PART 2 of 2: "Necessary, appropriate and effective expenditures of public funds" do not include political affinity display ads!

***** UPDATED thru 11/10/2010 *****

Published by Dick Schaefer, Award-winning, Unpaid, Part-time Contributing Writer; Amateur Investigative Reporter; and Aspiring Photo-Journalist

Date: 10/29/2010
Post: 977

A high-profile elected official of Gasconade County appears to have been placing affinity "name recognition" political display ads in The Hermann Advertiser-Courier for some time ..... and paying for them with public funds!  I first raised this issue in a previous posting dated 10/21/2010.  That posting may be accessed for reference by clicking on the following link:
http://hermannhearsay.blogspot.com/2010/10/does-this-ad-represent-necessary.html

From what I have been able to learn, the display ads in question are paid for using public funds as opposed to personal funds or campaign funds. This issue was brought to the attention of the County Commissioners during the past year's budgeting process and the Sheriff was asked to discontinue paying for the ads out of the county's General Revenue Fund. In the 2010 Missouri State Audit Report for Gasconade County posted on the Missouri State Auditor's website in August, State Auditor Susan Montee said this:

"Disbursements incurred by the Sheriff's office for advertising do not appear to represent a necessary use of county funds. During 2009 and 2008, the Sheriff's office purchased band booster advertisements totaling approximately $1,000 per year, which were paid from the county's General Revenue Fund and approved by the County Commission.

The Sheriff's office manager explained the advertisements are purchased to increase public awareness of the Sheriff's department. Starting in 2010, the County Commission no longer allows payment for advertising from the General Revenue Fund. The Sheriff currently pays these expenses from the Sheriff Department Law Enforcement (Civil Fees) Fund, which is controlled by the Sheriff and not by the County Commission.

The county residents have placed a fiduciary trust in county officials to ensure expenditures represent a necessary use of public funds. The Sheriff should evaluate the propriety of spending county funds on these types of items.

Recommendations to the Sheriff:

Ensure all disbursements from county funds represent necessary uses of county funds.

The Sheriff provided the following written response:

The Sheriff will personally ensure that all disbursements from county funds will represent the necessary use of county funds. In regards to the audit finding concerning advertisements done by the Sheriff's office, the Sheriff feels that community awareness programs are an integral part of the overall responsibility the Sheriff has to keep the citizens of Gasconade County informed of programs that are available to citizens and citizen groups and that the Sheriff will continue to support these awareness programs. The Sheriff understands that the County Commission will no longer allow for these types of disbursements."

Since the August, 2010 State Audit, the Sheriff has continued to advertise inappropriately using public funds ..... as though he is "daring" someone to STOP him.  I have counted eight (8) such inappropriate ads in The Hermann Advertiser-Courier alone since August of 2010.  This Sheriff doesn't listen to sound input and advice ..... NOT EVEN FROM THE MISSOURI STATE AUDITOR!

Here's a list of the affinity display ads placed by the Gasconade County Sheriff's Office in The Hermann Advertiser-Courier during the past two years. The Sheriff's Office display ads I've found in 2009 and 2010 editions of the Hermann Advertiser-Courier (thru 10/27/2010) are as follows:

1. 01/14/09, pg. 12A, Go Bearcats! Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
2. 01/21/09, pg. 14A, Go Bearcats! Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
3. 02/11/09, pg. 12A, Natl Boy Scouts Wk, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
4. 02/11/09, pg. 18A, Go Bearcats! Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
5. 03/11/09, pg. 15A, Natl. Girl Scouts Wk, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
6. 04/01/09, pg. 07A, Go Bearcats! Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
7. 04/15/09, pg. 07A, Go Bearcats! Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
8. 05/06/09, pg. 12A, Go Bearcats! Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
9. 05/20/09, pg. 20A, Memorial Day ad, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
10. 07/01/09, pg. 10A, 4th of July ad, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
11. 08/12/09, pg. 13A, School Safety, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
12. 09/02/09, pg. 03B, Go Bearcats! Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
13. 09/23/09, pg. 13A, Go Bearcats! Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
14. 09/23/09, pg. 19A, Farm Safety/Health Wk, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
15. 10/07/09, pg. 08B, Go Bearcats! Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
16. 10/07/09, pg. 02B, Natl 4-H Week, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
17. 10/07/09, pg. 05A, Photo-Randy Esphorst receives check from Brown Shanty Grp
18. 10/21/09, pg. 07A, Go Bearcats! Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
19. 10/21/09, pg. 08B, Halloween Contest, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
20. 11/11/09, pg. 20A, Veterans Day, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
21. 12/23/09, pg. 13A, Bearcat Girls JV Basketball, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
22. 12/30/09, pg. 07A, Bearcat Boys JV Basketball, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
23. 02/10/10, pg. 15A, Bearcat Girls Varsity Basketball, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
24. 02/24/10, pg. 18A, Bearcat Girls Varsity Basketball, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
25. 03/10/10, pg. 03B, National Girl Scout Week, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
26. 04/07/10, pg. 07A, Bearcat Golf Team, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
27. 04/14/10, pg. 20A, Bearcat Track Team, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
28. 05/05/10, pg. 07A, Bearcat Baseball Team, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
29. 05/26/10, pg. 14A, Memorial Day, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
30. 09/08/10, pg. 10A, Labor Day, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
31. 09/15/10, pg. 02B, Bearcat Cross Country Team, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
32. 09/22/10, pg. 14A, National Farm Safety & Health Week, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
33. 09/29/10, pg. 03B, Bearcat Girls Softball Team, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
34. 10/06/10, pg. 12A, National 4-H Week, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
35. 10/13/10, pg. 18A, Bearcat Football Team, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
36. 10/20/10, pg. 17A, Halloween Coloring Contest, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
37. 10/27/10, pg. 18A, Bearcat Volleyball, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
38. 11/03/10, pg. 03B, Bearcat Volleyball Team, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff
39. 11/10/10, pg. 14A, Soluting Our Soldiers On Veterans Day, Randy Esphorst, Gasconade County Sheriff

Note:  I have NOT examined The Gasconade County Republican for similar advertisements by the Sheriff's Department.  And I don't know whether any similar advertising is being done in any other publications throughout the county.

Again, the question is:  "Are these ads being paid for with public funds from Gasconade County OR is the Sheriff paying for the ads out of his own personal funds or campaign funds?"

IF the Sheriff is paying for these ads out of personal funds or campaign funds, then I salute him for being a very smart politician.  However, IF he is paying for the ads from personal funds or campaign funds, then the ads should indicate who is paying for the them according to Missouri election and campaign financing laws.  But none of the display ads I have thus far examined indicate anything at all about who has been paying for the ads.

IF the ads are being paid for with Gasconade County public funds, then I question their necessity, their appropriateness and their effectiveness.  IF the ads are being paid for by Gasconade County, then why not list the names of all elected county officials ...... OR better yet, why not cut out altogether the practice of using public funds to pay for what really amounts to political affinity advertising?

I have asked my representative on the County Commission to probe these concerns during the county's budget review meetings for the past two years.  Northern District Associate Commissioner Matt Penning agrees with me and has asked these questions during the 2010 budget process.  The result has been that the expenditures were moved from the General Revenue Fund over to the Sheriff's Law Enforcement Fund.  Apparently the Sheriff doesn't get it.  He is still paying for the advertising out of PUBLIC FUNDS ..... AND NOT HIS OWN PERSONAL FUNDS.  Apparently he believes such advertising represents a necessary, appropriate and effective use of county funds.  I disagree!

These are clearly affinity advertisements intended to associate the Sheriff's name in a positive and supportive way with the Hermann Bearcats, 4-H, holiday observances, etc.  This is nice, and I applaud the Sheriff for supporting these things.  But he shouldn't be doing it with public money.  IF the Sheriff seeks to increase his "name recognition" in a positive way, he should do so with his own personal funds or with campaign funds.

These ads are NOT necessary.  The county's budget is very tight.  This expense could be easily
eliminated without sacrificing service to the citizens of the county.  Money saved in the Sheriff's bloated department budget could be used to better maintain county roads and county facilities ..... like our woefully neglected county courthouse!

These ads are NOT appropriate.  Why should the Sheriff be allowed to spend public funds for what appears to have the sole purpose of increasing his "name recognition" among subscribers to The Hermann Advertiser-Courier?  These ad expenditures are of a political nature.  They convey no essential or useful information to the public.  We already know that Gasconade County has a Sheriff's Department.  (I suppose ALL Missouri counties have a Sheriff's Department!)  I checked my local CenturyLink telephone book and found both the address and telephone number of the Sheriff's office listed.  I also called 1411 for directory assistance, and they were happy to give me the telephone number.  They even sent me a text message with both the Sheriff's office address and the telephone number.  These folks have always been most helpful to me!  So why on earth do I need to continue seeing (and paying for) Sheriff's Department display ads which provide the same information in The Hermann Advertiser-Courier?!

The ads are NOT effective.  Because the Sheriff's Department display ads in The Hermann Advertiser-Courier appear along with a whole host of other display ads, they are probably not even noticed by that many readers.  The Sheriff's ad isn't effective because it doesn't stand out.  The Sheriff's ad isn't effective because it has no utility.  People will not refer to the local newspaper when they need to contact the Sheriff's Department.  Like me, they will look up the telephone number (or address) in their telephone book, or like me, they will call 1411 and seek directory assistance.  The ads are a complete waste of public money.  But I suppose they are politically useful to the Sheriff in terms of keeping his name before the public.

More useful, effective and appropriate advertising or promotion by the Sheriff would be public service announcements which inform and educate the citizens of Gasconade County about such things as:

1. the telltale signs indicating the existence of a potential meth lab or other illegal drug activities in our neighborhoods,
2. the services which the Sheriff's Department provides to citizens such as more frequent patrols when they are scheduled to be absent from their rural residences for extended period of times,
3. driver safety education programs at the high schools in Gasconade County,
4. drug awareness programs at all schools in Gasconade County, and
5. etc.

Now these are expenditures by the Sheriff's Department I could support!  Public funds spent.  Public benefits received.  Repetitive affinity display ads containing the Sheriff's name, the address of the Sheriff's Office and the telephone number of the Sheriff's Office benefit ONLY the Sheriff ..... and therefore should be paid for by the Sheriff out of his own personal funds or his campaign funds!