rohr could release that file if he chooses.

    Rosenberg said 10 pages of the 25-page investigation report involved Rohr, but that those pages were removed from the report released to the public as part of the personnel rules. “That was sealed because Mark has his rights too,” Rosenberg said. “If he chooses to release the personal file, it becomes public, and we can then comment on it.”

    Rohr said he would not agree to release that part of the report until he has talked to an attorney.

    Council members Scearce, Jack Golden and Trisha Raney did not return messages asking why they voted Tuesday night to fire Rohr. Colbert-Kean and Rosenberg also voted to dismiss the manager.

    Joining Glaze in voting to retain Rohr were Woolston, Seibert and Gary Shaw.

    Although council rules specify that council members are to direct questions about decisions to the mayor, Shaw said he had drafted a statement of his thoughts.

    “I don’t understand the actions of the Joplin City Council, and I certainly don’t agree,” he said. “I find Mr. Rohr to be a quality city manager who has helped us achieve many of our goals as a city. His leadership after the tornado was nothing short of magnificent. Under his guidance, Joplin was headed in the right direction both in economic development and service to our citizens.”

    Wallace Bajjali

    The report submitted by Loraine offered mixed recommendations regarding dealings with the city’s contracted master developer, Wallace Bajjali Development Partners.

    It questions the appearance of impropriety in property deals in which Woolston negotiated a purchase on behalf of his former employer, Pro 100 Realtors Inc., or his current partner, Charlie Kuehn of Four State Homes.

    Loraine alleges in the report that testimony and property sale records of the Joplin Redevelopment Corp., the land holding arm for the city and master developer, make it appear as if Wallace Bajjali bought land from Kuehn, with the deal brokered by Woolston.

    Woolston said he abstained from any council votes in regard to those properties, which he said he was advised to do by Head, the city attorney.

    The report states: “Further investigations should be engaged with complete fee disclosure to the City Council. All business should be stopped under the contracts between Wallace Bajjali and the city of Joplin. Further investigations should be considered.”

    The mayor, asked about those assertions by Loraine, said: “We have an update coming up with Wallace Bajjali on Monday, and we’re going to proceed forward with that. If the council has any concerns, they will be able to address them with Wallace Bajjali at that time.”

    The chief executive officer of the firm, David Wallace, was traveling Wednesday and had not had time to fully review the report. He did issue a statement that read, in part: “While we aren’t aware of all of the issues that led to the investigations of two City Council members, Wallace Bajjali stands by its work and the significant progress we’ve made.

    “Since we are mentioned in the investigative report issued by Mr. Loraine, we will be thoroughly reviewing it and responding in detail at a later time, as appropriate.

    “What is apparent based on our initial and brief review is that there are several inaccuracies with misinformation regarding Wallace Bajjali.”

    Woolston said he provided the investigator with a list of 19 properties he sold that were eventually bought by the JRC.

    “I collected a commission on a piece of property that closed in May 2012,” for a client who intended to build a strip shopping center and office there, he said. That client later sold the property to Wallace Bajjali for a city project. The city contracted Wallace Bajjali as the master developer for tornado recovery in July 2012. “From that point on, I waived commissions on those transactions,” Woolston said of the other 18 on the list.

    Loraine reported that Woolston should resign or divest his business interests that have caused him to abstain from some city votes so as not to create a conflict of interest.

    Woolston said he was not inclined to resign. He is a candidate for re-election in the April election. “I’m willing to let voters decide if I’ve done anything wrong or not, and I’ll live with that response,” he said.

    Loraine reported that the council could remove Woolston. Woolston had said Tuesday night he would have to be removed rather than resign.

    Woolston and Glaze said council members found a number of inaccuracies in Loraine’s report.

    The mayor said she could not comment on any statements regarding removing Woolston because he made no statements to that effect at the council meeting.

    Rosenberg, asked if there could be an effort to sever ties with Wallace Bajjali, said: “I think Wallace Bajjali still has a contract with the city of Joplin, and he needs to start producing something. So far we haven’t seen much.”

    The mayor said there also could be a discussion on Monday on how the council wants to replace Rohr.

    Assistant City Manager Sam Anselm was appointed as the interim city manager.

    Separate positions

    THE CITY ON TUESDAY posted a job opening for an assistant to the city manager. That is a former position as grants coordinator that will include other duties. It is not Sam Anselm’s position as assistant city manager.


    Last edited by Librarian; 02-12-2014, 11:18 PM.
    All the shit unfit to print

    http://www.joplinglobe.com

    Comment


    • #3
      Joplin City Council to public: You can't handle the truth

      Joplin City Council to public: You can't handle the truth


      http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2014/...-you-cant.html
      http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0144#post10144


      Joplin City Council members probably will not appreciate the irony, but they have been behind closed doors for nearly four and a half hours as this is being written- reviewing a report that was ordered to bring the truth about two city councilmen into the open.

      Investigator Tom Loraine's report, commissioned by the City Council in November, was designed to uncover the truth about Mayor Pro Tem Bill Scearce's connection with a convicted gambler who was a tenant of his at one point, and whether City Councilman and former Mayor Mike Woolston, a real estate broker, bought land in the tornado-damaged area of the city knowing he could resell it to Wallace-Bajjali, the city's master developers, and make a tidy profit.

      What reason was used to justify the closed session I do not know- the agenda for the meeting is not posted at the city website- but it can't be personnel. Elected officials do not fall under that category.

      The council authorized paying Loraine, an Osage Beach lawyer, $45,000 for the investigation.

      Now the first thing that has been done is to take the investigation behind closed doors and make us wonder just what, if anything, could be a good enough reason to keep Joplin residents from knowing whether they have two crooks, or one, or maybe none, sitting on the City Council.

      Taking this investigation out of sight of the public, even for one minute, was not a wise decision on the part of the city council no matter what information was included in the report.

      If the council members legally went behind closed doors, and it is most likely either they did or the city attorney told them they did, it was an unwise move. They should always remember that the Sunshine Law never states that you have to meet behind closed doors in certain situations. It says you "may."

      In this post-tornado era, in which we have seen millions of dollars coming into the city of Joplin, it is more important than ever that our leaders conduct city business in full view of the public.

      Our elected officials should take the lead.

      They certainly blew it tonight.

      .

      Posted by Randy at 8:31 PM Tuesday February 4, 2014


      ___666___666___666___



      The Turner Diaries RULES, The Turner Report drools

      Comment


      • #4
        Anson Burlingame, columnist: Council members must explain vote to public

        Anson Burlingame, columnist: Council members must explain vote to public

        By Anson Burlingame
        Special to The Globe
        February 7, 2014



        http://www.joplinglobe.com/editorial...vote-to-public
        http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0149#post10149


        JOPLIN, Mo. — The Joplin City Council, by a 5-4 vote, on Tuesday fired City Manager Mark Rohr. The reasons why such action was taken are not being made public because the decision was a personnel matter, which basically leaves the residents of Joplin in the dark as to why the majority of the council’s members voted the way they did.

        I am calling for a full explanation on the part of the members who voted for this measure, so the people of Joplin can understand the move.

        The only public statements associated with Rohr’s performance I have read or heard are that “Rohr rules by fear,” according to Councilman Benjamin Rosenberg, and that “Rohr is a bully,” according to Councilman Bill Scearce. These statements were published in the Globe in August of 2013 after the council’s failed attempt to obtain a voluntary letter of resignation from Rohr.

        I believe these accusations fall far short of justifying the termination of a man who has been nationally recognized as a great leader in a city that was devastated by a natural disaster.

        Joplin will have an important election in April for four positions on the City Council. That is when the town’s residents will ultimately get their say in whether they agreed with Rohr’s firing. The candidates for those four posts will surely be under heavy public scrutiny, as they should be.

        Keep in mind that an investigation into the possible misconduct of two council members was discussed in closed session on Tuesday evening before the council voted to fire Rohr. One member, Scearce, was exonerated of any misconduct in his connection to an FBI investigation into past gambling activity in Joplin. However, I believe Scearce misled the public when he first claimed to have no knowledge of illegal gambling, then withdrew that claim and acknowledged he had known that a man to which he rented an office was, in fact, a bookmaker.

        The investigation also called for the divestment of certain financial interests of Councilman Mike Woolston, who was formerly Joplin’s mayor. This could create a public perception of misconduct on the part of Woolston because those details are unknown by the public, too.

        In one short evening during a closed session that was free of public scrutiny, we the residents of Joplin saw the power of a slight majority to govern this city. The five members of the council who voted in favor of Rohr’s termination — Scearce, Rosenberg, Jack Golden, Trisha Raney and Melodee Colbert-Kean — have made their views clear in the rejection of Rohr’s leadership.

        I am requesting those five council members to stand and explain to the public why they took this action. Their reasons may be sound, but for now they remain unknown to this observer.

        Other candidates for council seats must be called upon, too, to give their views of the use of such majority power by the current council.

        Then the voters of Joplin can decide whether a bloc of five council members should retain its majority power.

        Based on my previous efforts to understand council members’ views of Rohr’s job performance, I believe the five-member majority has failed in governing Joplin for about the past year. Rather than only voting on the four open council seats, I would prefer a full recall election of all nine seats on the council. Then voters could truly decide how they want this city to be run.

        I am only one voter. Whether you agree with me, now is the time to start a public debate on holding a recall election in April for all nine Joplin City Council seats.


        Anson Burlingame lives in Joplin.


        You Nazis may be insane . . . .
        . . . . but us whiggers are typpycull!!!

        Comment


        • #5
          Our View: Out of step

          Our View: Out of step

          The Joplin Globe
          Sun Feb 09, 2014, 09:11 AM CST



          http://www.joplinglobe.com/editorial...ew-Out-of-step
          http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0162#post10162


          This community is owed more than it is getting from the five members of the Joplin City Council who voted without warning this past week to fire City Manager Mark Rohr.

          Community leadership is built upon confidence, trust and open communication — which have been in short supply following the Tuesday night shootout at City Hall. Without an explanation, clouds of suspicion, doubt and mistrust will haunt this council and paralyze it for some time to come, regardless of who is elected in April.

          How did Rohr go from hero to goat in so short a time?

          Does all of this stem from his handling of the public works department? Or is there more?

          The missing 10 pages from the investigator’s report would seem to indicate there is more, but the city chose to extract it before releasing the rest of the report to the public. The majority of the council is conducting public business out of view of the public, hiding — and that’s the word for it — behind the “personnel” exemption.

          That’s weak and unbefitting the leadership that Joplin needs right now.

          Those 10 pages and numerous other documents need to be laid out, along with an explanation as to why the investigator, who was given three specific charges by the council, lurched off that path and into territory where he had no charge. From the looks of it, he gathered more information on Rohr than on the three specific charges of the investigation.

          When that happened, did anyone of the council call him back into line, telling him that that is not what he was tasked to do, now was it what he was being paid to do.

          It’s obvious to us from the letters printed on this page today, that the public is demanding transparency and accountability from its council.

          Yet, some of those five council members are telling the public it is time to put Rohr’s firing behind and move forward.

          City leadership and the community cannot move forward unless they are in step, and right now, it is the council that is out of step, not the community.

          There can be no closure until answers are forthcoming.


          All the shit unfit to print

          http://www.joplinglobe.com

          Comment


          • #6
            Mark Rohr believes Joplin City Charter allows him to challenge dismissal

            Mark Rohr believes Joplin City Charter allows him to challenge dismissal

            City Attorney said Rohr not entitled to hearing

            By Debby Woodin
            news@joplinglobe.com
            Thursday, February 13, 2013



            http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstorie...enge-dismissal
            http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0184#post10184

            Joplin’s fired city manager said Thursday that he believes the city charter provides for a further hearing for him, but that he will seek legal advice before deciding whether to ask for one.

            The city charter contains a section outlining the steps for removing a city manager that includes a provision for a personnel hearing.

            But City Attorney Brian Head said Mark Rohr’s dismissal by resolution of the City Council adhered to an employment agreement, or contract, for Rohr’s employment.

            Asked whether that contract conflicts with city charter provisions for removing a city manager, Head said, “I don’t think there is any conflict at all because the charter is for termination with cause and the contract provides for termination without cause.”

            Rohr, asked whether he believes he is entitled to a hearing, said: “I believe that under the charter I am. The charter is the constitution of the city. I do not believe a contract or any individual attorney can countermand what the charter says.”

            Section 2.07 of the charter states that the city manager serves for “an indefinite term, and he may be suspended by a resolution which shall set forth the reasons for his suspension and proposed removal.”

            The manager has 15 days after being served with the resolution to reply in writing, “and upon his request, he shall be afforded a public hearing which shall occur not earlier than 10 days nor later than 15 days after such hearing is requested.”

            The section concludes that after a public hearing is held “and after full consideration, the council by majority vote of its members may adopt a final resolution of removal.”

            The resolution presented Feb. 4, approved by five of nine council members, reads that Rohr was immediately terminated without cause “pursuant to Section 3(A) of the agreement” between Rohr and the city.

            The Globe filed an open-records request Feb. 6 for documents regarding the investigation that resulted in Rohr’s dismissal, including his contract or terms of employment.

            City Clerk Barbara Hogelin’s reply to the Globe’s open-records request was received Tuesday. It was a form letter in which she said it could take several days to several weeks to provide the documents.

            Head and Hogelin on Wednesday both said they believed some records would be available Thursday. None were received.

            Members of the City Council have said the investigation, which they hired an outside attorney to conduct, was to have centered around ethics questions involving Councilmen Bill Scearce and Mike Woolston, as well as how Scearce came to be in possession of a note in Rohr’s handwriting that Rohr said had to have been taken from his desk.

            Instead, about a third of the investigation report was said to have centered on Rohr. That part of the report has not been disclosed to the public. The city has taken the position that it is a personnel record.

            Rohr said his firing was related to complaints by employees and former employees. He also was asked to provide his part of the report to the Globe, but he has declined to do so until he talks to an attorney.

            Asked on Thursday whether he intends to ask for a personnel hearing, Rohr replied, “I’m going to consult with my attorney.” He said he views Head’s contention that the council’s action was in proper form as “inconsistent with the charter.”

            Councilman Benjamin Rosenberg, who presented the resolution to fire Rohr in open session during the Feb. 4 meeting, was asked by the Globe this week who prepared the resolution. He said an attorney, Karl Blanchard, was in the closed session that night, and that he asked Blanchard for it.

            He said Blanchard was there to represent the council because Head, the council’s legal adviser, had become a witness during the investigation.

            Probe

            THE REPORT CLEARED Councilman Bill Scearce of any misconduct but said further investigation was warranted with regard to transactions between Councilman Mike Woolston and the city’s contracted master developer.


            All the shit unfit to print

            http://www.joplinglobe.com

            Comment


            • #7
              Interim city manager contract proposed

              Interim city manager contract proposed

              By Debby Woodin news@joplinglobe.com
              January 17, 2014


              http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstorie...tract-proposed
              http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0206#post10206

              A contract proposed to retain an interim city manager to serve while the Joplin City Council looks to hire someone to replace fired City Manager Mark Rohr is on the agenda for a meeting tonight.

              The council meeting was postponed from its normal Monday meeting date because city offices were closed in observance of Presidents Day.

              After firing Rohr on Feb. 4 for unspecified reasons, a majority of the council voted to appoint the assistant city manager, Sam Anselm, as the interim manager.

              According to a staff memo, the terms of Anselm’s interim service would include a starting salary of $125,000. There would be deferred compensation of $420 a month for a retirement plan, four weeks of vacation, 850 hours of sick leave and $500 a month for a car allowance.

              Anselm would not be awarded any severance pay, but if the council determines that he should not continue as interim manager, he would return to the job of assistant city manager, according to the memo.

              In other business, the council will be asked to authorize a fee agreement that would extend public transportation to residents of Duenweg through the Metro Area Public Transit System. MAPS bus service currently covers Joplin, Carl Junction, Carterville, Webb City and Duquesne. Those cities pay a fee for each resident who rides to help pay the cost of operations.

              According to a staff report, there are more than 140,609 rides a year on MAPS buses, and the cities outside Joplin account for between 6,000 and 7,000 of the passengers.

              The agreement would set fees to the city of Duenweg starting at $1.50 per rider this year, with an increase of 50 cents per rider each year through 2017.

              The council also will be asked to approve a change in the city’s code regarding licenses to sell alcohol.

              Currently, the city requires liquor license applicants to request a background check and obtain all inspections before a city license is issued. City approval is required before the applicant can get a state license.

              A staff memo states that some business owners become concerned that the licenses will not be available in time for them to sell alcohol at their opening. The proposed change would allow the city to issue a conditional letter of approval that could be used to obtain the state license in order to address those concerns.

              The memo notes that alcohol sales would be allowed before the city inspections are complete and the license is issued.

              Council approval will be sought to buy a new style of way-finding signs proposed by the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau.

              The signs, which would point the way to local attractions, would cost $83,061. They would include signs that would guide motorists along Route 66.

              The city’s finance director will ask for authorization to amend the city budget by more than $1.7 million to cover a variety of expenses ranging from computer network services to services and payments involving the city’s tax increment finance districts.

              Time and place

              THE CITY COUNCIL’S formal session is set for 6 p.m. today on the fifth floor of City Hall, 602 S. Main St.


              All the shit unfit to print

              http://www.joplinglobe.com

              Comment


              • #8
                The Joplin Globe, documents, Joplin City Council, and Joplin Schools

                The Joplin Globe, documents, Joplin City Council, and Joplin Schools


                http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2014/...plin-city.html
                http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0271#post10271


                At some point, we are going to know the contents of the 10 pages that were omitted from the publicly released version of Osage Beach lawyer Tom Loraine's investigation that led to the firing of City Manager Mark Rohr.

                I have no doubt about that.

                The Joplin Globe has been at the front of the effort to get the complete document, going as far as filing a lawsuit.

                The Globe does a lot of that, posturing and bellowing about the public's right to know. In this case, I agree. The public has every right to know why Mark Rohr was fired.

                It is the motivation of the Globe I suspect. When you consider that Rohr and Globe Editor Carol Stark are good friends and that Rohr has been a source for many Globe stories, sometimes on the record, sometimes not, that brings into doubt the purity of the area newspaper of record.

                After all, this is the same newspaper that stopped reporter Greg Grisolano from filing Sunshine Law requests about problems at Missouri Southern State University during the Bruce Speck era. It was Globe Publisher Michael Beatty who advised Speck on how to manage the media and encouraged him to meet with Mrs. Stark to come up with ideas for "positive" stories, ones that could improve Speck's image in the community.

                That information came from a Sunshine Law request made by Missouri Southern's newspaper, The Chart,

                Documents are extremely useful when it comes to reporting. It is the Globe's selective use of them that has brought the newspaper's motives into question.

                Consider the city's master developer Wallace-Bajjali. The documentation on this company is extensive. The Turner Report has provided details of three bankruptcies involving Wallace-Bajjali subsidiaries, an SEC investigation which ended with partners David Wallace and Costa Bajjali having to repay $1.2 million to investors and pay $60,000 fines, a lawsuit in which investors refeer to Wallace-Bajjali's project as a Ponzi scheme, and a bankruptcy court lawsuit in which a former partner claims David Wallace cheated him out of nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

                All of this information is in public documents. None of it has been written about in the Joplin Globe. The only mention the newspaper has made about Wallace-Bajjali's difficulties has been an assurance by Mark Rohr that he looked into it and it didn't amount to anything.

                The information the Turner Report found, combined with Tom Loraine's recommendation that the city drop Wallace-Bajjali should have been a potent combination.

                Since the Globe's decision makers are aligned with those who are wanting bigger and better for Joplin, no matter what the cost, it is still full speed ahead for Wallace-Bajjali.

                Even more pernicious has been the Globe's coverage of the Joplin R-8 School District. The Globe played tough on about two stories concerning the school district over the past several years. One was the infamous trip to Germany by former Assistant Superintendent Angie Besendorfer. The other was the story about C. J. Huff's thank-you trips all over the country. Even those were powderpuff stories in which the reporter was clearly played by Huff, perhaps with the help of the Globe editor.

                Meanwhile, the Turner Report has documented one problem after another with the school district, some involving clear financial mismanagement, some regarding ethical violations, others making it clear that the public is being deceived on many matters.

                The Globe has ignored nearly all of those. The only times I can recall the Globe jumping on stories that first appeared in the Turner Report are the DWI arrest of R-8 Board Member Phil Willcoxon and the lawsuit filed by former Royal Heights Principal Larry Masters against Besendorfer.

                Those stories would not have been touched had they not been picked up by the local television stations. Carol Stark has played along with C. J. Huff's claim that even documents cannot be believed because everything is coming from a disgruntled former employee (me). Let's face it. The Globe has not been the only media outlet that has played at that game.

                I have heard that Huff talks about my anonymous sources (the Globe, as Mrs. Stark piously pointed out in a recent column, does not use anonymous sources, even though it has been clear that it does, it just never refers to them as anonymous sources, it just prints information that miraculously sounds like it came from a city manager, or a superintendent, or God help us, a master developer) . Yet anyone who has read the Turner Report for the past several months has noticed that most of my stories, just like the ones on Wallace-Bajjali, have been based on documents- documents that, for the most part, have been easily available to the Globe.

                Consider the following:

                -German Furniture- Though the Globe initially wrote about the Germany trip that was paid for by a company that wanted to sell furniture for the new school buildings, it never followed up when that company received a large contract to supply the furniture.That can be found in the R-8 Board of Education minutes.

                -Race to the Top- The R-8 School District's application for the federal Race to the Top grant, outlines $10 million worth of spending plans with no connection to the classroom. Reasonable people can argue about the quality of that plan. What they can't argue about is how C. J. Huff and the Board of Education signed off a plan to ask voters for a tax levy increase, less than six months after voters approved the largest bond issue in district history. The levy increase would have been used to pay teachers for working before and after school. This has never been mentioned in the Globe.

                -Dangerously Low Reserves- The Board of Education has continued to approve all kinds of spending and addition of one layer of administration after another at a time when district reserves are dangerously low, but then they already know that- the board members are the ones who approved a strategic plan for 2013-2017, which can be found on the district website, that says the reserves will dip to as a low as eight percent this year, but somehow will rebound to 25 percent next year. Nowhere in the strategic plan is there an answer for how this is going to take place. The only suggestion for making money has been to sell naming rights to classrooms, gymnasiums and anything else they can slap a price on.

                Lawsuits Against the School District- As I noted yesterday, there have been three lawsuits filed in which the director of the school's building projects and former director of Buildings, Grounds and Transportation Mike Johnson has been accused of racial discrimination, sexual harassment, violating numerous safety regulations, and offering crude sexual remarks about a principal. That is three lawsuits in three years and the district has had to settle two of them, one for $276,000. One lawsuit is ongoing.

                Efforts to Keep Closed Door Dealings From Public- When the Joplin City Council wants to keep something behind closed doors, the Joplin Globe writes editorial and goes to court. When the Joplin R-8 School Board does it, the Globe ignores it. As the Turner Report noted earlier today, the board's attorney asked for a protective order preventing board member Jim Kimbrough from talking about what had happened in closed session. This intervention, which took place without a board meeting to authorize it, occurred in a case where fired Royal Heights Principal Larry Masters claims Besendorfer lied to convince the board to withdraw its contract offer and fire him. Judge David Dally approved the protective order . . . . and the district is not a defendant in this case. It is all in the court file, a public document.

                Pornographic Photos of Joplin High School Girls- One year ago, the Globe and other local media outlets ran quotes from C. J. Huff claiming that technology department employee Ronny Justin Myers worked in the administration building and had no contact with students. That was the story as far as we knew it at that point, but a sentencing memorandum placed in Myers' court file by the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri made it clear that Myers said he had pornographic photos of 10 Joplin High School girls, and four of them had been verified...in February at the same time that Huff was telling the media that Myers had no contact with students. Huff never mentioned that one of Myers' responsibilities was overseeing the laptops given to every high school student. This was never mentioned by the Globe until the U. S. Attorney issued a news release following Myers' sentencing. Even then, the Globe simply ran that part of the news release verbatim. The news release made it clear that Myers was able to spy on the kids through their computers even when they are at home. The Globe never asked, can someone still do that (the answer is yes). The Globe never asked Huff why he had misled the public with his statement. Were parents ever warned about this. (No.) Does the contract parents sign with the students leave the door open for further spying (the answer is yes).

                More than 200 Teachers Have Left in Last Two Years- This can be proven simply by going through Department of Elementary and Secondary Education documents. C. J. Huff has said, depending on his mood apparently, that many of them left because their spouses found jobs in other communities, they were traumatized by the tornado, or they were not able to deal with the high expectations he has. The fact that the Globe has not pushed him on those answers gives a clear idea of how much the newspaper is devoted to finding the truth. I don't know of any former teachers who have been asked. Of course, they probably are not going to talk to the Globe since Carol Stark made it clear how she felt about anonymity.

                The Original East Middle School Did Not Need to be Torn Down- On the district website, the claim that was featured on the Turner Report that the original East did not have to be torn down because it only suffered "minor damage" during the tornado is attacked as whoever wrote the item notes that FEMA agreed that the building should be condemned. Partially, that is accurate, FEMA did condemn the building after much prodding from Joplin R-8 Administration, but I am not the one who said East suffered only minor damage. That information came from a report issued by scientists from the federal National Institute of Standards and Technology. Yes, by using FEMA funds and bond issue money we were able to come up with the palace that was built on the old East Middle School site. The insurance money, however, would have paid to replace East, a two-year-old, state-of-the-art building the way it was and the students would have been back in a regular school building (the classroom areas, as the report noted, suffered only minor damage) by August. Instead the staff and some of the students spent two and a half years in a warehouse on the outskirts of the district. And as I noted in my post, Besendorfer told principals at a meeting the building was eventually condemned because they couldn't find bricks that could match.

                That is just a partial list of the stories that come from public documents. Someone should tell the Joplin Globe about these documents- they can use them without even having to file a lawsuit.

                .

                Posted by Randy at 8:04 PM on Tuesday February 28 2014


                ___666___666___666___



                The Turner Diaries RULES, The Turner Report drools

                Comment


                • #9
                  Former Joplin city manager calls for ‘higher order’ in city; Rohr says ‘maverick’ investigation full of ‘rumors’

                  Former Joplin city manager calls for ‘higher order’ in city; Rohr says ‘maverick’ investigation full of ‘rumors’

                  By Debby Woodin
                  news@joplinglobe.com
                  March 3, 2014



                  http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstorie...full-of-rumors
                  http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0284#post10284


                  Mark Rohr called on Joplin residents Monday night to overcome the “good old boys” and restore a “higher order” in City Council leadership.

                  Rohr, who had served as Joplin city manager for nine years, filed a request to speak to the City Council at its Monday night meeting in response to his firing Feb. 4.

                  Rohr said he was judged in a “maverick” investigation by “rumor, gossip, innuendoes, half-truths and bold-faced lies,” in the report of an investigation that the City Council had authorized into two council members and how one of them obtained a note that Rohr said had been stolen from his desk.

                  One of those two, Bill Scearce, was investigated for his association with a man who ultimately was convicted of bookmaking. Scearce had rented the man office space in the early 1990s. The council also wanted to know how Scearce came to have a sticky note in Rohr’s handwriting citing some aspects related to the FBI’s gambling probe.

                  Another councilman, Mike Woolston, was investigated for brokering property sales at locations that now have been purchased for a city project to build a new public library.

                  “The report I saw was nothing more than gossip, rumor, innuendo, half-truths and bold-faced lies,” Rohr said. “If that’s what we’re going to pay $82,000 for or whatever the number is for that, those who controlled and participated in this conspiracy ought to be ashamed of themselves. And you will pay for your participation in this world and in the next.”

                  Rohr has been asked by the Globe to disclose the nine pages of the report of that investigation pertaining to him, but has declined, citing the advice of an attorney. The city also has been asked to disclose it, but has declined, saying it is a personnel record. The Globe has filed a lawsuit seeking a court order for its release.

                  Regarding the testimony of some city employees or former employees named in the report, “I want to say that being a city manager is not a popularity contest,” Rohr said.

                  He said those who feared him were likely not doing their jobs.

                  “What is important as city manager is that you demonstrate leadership and make difficult decisions to advance the city as a whole. Results are what are important, especially when you are rebuilding a third of your city.”

                  Rohr listed the accomplishments under his administration: a seven-fold increase in the city’s general fund, downtown redevelopment, construction of the Joplin Athletic Complex, public transit and the 2011 tornado response as well as others.

                  Rohr said Joplin residents have given him more than he has given, but that he had a final message.

                  Quoting Edmund Burke — “The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing” — Rohr said, “If you want your city to be governed by good old boys with stories of illegal bookmaking and FBI investigations, Sunshine Law violations, stolen Post-it notes and wayward investigations, then do nothing. If you want a higher order in your city for yourself and for your children, it is up to you to make sure that higher order is restored.

                  I wish you luck and pledge my support in any way that I can.”

                  He both arrived and left to applause from a number in the audience with one resident calling to him, “Mark, we love you,” as he walked out.

                  Two residents spoke in favor of Rohr and against the City Council’s 5-4 vote to fire him.

                  Kim Seavy said he was concerned about the contents of the report and the costs charged by the investigator. He questioned why charter requirements for suspending and removing a city manager were not followed. “There is a three-point procedure here, and none of it was followed.”

                  He also asked why the investigator has billed nearly double the authorized costs and did not deliver what he believed were the agreed upon aspects.

                  Maurice Filson said some members of the council had removed a city manager who brought the city national acclaim in the aftermath of the 2011 tornado “for your own selfish agenda instead of ours. Until you recognize that we do not work for you, but that you work for us, the city is going to be stymied.”

                  The council held a public discussion on the investigator’s bill, which amounts to $81,819. The council had authorized up to $45,000 for the investigator and expenses without further authorization.

                  Councilman Morris Glaze said he was told that if he wants to read any of the testimony that was part of the investigation, he has to call the investigator, attorney Tom Loraine of Osage Beach, and pay more money for it to be read to him.

                  “It’s our document,” he said of the entire report and the accompanying testimony. “I want it.”

                  Council members also discussed duplicate charges, such as billings for mileage and for gasoline.

                  Councilman Gary Shaw said there is a charge of $1,400 for office space and questioned why an office had to be rented when the city has office space that could have been used at no charge.

                  He said the council had a contract that specified the cap for the fees without Loraine asking if the council was willing to pay more.

                  “I think we need to have him here to answer some questions,” he said.

                  Scearce said the council voted 8-1 to accept the report and, because of that, the panel is obligated to pay the bills.

                  Councilmen Mike Seibert and Woolston said they were not in favor of paying the extra bills.

                  Councilman Benjamin Rosenberg made a motion to pay the bill, minus any double billing, and require the investigator to deliver the file to the city. “I think he should explain how he did the investigation and then be paid.”

                  Shaw said he wanted Loraine to answer questions about the probe and Rosenberg suggested that the investigator write a letter to the council.

                  The same five council members who voted to fire Rohr voted to approve Rosenberg’s motion: Rosenberg, Scearce, Jack Golden, Trisha Raney and Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean.

                  New job

                  Mark Rohr last week was offered the city manager’s post at League City, Texas.


                  All the shit unfit to print

                  http://www.joplinglobe.com

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Some Responses From Bill Scearce

                    Some Responses From Bill Scearce


                    http://ansonburlingame.wordpress.com...-bill-scearce/
                    http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0326#post10326

                    I have been somewhat surprised that various members of the Bloc of Five on the City Council have not been more forthcoming to defend their recent actions that have created much public outrage. I thus sent an email to my elected representative on the council, Bill Scearce and posed some pointed questions. He responded and offered to again talk with me on such matters.

                    We met, privately, on Monday morning in his office. This blog reports the results of that one hour conversation. I asked Bill at the start if he wanted the discussion to be private or “on the record”. He agreed that anything he said was fair game for publication. Thus what I write in this blog is essentially with his permission, in order to respond to my various points and questions.

                    I begin by listing the specific questioned asked by me. I add his responses and any follow up comments that might be pertinent.
                    1. “Do you believe the City Council should terminate the contract with WB as the Master Developer? Bill said “NO”. He went on to say that he wants WB to succeed. Later on he elaborated that he was disappointed in the lack of actual building on the part of the Master Developer.

                    2. “When the City Attorney gave you the “post it note”, written by Rohr, why did not you or he, the attorney, immediately raise the issue with the city council? As well why could not the city attorney himself have conducted an investigation and reported the results to council? That would have saved the city considerable money for a third party investigation. Bill replied “I don’t know”. There was no further elaboration on that point.

                    3. “Do you believe that Mike Woolston violated the rules related to ethics in regards to his duties as a member of city council?” Bill replied “I don’t know” and no further elaboration was offered.

                    4. “How would you expect a new city manager to conduct business differently from the manner in which Rohr did so? Do you have any good candidates in mind to become the next city manager in Joplin? Bill replied, “The new manager should not try to be a one man show”. He also said he has no candidates in mind to fill that vacant position. He told me that council will authorize about $16K to $19K to employ a search firm to find qualified candidates.

                    5. “You voted against TIF. If the issue was raised again before council would you vote to dissolve or change in any manner that tax “system? Bill replied, “Yes” (meaning he would change the current system) and would “place more power in taxing agencies”. He did not elaborate on what, exactly, that meant, to place more power in taxing agencies.

                    6. “Do you believe it is proper for an elected official at any level of government to respond to a reporter’s question with a blatantly false statement? Bill replied, “YES”. (I read the question to him a second time to be sure he understood my question. He continued to reply “Yes”). I then followed up by asking him, “Was your public denial of any knowledge of gambling activity in your rented facility blatantly false?” Bill replied, “NO”. He then elaborated that he “misunderstood the question” asked by the Globe reporter and later called the Globe to correct his response.
                    .

                    I showed my questions to be asked of Bill to my wife, Janet, before attending the meeting. She added four more questions and asked the he be told they were coming from her. I did so and list both the questions and responses below.
                    1. “What do you think about the citizen outrage over Rohr’s firing? Bill replied, “I know more than they do”. I followed up with, “Do you think it (the outrage) will affect the outcome of the April election?” Bill replied, “YES”, with no further elaboration.

                    2. “What do you think about the PAC? Bill replied, “I hate it.” He elaborated that in his view it was a group of special interests trying to buy an election, a local election.

                    3. “What effect do you think all the controversy – Rohr firing, accusations from all sides, focus on the Bloc of Five – has done or contributed to moving Joplin forward?” Bill replied, “Please don’t refer to it as a Bloc of Five. Consider if you will instead the Gang of Four”.

                    4. “Do you believe a situation has been created by you and others that has made Joplin the “laughing stock” of Missouri and surrounding States has is often said today?” Bill replied, “Those people making such statements are in fact in the minority, not the majority of citizens in Joplin”.
                    .

                    OK, so much for specific questions asked and answered. I now provide the tone or nature of deeper discussions with Bill about why he is voting as he has been doing in recent months on matters related to Mark Rohr, TIF, challenges to the Master Developer and other redevelopment related issues. I attempt to accurately reflect the content of that discussion and provide, as best as I can, Bill’s views expressed to me.

                    Note if you will that I did not attempt to argue with Bill on his various points or responses. My goal was to understand why he has voted and spoken as he has done so for several months now on issues of grave importance (my view at least) to Joplin.

                    Bill continues to oppose TIF. He feels that it is a “reallocation of voter approved tax dollars without general public input”. I believe it is fair to say that Bill feels that city government can stimulate redevelopment by careful use of existing zoning practices and there is no need for infusion of future tax revenues to achieve that goal of broad and visionary redevelopment.

                    Bill stated that there is about 363,000 square feet of empty (commercial, office and retail) space in Joplin right now. There is no need for a Master Developer to build more such facilities using tax dollars as incentives to do so, according to Bill. When I brought up such matters as “green spaces”, better transportation, a different blend of socio-economic mixes in neighborhoods, he responded that good zoning decisions could achieve such goals.

                    I asked Bill, pointedly, if he supported the vision of CART. He essentially said “NO” but elaborated. He explained that in his view CART was NOT an opportunity for the general public to provide adequate input and the output of CART was nothing more that “special interests” putting their goals in place.

                    I would add my impression that Bill feels those “special interests” behind CART is the same group of people that have formed the PAC, or Joplin Progress Committee.

                    Finally, I asked why he feels that the expressed public outrage currently being seen in the Globe was a minority view. Bill said, “The Globe has taken a position against me”. He also said that Carol Stark is refusing to publish letters (“I can name names”, he said) that support his positions and that of four other council members.

                    Just before we concluded our hour or so discussion I told Bill that I would indeed (and with his permission) be writing on this meeting and what he revealed therein. He smiled and said “Be nice to me, please”!! I assured him I would do my best to report accurately his views but explained that in my opinion some of his views would be seen as “explosive”.

                    Bill then was very serious and explained to me that he knew full well when Rohr was fired there would be a public firestorm. He voted as he did because he thought it was best for Joplin to take that action. He also insists that he cannot elaborate further on “all that he knows about Rohr” because he is bound to protect “Rohr’s privacy”. He added that HIPA laws are clear and if he publicly proclaimed all that he knows then Rohr could well “sue him”.

                    I leave my own reaction to this discussion for another blog. But I will say that Bill Scearce met with me face-to face, knowing full well that I oppose his actions on council of late. He explained as best he could why he has voted the way he has done so on very important matters and stands by that position.

                    I give him credit for being forthright with me in this meeting and told him exactly that.


                    his entry was posted on March 10, 2014 at 10:20 pm
                    .

                    ===============
                    .

                    Comments:
                    .
                    Larry Carsten Says:
                    March 12, 2014 at 8:30 am | Reply

                    I agree with most of Mr. Scearce’s views. I seriously doubt there were any sticky notes posted by citizens after the tornado suggesting a movie theatre above a library, a city owned hotel and convention center down the street from the old Holliday Inn which is for sale, another nursing home at city expense, converting 20th street to a green street, a new post office and state office complex at city expense, which would obviously do away with the Joplin Flea Market, and so forth. The TIF is crazy. The owner of a large new building told me that the city public works went ahead and recorded a certificate of occupancy for the building at the end of 2013 even though the building had no interior, no heating or cooling system yet, no finished plumbing, and was in no way occupiable. To me this is the equivalent of filing a false city document. The only reason for this is an attempt to garnish the taxes on this property a year before it is taxable for the TIF. Is this the way we like our city to govern? Is this what Mr. Rohr meant when he claimed some employees weren’t doing there jobs when asked to falsify a document. We will see if the Master Developer lives up to his agreement with the school district to deliver a payment of 11 million dollars to the school district from TIF proceeds. This will be due in about a year. Of coarse, it was only a memorandum of understanding. We will see what excuse for missing the payment is created when the time comes.
                    So far, the hotel and convention center, the athletic and event center, and now the movie house on top of the library have been nixed. Maybe the TIF board can concentrate a little on the part of the TIF plan that dealt with actual residential neighborhood street and sidewalk improvements which seems to go unmentioned.
                    .
                    ansonburlingame Says:
                    March 12, 2014 at 8:54 am | Reply

                    Larry,

                    And thus of course you should support candidates that think and will vote like Bill Scearce. I of course will not do so and write accordingly.

                    Just a couple of counters to the above by the way. There is no “TIF board”. It is called the JRC and is the legal entity appointed by council to acquire property for redevelopment.

                    As for “fixing sidewalks”, rebuilding destroyed private property, etc. JRC has nothing to do with such matters. About $1 Billion in new construction, as reported by the Globe has taken place since the tornado and all of that is insurance money paying for it or new investment by private firms or individuals. More will be added to that amount for sure as time goes on.

                    Go back to CART if you can. JRC, TIF, the Master Developer and many others were found to create a template across the destruction zone, a template to be surrounded by private redevelopement as well. Green spaces, community centers, new theaters and other forms of entertainment, etc., etc. would be promoted by those groups. But you are correct in that no such projects have yet to break ground. However I am confident that with continued good leadership and management such will happen, sooner than you think.

                    I point out, again, the area around 20th and Connecticutt Ave. It is only private development right now, low cost apartments by and large and a few duplexs. Great we need such housing in Joplin for sure. But if that is all that is build on that intersection, well too bad for Joplin in my view. A “Towne Center” would improve that neighborhood and it will in fact be build in the coming months. Add in some “loft over retail” in that Towne Center and you will then have people living in lower cost housing right next door to more well heeled residents. That is GOOD for Joplin, blending neighborhoods with all sorts of people in all sorts of socio-economic situations.

                    Do just that sort of blending the length of 20th and Main Street as well and you have a very different city than in the past. That is the kind of progress I support.

                    Anson

                    You Nazis may be insane . . . .
                    . . . . but us whiggers are typpycull!!!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Letter cites advice on Rohr firing; investigator notes discussions on probe direction, added costs

                      Letter cites advice on Rohr firing; investigator notes discussions on probe direction, added costs

                      By Debby Woodin
                      news@joplinglobe.com
                      09:16 PM CDT March 12, 2014


                      http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstorie...on-added-costs
                      http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0327#post10327

                      It was special investigator Tom Loraine who advised Joplin officials in the firing of Mark Rohr without cause, a letter written by Loraine shows.

                      The letter, dated Feb. 20, was obtained by The Joplin Globe through an open-records request filed on March 5.

                      Loraine wrote the letter, addressed to the city in care of City Attorney Brian Head, last month after questions surfaced from City Council members and the public about the amount of Loraine’s $82,000 bill. The letter shows there was discussion between Head and Loraine before the investigator’s report was disclosed about how to fire Rohr.

                      Loraine wrote that the extra cost beyond the council’s cap of $45,000 for his probe was incurred as a result of taking testimony about Rohr, who then was the city manager. A split council, in a late-night session Feb. 4 after hearing Loraine’s conclusions of the investigation, voted 5-4 to fire Rohr. The letter also refers to some of that testimony as “volunteered.”

                      Rohr said the night of his firing: “I wasn’t even the target of the investigation, but the manner in which the investigator conducted the probe, he strayed very far from the charge. He instituted a calling line and, as a result, anyone who had a gripe with a decision I made” testified.

                      Rohr said then that many of the comments made about him in the report were by employees or former employees of the Public Works Department who had been disciplined. “I explained that to him (Loraine) and went into great detail in terms of explaining those comments that were made and the motivation of those comments,” Rohr said the night of his firing.

                      Some employees within the Public Works Department had been disciplined or demoted for problems that included the results of a software audit showing that about $150,000 in building permits and other fees had gone uncollected over a long period of time.

                      Loraine, in the Feb. 20 letter, said that as he took depositions in the probe that was to primarily focus on ethical questions regarding Councilmen Bill Scearce and Mike Woolston and a note from Rohr’s desk, “Mr. Rohr’s conduct loomed larger than those issues originally outlined concerning Messrs. Scearce and Woolston.”

                      He wrote that while taking a second deposition of Head, the city attorney, “I disclosed this problem to you and you advised me that I had full discretion to decide to expand the investigation to include Mr. Rohr and his relationship with city employees” and others. “As more witnesses were deposed, including both city employees and local citizens, it became clear that the issues surrounding Mr. Rohr could not be ignored, as they related to the core functioning of the city government itself.”

                      Rohr said in response on Wednesday: “I stand by my earlier comments that the report was no more than rumor, gossip, innuendoes, half-truths and baldfaced lies. Anything in that report can be viewed in that context.”

                      The letter does not explain those issues. Nine pages of Loraine’s report that are said to be about Rohr have been withheld from the public. The Globe has filed a lawsuit seeking their disclosure. A court hearing is set for March 31.

                      Loraine wrote that he was to have “unfettered” authority to pursue any subject in the investigation, and that because of the Rohr information, he informed Head “before the $50,000 figure was passed that we would definitely exceed the written authorization amount of $40,000 plus $5,000 expenses. You assured me that obtaining additional authorization would not be a problem and would be forthcoming.”

                      Head told the Globe earlier that Loraine mentioned to him about Jan. 15 that the costs were going to exceed the council cap, but Head said he did not think it would be much more. He also said there was no council meeting scheduled at the time at which he could ask the council to authorize more costs.

                      “If you did not have time between January 15, 2014, and February 5, 2014, to formally obtain additional authorization, it is of no consequence to me,” Loraine wrote to Head. He wrote that he was preparing a report according to the deadline set by the council. “Once again I cannot emphasize enough the additional time and expense resulting from the necessity of expanding the investigation to include Mr. Rohr’s interrelationship in all these matters.”

                      One paragraph of the letter is blacked out.

                      In an email Wednesday, the Globe asked Head for an explanation of why the paragraph had been redacted. While Head did not respond, Assistant City Attorney Peter Edwards replied: “The redacted part contained a short synopsis of a city employee who was disciplined. This redaction was done to protect confidential personnel information related to the employee.”

                      It was in the Feb. 20 letter that Loraine wrote to Head: “I recommended you not discharge Mr. Rohr for cause. Only that you consider a new course for the city under the without cause clause in his contract.”

                      Councilman Benjamin Rosenberg introduced a resolution at the Feb. 4 meeting calling for termination of Rohr without cause.

                      Rosenberg previously told the Globe that he decided during a closed meeting of the council with Loraine to call for Rohr’s firing. He said he told one of the attorneys representing the council that he wanted to do so and was given the resolution.

                      Scearce told the Globe that he had asked Head several days before the Feb. 4 meeting to prepare all the documents that might be needed for the meeting, including a resolution to fire Rohr.

                      Head told the Globe earlier that Scearce had said he wanted a resolution “in my pocket,” meaning he wanted one ready for the night of the meeting.

                      Request denied

                      CITY COUNCILMAN MIKE WOOLSTON said Wednesday that the city has denied his request to disclose the nine pages of the investigative report pertaining to Mark Rohr, and accompanying documents and testimony. He filed a request for it Feb. 22 under the Missouri open-records law, saying he intended to make the documents and testimony public.

                      .


                      All the shit unfit to print

                      http://www.joplinglobe.com

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        911 call comes up early on in probe

                        911 call comes up early on in probe

                        By Debby Woodin
                        news@joplinglobe.com
                        Sat Mar 15, 2014, 11:00 PM CDT


                        http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstorie...ly-on-in-probe
                        http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0341#post10341

                        JOPLIN, Mo. — Mark Rohr said Friday that investigator Tom Loraine’s decision to look into a domestic disturbance call at his home in 2012 is more evidence of a conspiracy by some City Council members and city employees to oust him as city manager.

                        A 911 call summoning Joplin police to Rohr’s house on Dec. 29, 2012, regarding a domestic disturbance came up within the first three days of City Council-authorized investigation into two of its members, copies of the itemized bill for the probe show.

                        The itemized billings were obtained from the city by the Globe as the result of an open records request filed March 5.

                        Rohr said Friday the call was a family argument that had previously been looked at by the council without consequence.

                        “The 911 call was based on a misunderstanding and miscommunication that took place in December 2012,” Rohr said Friday. “It was a matter looked into by the City Council in April 2013 and dismissed.”

                        Rohr, who was fired without cause on Feb. 4 at the close of late-night meeting in which Loraine’s report and conclusions were given to the council, has maintained that he was never supposed to have been a target of the investigation.

                        But Loraine, in the Feb. 20 letter to the council, said that as he took depositions in the probe that was to primarily focus on ethical questions regarding Councilmen Bill Scearce and Mike Woolston and a note from Rohr’s desk, “Mr. Rohr’s conduct loomed larger than those issues originally outlined concerning Messrs. Scearce and Woolston.

                        “As more witnesses were deposed, including both city employees and local citizens, it became clear that the issues surrounding Mr. Rohr could not be ignored, as they related to the core functioning of the city government itself.”

                        A log of the court reporting service used by Loraine refers to “Rohr-911 Call” as being one of the items reviewed. It is listed under the date of Nov. 7, 2013, which was the third day that the investigator took testimony in the probe, according to the bill. Among other things, Loraine set up a tip line so that city employees and members of the public could offer information for the investigation.

                        In a billing on Nov. 19, it was noted that Loraine also was working on “whereabouts of 911 tape on Rohr.”

                        How Loraine learned about the police report was not clear Friday. Loraine has not responded to numerous calls to talk about the investigation since it was released last month.

                        An employee at Loraine’s office said Friday that he was out of town but that she would send Loraine a message that the Globe was seeking comment on his billing and the probe.

                        Joplin police Chief Lane Roberts said the department provided the investigator with the report and a tape of the 911 call that led to the domestic incident report.

                        “It was not a domestic violence report,” Roberts told the Globe. “It was a domestic disturbance. They had an argument, and the kids jumped the gun and called the police. There was no domestic violence.”

                        Roberts said he told the council about the incident last year.

                        “It was a domestic disturbance, and we determined that nothing happened other than an oral argument,” Roberts said.

                        Asked if there had been other reports of domestic disturbances at the Rohr house, Roberts said there had not.

                        Asked whether he felt any pressure because of Rohr’s position as his boss, Roberts said, “Mark never ever tried to direct me at any time” regarding the handling of incidents or arrests.

                        The domestic disturbance call was made to police at 2:35 p.m. on the Saturday in 2012. The police responded to what an officer described in the report as a “possible physical disturbance.”

                        One of Rohr’s stepdaughters had called the police, saying Rohr and her mother were arguing and her mother yelled to call 911.

                        Police reported that Rohr’s wife, Lois, told them that she and Rohr had argued. She is quoted in the report as telling police “It was stupid, we were yelling and I screamed ‘Call 911’ out of anger.” She told the police there was no violence, the report states. Police officers noted that they saw no marks to indicate that she had been hit.

                        An officer took Rohr aside and spoke with him. Rohr told the officer that one child in the house had hit a younger child, leaving a mark on the younger child’s back. “Mark got onto his stepson, and his wife got mad at Mark. Mark and Lois began verbally arguing,” report reads. It also states that Rohr said he did not hit his wife.

                        The officers said they then spoke more to Rohr’s wife. She told them “she felt stupid for what she had done due to Mark’s job,” the report reads. “Lois insisted nothing physical happened and no threats were made.”

                        The officers asked to look at the young son’s back and noted a “small, red mark.” The boy did not seem to be bothered by it, police noted.

                        “Due to all the statements given it was determined no action was needed to be taken,” noted one of the officers in the report.

                        Rohr on Friday questioned why the report surfaced again.

                        “Why would that come up at all in the investigation, which was to look into to Mr. Scearce’s activity with a bookie, a missing Post-It note and Mr. Woolston’s business dealings with the property?”

                        There has been public controversy, with residents appearing before the council and writing letters, and debate among council members about how the probe came to focus on Rohr.

                        Councilman Mike Seibert had previously said he saw nothing new in the investigation report pertaining to Rohr about which the council was not already aware. He could not be reached on Friday to comment.

                        Seibert said Rohr had spoken to the council in a closed session about the report last year. “It was a family situation, and it was explained, and I understood. The explanation I was given by Mr. Rohr was satisfactory to me.”

                        Woolston had said earlier that “several council members are particularly curious how the investigation, the original intent of which was supposed to be relative to possible ethics violation of two sitting council members, then turned onto council employees. We did not intend for it to include employees.”

                        The council member who called for firing Rohr, Benjamin Rosenberg, had said earlier that investigations “sometimes take odd turns, and this one took an odd turn.”

                        Some residents have appeared at City Council meetings questioning the amount of Loraine’s bill, which climbed to nearly $82,000. The council had authorized $45,000.

                        Loraine, in the Feb. 20 letter, said that he thought he had “unfettered” authority to look into whatever came before him.

                        Rohr, in response, said that much of the information Loraine investigated was based on rumors and allegations, and involved largely disgruntled employees and former employees or those who disagreed with personnel decisions he had to make.

                        Lawsuit

                        NINE PAGES of Tom Loraine’s report are about Rohr and have been withheld by the city as a personnel record. The Globe has filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to disclose the full report, exhibits and testimony. It is to be heard March 31.


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                        • #13
                          Council hears criticism on probe, Rohr dismissal

                          Council hears criticism on probe, Rohr dismissal

                          By Susan Redden
                          news@joplinglobe.com
                          March 17, 2014


                          http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x19...Rohr-dismissal
                          http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0343#post10343


                          The Joplin City Council on Monday night again heard criticism from residents upset about the dismissal of Mark Rohr as city manager and related issues, and one resident said he has asked for an investigation by the state.

                          Kim Seavy told the council that he had contacted the attorney general and the state auditor’s office. To questions after the meeting, Seavy said he was waiting to hear if the auditor would undertake a probe or if petitions would have to be circulated to demand a petition audit by the state.

                          Seavy told the council that it had failed to look out for city funds by paying more than the agreed-upon amount for a council ethics investigation conducted by attorney Thomas Loraine.

                          “The contract was clear and specific in the amount and the scope, and neither were followed,” he said. “Those who voted for paying more owe residents an apology or a resignation.”

                          The investigator’s bill totaled $81,819. The council had authorized up to $45,000, plus expenses, without further authorization. The probe was sought to look into ethical questions concerning Councilman Bill Scearce’s long-ago association with a man ultimately convicted last year of bookmaking, and Councilman Mike Woolston in connection with the brokering of property sales at locations that now have been purchased for city redevelopment. The probe expanded to focus on Rohr, and the council voted 5-4 to fire him on Feb. 4, the same night it received the investigator’s report.

                          Directing his comments to the five council members who approved the action and to City Attorney Brian Head, Seavy also said the council did not follow the Home Rule Charter in firing Rohr.

                          “I’ll not remain silent; this has angered me,” he said. “By the time we get done you’ll understand.”

                          Both Seavy and Charles McGrew had addressed the council at earlier meetings.

                          McGrew on Monday night said he had been told earlier to be patient, but that there still were no viable answers about why the council had dismissed Rohr or paid the investigator more than was originally specified.

                          “Some council members paid it with no questions asked,” he said. “So does that mean anybody can overcharge the city?”

                          He said residents don’t understand why the investigator was allowed to go beyond the specified scope of the investigation.

                          “We need some answers,” he said. “The citizens deserve to be in on it. I’m a little angry.”

                          The comments brought no response from any of the five council members who voted for Rohr’s firing or to pay the remainder of the Loraine bill.

                          But Councilman Gary Shaw told McGrew that he is “working on getting you some answers.”

                          “I’m a little angry too,” Shaw said. “There are some things we can’t talk about involving employees, but you do have a right to know.”

                          In other business, the council heard comments on a proposal to institute curbside recycling in the city. The measure is on the ballot, for an advisory vote, on April 8.

                          Katrina Richards of the Young Professionals Network of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce said her group and other business leaders in Joplin support curbside recycling.

                          “Surveys we have conducted show people favor it, even if they have to pay more,” she said.

                          A number of network members and others who support recycling attended the meeting and stood to show their support.

                          Another resident, Mike McGraw, said he does not believe residents favor recycling, especially if it results in higher costs. He questioned the purpose of an advisory vote that would not bind the council. He also questioned potential costs since the council has not approved a contract with the hauler.

                          Head, the city attorney, and council members agreed that the vote is advisory. But Councilwoman Trisha Raney said she would support whatever decision is expressed by voters.

                          “I don’t think it will pass, and I hope you’ll abide by the vote and not the noise,” McGraw said.


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                          • #14
                            Joplin police acquire military vehicle

                            Joplin police acquire military vehicle

                            By Roger McKinney
                            rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
                            March 19, 2014


                            http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x33...litary-vehicle
                            http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0351#post10351

                            — The Joplin Police Department now has a military mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle, or MRAP, as a result of the end of the Iraq War and the wind-down of the Afghanistan War.

                            The vehicle, with a value of $733,000, didn’t cost the department anything. Police Lt. Sloan Rowland said it was obtained through a government program after the Texas manufacturer refurbished it.

                            Rowland said the vehicle isn’t something one can jump in and start driving.

                            “We’ve got to do a driver’s training program,” he said.

                            He said when it’s in operation, after radio and other equipment is installed, it will only be used in rare instances that may include situations where there is an active shooter.


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                            • #15
                              Group says state audit could exceed $100,000

                              Group says state audit could exceed $100,000

                              By Susan Redden
                              news@joplinglobe.com
                              March 21, 2014


                              http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstorie...exceed-100-000
                              http://whitenationalist.org/forum/sh...0365#post10365


                              Signers do not seem dissuaded by the potential cost of a state audit being sought for Joplin, a spokesman for a group circulating petitions for the audit said Friday.

                              The cost of the audit is being estimated at between $95,000 and $145,000, said Kim Seavy, one of the residents involved in the audit effort. None of the petition signers are questioning the amount, he said.

                              “The state says it’s just a rough estimate,” he said. And there might be more that they decide they want to get into once they get here. But I’d rather pay, and get the answers.”

                              Seavy said at midday Friday that he, personally, had collected about three dozen signatures, adding “there’s been a lot of interest.”

                              He said about 12 people are involved in a core group. The group is collecting signatures in a petition drive to force a state audit aimed at investigating issues surrounding the firing of City Manager Mark Rohr and payments to a private investigator who was hired to look into potential council ethics violations.

                              If the audit effort is successful, the city will be billed for the state costs to do the review, based on auditors’ time in Joplin and related expanses.

                              The audit that would be done by the state would be a performance audit, according to Spence Jackson, spokesman for the office of state Auditor Thomas Schweich. He contrasted the review from financial audits completed annually for many cities and other units of government.

                              An audit of city financial records and operations is conducted each year. Leslie Haase, finance director, said auditors with Cochran, Head, Vick & Co. recently finished their field work in Joplin on the audit for the fiscal year ending Oct. 31. The review will cost about $70,000, she said.

                              “We have audits all the time from agencies that fund city projects and programs,” she said. “The Federal Transportation Administration just finished an audit, and we just had state and federal people here on health grants.”

                              She said the federal inspector general’s office also has reviewed expenditures of a small amount of money spent so far from Community Development Block Grant funds the city received in the wake of the May 2011 tornado.

                              Seavy has been among several residents who have addressed the City Council in recent meetings to criticize actions surrounding the dismissal of Rohr and payments to investigator Tom Loraine. The amount of those payments turned out to be almost twice what the council initially authorized for the probe.

                              Loraine was hired by the City Council to look into ethical questions concerning two members of the council, but the probe expanded to focus on Rohr. The council voted 5-4 to fire Rohr on Feb. 4, the same night it received the investigator’s report.

                              Seavy said the council should have to specify its reasons for firing Rohr.

                              The investigator’s bill totaled $81,819. The council had authorized up to $45,000 without further authorization. The council has voted, also 5-4, to pay the full amount of the bill.

                              Signatures

                              Under state requirements for such an audit, the group must submit signatures equivalent to 10 percent of city residents who cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election. Seavy said the auditor’s office has told the group that it must collect 1,776 signatures of registered voters inside the city.


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