I want to apologize to Hermann Hearsay readers for taking so long to develop Part II of my four-part series about the Gasconade County tire and tire services contract controversy.
The delay results from the exhaustive research I am doing with The Missouri Ethics Commission in Jefferson City. Complicating my communications with them has been the three-day 4th of July weekend. Hopefully, I will get a response to the questions I have asked later this week. Their offices have been closed since Friday afternoon and will remain closed until tomorrow morning.
I have to tell ya, folks, this investigative reporting stuff is really tough work. Done properly, a good journalist will spend about 6 - 8 hours of research for every hour he spends writing up the story. Investigative reporting is harder than most people think! Ya see, in order to write up Part II of my series on the county's tire contract controversy, I'm having to double-check the following things with people who are the experts on the subject:
- What exactly and legally constitutes a financial "conflict of interest" on the part of an elected public official?
- What chapter(s) and paragraph(s) of the Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo) apply to financial "conflicts of interest"?
- At what dollar amount are elected public officials of a county required by Missouri statute to competitively bid out the purchase of supplies, equipment and services?
- What chapter(s) and paragraph(s) of the Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo) applies/apply to the purchase of supplies, equipment and services by counties?
- What is the procedure for filing a formal complaint against a public official who is believed to have done something illegal or unethical?
- What is the state's legal process for investigating complaints which allege financial "conflict of interest" by an elected public official?
- What is the state's legal process for investigating complaints which allege "failure to follow the supply, equipment and purchasing procedures mandated by state law"?
- If an elected public official is found to have violated Missouri state law(s) pertaining to financial "conflict of interest" and/or "mandated purchasing procedures", what are the prescribed remedies and/or penalties?
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If you want to refer back to previous articles I have written about the Gasconade County tire and tire services contract controversy, you can click on the following links:
- 7/1 - http://www.hermannhearsay.blogspot.com/2010/07/too-stunned-to-report-on-july-1st.html
- 7/2 - http://www.hermannhearsay.blogspot.com/2010/07/gasconade-county-tire-and-tire-services.html
- 7/2 - http://www.hermannhearsay.blogspot.com/2010/07/county-tire-contract-controversy-part-i.html
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