A TAWDRY COUNTY TALE

Once upon a time in Tawdry County, there was an Assessor named Mr. Strongman. He ignored state standards for assessing property values. Seniors who owned condos sometimes had their assessments tripled, while locals who were part of a political organization called GOBAG ("Good Old Boys And Girls") got low assessments.

Mr. Strongman was a talented politician, knowing whose bread to butter.

But the state government didn't like the way assessments were done in Tawdry County, and the state government withheld nearly $1 million in funds for the Assessor's office.

This didn't bother Mr. Strongman, because he had friends on the County Commission who belonged to GOBAG. They gave Mr. Strongman county funds to replace the money withheld by the state. And they supported his noncompliance with the state's assessment standards.

In the Assessor's office, there were some dedicated employees who worked hard for the county. But there were other employees who loafed, doing personal business on county time, or leaving work early. This group of employees was known as the "Thrift Store Gang," because one of their favorite things to do was to go shopping at thrift stores on county time.

Thrift Store Gang members  had a friendly relationship with GOBAG.

One day, Mr. Strongman got an idea: "I'll run for the State Senate, so I can do more favors for my friends." But another politician from Tawdry County, Mr. Strawbus, ran against Mr. Strongman, and they split the vote in Tawdry County. A third guy from Blarney County beat them both in the Senate race.

And so Mr.Strongman was out of office.

In the meantime, Mr. Penwell was elected to be the new Assessor.

Mr. Penwell was a good and honest man - and therefore not a member of GOBAG. This was bad enough, but Mr. Penwell also had a work ethic that caused him to think that employees who were on the clock.... should work!

The Thrift Store Gang didn't like their new boss.

Also, GOBAG didn't like Mr. Penwell being the Assessor. So, some of the leaders of GOBAG decided to create trouble for Mr. Penwell by getting his employees who were members of the Thrift Store Gang to lie against him.

The leader of GOBAG, Mr. Hessman, approached a Thrift Store Gang member, Mr. Hairding with an idea:

"Hairding - is that Penwell treating you OK?"

"He's terrible - he gets on me for how I treat the public, and expects me to do the job the way he wants it done."

"You poor fellow - I feel your pain. I have a plan - if you will do exactly as I tell you, there's some money in it for you."

"I trust anything you GOBAG guys tell me - you've always steered me right. What do I do?"

"Follow these steps to the letter: 1.) talk to Penwell about all sorts of things - be friendly.... then just casually note his Bible on the desk, and start talking about that....2.) Penwell will let his guard down, and after you convince him that you are a fellow believer, he will now and then mention the Bible, or God, or some verse. 3.) at that point, you should perform as poorly as possible without getting fired - take advantage of Penwell's merciful heart, and push him to the limit 4.) at this point you have accomplished two things: First, Penwell thinks you are a believer, and so feels free to share matters of faith, Second, Penwell has to talk to you about your job performance, and because he's a good guy, he'll probably still show respect for you, and treat you as a friend. 5.) this is where the s*** hits the fan - you're responsible for the s***. You file a complaint of religious discrimination, alleging that Penwell forces you to listen to scripture, and punishes you, not because of your p**s poor job performance, but because you don't want to hear verses. 6) We GOBAG members control the County Commission, and we will make sure your complaint gets settled quickly. There will be no opportunities for Penwell to give his version of things, and we will agree to a settlement that'll put a nice chunk of change - how does $30k sound? - into your pocket... you'll need to resign, but you'll have a great severance package to enjoy life while you look for a different job!"

"Well it sounds great! What's in it for you?"

"We will leak news of your complaint just prior to the election. Penwell isn't running, but it will damage his allies, and when it's his turn to run, we'll get some more of your Thrift Store Gang who want some cash to help us out. We have a friend at the newspaper who will blame Penwell for the money we give to you."

"Awesome!"

And this is how things are done in Tawdry County to this very day.

Ron Houseman and Agenda 21

Save rainwater - go to jail!   This sort of tyranny is some fruit of Agenda 21, a 'non-binding' (it's proponents always remind us) but 'all pervasive' (I remind you) scheme put forth by the U.N. in 1992, and advanced by each U.S. President since George H.W. Bush.

The chief threat from Agenda 21 is to property rights, usually through innocuous sounding "sustainable development" schemes enacted by both sincere and sinister local officials. Example: The Enhanced Enterprise Zone (EEZ) plan approved here in Taney County (in 2012) by our local governments. At least half of Missouri is designated an EEZ now, and therefore at increased risk for eminent domain abuse. A good essay on the problems with EEZ is here.

My State Representative, Lyle Rowland (Missouri District 155), to his great credit, worked hard to pass anti-Agenda 21 legislation last year. The House failed by 2 votes to override the Governor's veto.

Sadly, Lyle Rowland, and too many other "conservatives," are supporting Amendment 1, the so called 'Right to Farm' amendment, which includes pernicious language that fits too well with Agenda 21. The Constitution Party has very well summarized the problems with 'Right to Farm.'

One organization that is an enthusiastic supporter of Agenda 21 (Supporters of Agenda 21 avoid saying 'Agenda 21', opting for terms like 'sustainable development' or invoking causes like 'clean water' or 'climate change') is the National Association of Counties, or NACo. Taney County Presiding Commissioner Ron Houseman serves on NACo's Executive Committee , and frequently attends NACo meetings around the country, at the taxpayers expense.

All three of our county commissioners attended a meeting on the subject of Agenda 21 (Brandon Williams attended as commissioner-elect, having won the GOP primary) in 2012 at First Baptist Church in Hollister. They all indicated their staunch opposition to Agenda 21, but when yours truly pointed out that Agenda 21 is often advanced using the term 'sustainable development', Mr. Houseman was prompted to disclose that he had been a participant in a 'sustainable development' meeting, at the White House, chaired by Al Gore. Ron assured us all that he opposed whatever was being promoted at Al Gore's meeting, but I've noticed that his high position in NACo is still something of which he is proud.

Taney County Republicans are Chicago Democrats

Attend a gathering of Republicans in Taney County, and it's a safe bet that you'll hear derisive comments about Democrats.

Full disclosure: when those comments have been about Barack Obama, I've often agreed with them. There is an unbroken chain of corruption in the Chicago Democratic machine going back at least to the Capone gang in the 1920's. This machine brought the deceased to the polls for JFK in 1960, and lately helped launch Obama's career.

However, there's an elephant in the room - pun intended - when local Republicans focus on the foibles and malfeasance of the Democratic party.

Actually, a couple of elephants. And maybe a snake or two.

First Elephant

There's no corruption in the Taney County Democratic Party.

Since there's no organized Taney County Democratic Party. There isn't one Democrat on the November ballot for any county office.

The few Democrats who have held office in this county have been honorable people, and have served competently and honestly.

Second Elephant

There is a history of corruption in the Taney County Republican Party. And the biggest scandal that I remember, was brought to light by...

.... A Democrat!

Back in the mid 1990's, the Treasurer of Taney County resigned. The Governor fills such vacancies by appointment, and our governor at the time was a Democrat. Governor Carnahan appointed John Willett,  a young man in his early twenties - and a Democrat.

In those days I had a couple of lively conversations with John at the county fair. We disagreed vigorously, but John was respectful at all times - never insulted my person. When I'd see him in town, he'd encourage me to drop by his office sometime for a visit. I very much regret never having done so.

Later, I learned that John was working high up in one of the twin towers in New York on September 11, 2001. We lost a fine citizen from Taney County that day.

During John's tenure as Treasurer, he came upon a number of checks payable to then County Clerk Ron Houseman and then County Collector Dwain Basham.

Seems these two officials were collecting "commissions" from tax revenues that they were collecting on behalf of municipalities around the county. Checks amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. One check to Ron Houseman was for over $80,000 - yes that's right an eighty thousand dollar bonus. His regular salary was a little over $42,000 at the time.

Charges were dropped on technicalities. Either the law was insufficient, or these handsomely rewarded public servants were well connected.

But they did lose their bids for reelection in 1998. And since then, those elected to the offices of Clerk and Collector have not enriched themselves with lucrative commissions.

Things have changed in Taney County since then - or have they?

Despite being involved in this monumental scandal, Ron Houseman was hired by the county in 2009 to help obtain Obama stimulus funds for the county. The decision to hire him was made by the County Commission on a 2 to 1 vote. The two who voted for the hire were Western Commissioner Jim Strafuss and Eastern Commissioner Danny Strahan.

             Oh, and I'm running against Danny Strahan

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE: The author of this blog is running against the aforementioned Danny Strahan for the position of Eastern Taney County Commissioner.

This is negative campaigning, which brings another IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE: I'm not opposed to negative campaigning IF it is factual and relevant. I very much oppose negative campaigning that is misleading ("my opponent publicly masticates in restaurants") , irrelevant ("my opponent wears a toupee"), or merciless ("my opponent was a Communist when he was 20, but grew out  of it").

This is an issue: Danny Strahan voted to hire Ron Houseman, despite his record of appropriating exhorbitant amounts of public funds for himself.

I would have voted NO on this hire.

What's the difference between the Democrat machine in Chicago and the GOP machine in Taney County?

Scale.

Chicago is much bigger.

Certain prominent Republicans in Taney County have sought to intimidate other Republicans for daring to support an Independent candidate. Back in August, Taney County GOP Chairman Buddy Roberts went to the County Clerk's office to review my nominating petitions (I'm an Independent candidate for the County Commission). At the next GOP luncheon, Republicans whose signatures were found were chastised.


However, there is a double standard in place: Mr. Roberts subsequently contacted the County Clerk on behalf of Jim Strafuss - outgoing Western Commissioner who failed in a bid for the State Senate -  in order to find out how Jim could run as a write-in candidate against REPUBLICAN Jeff Justus, who won the August primary to be the GOP nominee for State Representative, 156th District.

Apparently, Mr. Roberts was recently pressured by other members of the Central Committee - to their credit - to be consistent and affirm that if a good Republican can't support an Independent running against a Republican, then a good Republican shouldn't support a write-in running against a Republican, either.

While it is good that Republican officials in Taney County seek to apply a uniform standard, it'd really be nice if they took a glance at the Constitution - which they've taken an oath to support - and learned that there's no restriction in this country on supporting the candidate of your choice, even if you belong to a political party.

Corruption, cronyism and the Taney County Commission

The Taney County Commission has decided to move forward with plans for Enhanced Enterprise Zones. The Commission apparently is unaware of any downside to the potential blight designations for several areas of our county, or of any hardships established businesses might face. It's the yellow brick road, leading to the magnificent Emerald City, where industry is plentiful and everyone is happy.

Here's a guy concerned about a  downside (scroll to the bottom of the page) to this rapidly advancing trend. But the wizards on the county commission would prefer he stay away from the curtain behind which they hide, and of course the wizards say "pay no attention to the men behind the curtain!"

Sorry to say, we have been compliant sheople, and have paid no attention to the men behind the curtain. I am as guily as anyone, and more than most.

Shame on us. However, let us now follow Toto's good example, and begin to pull on that curtain, endeavoring to ignore all the smoke and mirrors employed by the wizards.

The EEZ plan has the potential to punish some established businesses, while purporting to boost others. It is local government emulating the national government by attempting to stimulate the economy, and will likely have the same net result: it will worsen the situation rather then help. Why do I say this? Because you cannot create a net gain in capital by manipulating tax policy to the detriment of some and the benefit of others. Such schemes redistribute wealth - they do not create it.

Our local economic malaise has been foisted on us from higher up, by the likes of Barack Obama, George Bush, and Ben Bernanke. Their foolish monetary policies of credit expansion, "stimulus" spending, and increasing the number of bureaucrats overlooking our affairs have debased our currency and scared investors. Local economic enterprise zones are not the solution to this problem - the problem of a shortage of capital. A return to sound money, and a departure from central planning, are what is needed to restore free enterprise. This calls for changes at the national level. The best thing local government can do is to move towards weaning itself from federal largesse (I realize that isn't going to happen overnight, but a mindset towards that end MUST be adopted), and concentrate on providing services citizens have traditionally expected: police, fire, libraries (yes, a county library system would be a good thing in Taney County), etc.  Providing tax incentives to one enterprise, to the detriment of another, is antithetical to America's foundational principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Our economy is weak because central planning "experts" have presumed to pick winners and losers, counting themselves as wiser and more just than the free market. These planners, historically operating out of the federal bureaucracy, are now appearing at the local level with no apparent affiliation to the national government - until one looks a little closer.

The EEZ is no grassroots effort - it is part of a national trend to promote a symbiotic relationship between government and business, to the detriment of free market capitalism. It is a grave threat to property rights, as shown here, and the fact that a third of the state of Missouri has already been classified as "blighted" should have any freedom loving person - "liberal" or "conservative" - alarmed, as it portends massive future abuses of eminent domain, to the benefit of businesses who are cozy with their government. The loser is the free market. The fact that an all Republican County Commission is all agog about it demonstrates that FDR and LBJ would feel right at home in today's Republican Party, while stalwart free market advocates like Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater, and Ron Paul would be/are marginalized.


It is likely that Presiding Commissioner Ron Houseman is the driving force behind the expansion of local government oversight of business, given his oft touted connections to Washington, D.C. Remember that Mr. Houseman, prior to being elected presiding commissioner, received the honor of being hired by the County Commission to help our area obtain its portion of federal stimulus funds through his marvelous connections. Commissioners Strafuss and Strahan bestowed that honor on him.

A little historical review regarding Mr. Houseman is in order at this point:

Houseman was the Taney County Clerk for several years, until his involvement in a money scandal resulted in his defeat in the 1998 GOP primary.

As County Clerk, Houseman appropriated hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to himself. He did this along with then County Collector, Dwain Basham, by taking commissions from taxes collected on behalf of municipalities around the county. Houseman's salary was in the 40-45 thousand per year range in those days. But the involuntary contributions of Taney County taxpayers gave him a six figure income.

The court case against Houseman was dismissed, and I'll be happy for legal scholars to explain that event. I'm not arguing the legality of what Houseman did, but that it was egregious enrichment of himself at taxpayer expense, notwithstanding the success of renowned defense attorney Dee Wampler in extricating him from legal consequences.

I've actually heard locals here justify Ron Houseman's actions, or say they were "legal." But I'll donate $100 to the favorite charity of any elected official who will publicy affirm the following statement, and allow me to quote him/ her: "It would be right and proper for the current clerk and collector to prosper themselves the same way Houseman and Basham did in the 1990's."

The point in rehashing old history?

Several points:

1. It is relevant to note that current commissioners Strahan (running for reelection) and Strafuss, (running for the State Senate) honored Houseman with a paid position, despite the aforementioned scandal.

2. Due to a lame local media, an influx of new people to the area, a substantial number of people who live in a state of denial, and the help of his cronies, the egregious actions of Houseman were out of the public mind enough for him to win a very close election in 2010 to the position of Presiding Commissioner.

His cronies provided valuable assistance. Commissioners Strahan and Strafuss helped by trying to frame previous presiding commissioner Pennel as a liar (Strahan) and/ or a criminal (Strafuss) during the "check controversy." (In fairness, it must be said that Pennel did greatly err in that matter, albeit not criminally, as Strafuss apparently hoped). A couple of years previously, before Strafuss became a commissioner, Houseman informed the commission that there was evidence of nepotism involving then Presiding Commissioner Pennel. Houseman used the term "egregious" to describe Pennel's misdeeds. What was this "egregious" nepotism? Commissioner Pennel's wife, experienced kennel owner and animal lover, was caring for stray, sick dogs on weekends when the county had no resources to do so. Mrs. Pennel did this on her own time, in her own vehicle. Houseman and his former nemesis, turned lapdog, Bob Shanz, knew their accusations were groundless, as subsequent investigation showed them to be. The purpose was to damage Pennel's reputation. Houseman lost two close elections to Pennel in 2002 and 2006. By engaging in a smear campaign against his once and future opponent, he succeeded in swaying enough votes that the third faceoff between the two men went his way.

3. Houseman wanted to be elected to the commission so badly, that he was willing to destroy the man who stood in his way.

4. Given the history of scandal, and the lust for power exhibited by Houseman, it is not unreasonable to be extremely suspicious of which devils might be in the details of any major change advocated by him and cronies such as Strahan and Strafuss.

It is an unfortunate fact that incumbents are very difficult to remove from office, even in the face of blatant cronyism. This year is no different. While western commissioner Strafuss is not running for reelection, opting to run for the State Senate, eastern commissioner Strahan is up for a third term, so as to help promote Houseman's agenda for our county. It is most unfortunate that instead of one good opponent, Strahan is being challenged in the primary by six opponents, of various levels of suitability for office. Since a plurality, not a majority, is all that's required to win the primary, this gives Strahan a real advantage. Of the seven running, the candidate most able to change the direction of county government is clearly Alan Lawson.  For one thing, he is the only one of them to publicly voice the possibility that the EEZ may not be an unassailable panacea. Please give a listen to him on the matter here.



I will vote for Alan Lawson in the primary. It saddens me that his chances are diminished by the split in the anti-Strahan vote. It encourages me, though that he seems to be gaining support as we approach primary day.



I've filed nominating petitions as an independent candidate for eastern commissioner. Should Alan win the primary on August 7th, I will be delighted to stand down.I really urge you to vote for Alan.





Otherwise, I'll be on the November ballot. I don't have an impressive resume of business experience, but I'm not a potted plant either. I have politics in my blood, and an ability to receive input from a variety of perspectives and interests. I believe in the safety of a multitude of counselors, and do not think anyone can be an expert in all matters with which the County Commission deals.  Common sense and an innate savvy about politics will serve me well, enabling me to serve you well.  I know, for instance, that when something sounds too good to be true, like the proposed EEZ, it probably isn't true.