I really hate covering Gasconade County Commission Meetings! (Revised With Link To A. Wiegenstein Report)

Published by Dick Schaefer, Part-time Contributing Writer and Special Investigative Reporter

I really need to find something better to do in my retirement years than covering these poorly run County Commission Meetings!  It seems that Jimmy has me assigned to cover a bunch of unruly, irresponsible kids masquerading as county leaders.  If you've ever been to a Gasconade County Commission Meeting, you know what I mean.  If you've never attended a County Commission Meeting you really should attend a few to see our county government in action.  The meetings are held weekly at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday.  The meetings are held at the Owensville City Hall on the first Thursday of each month.  On all other Thursdays, the meetings are held in the Commissioners' Chambers at the County Courthouse in Hermann.

This morning's meeting began as it always does with a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a reading of the prior meeting's minutes by County Clerk Lesa Lietzow, and then followed by the approval of warrants for payment of the county's bills, etc.  This year's county oil and fuel contract was awarded to MFA of Owensville.  They were the low bidder.  And then the moment we had all been waiting for finally arrived!   It was 9:00 a.m. and time to open up the tire and tire service bids from two hopeful vendors, Jost Tire Company and Central Tire Company. Both companies are headquartered in Owensville.  Central Tire has had the tire and tire services contract during the past year.  Jost Tire has had the contract during prior years.

Before the opening of the bids, Northern District Associate Commissioner Matt Penning challenged the bid process and bid specifications.  Penning pointed out that he had penciled in the requirement that the successful bidder provide a credit to the county for tire carcasses that were re-usable.  Chuck Lewis and Commissioner Penning informed Commissioners Jost and Lairmore that Central Tire Company has always provided a credit to the county for tire carcasses, but Jost Tire Company had not made it a practice to do so when they have had the county's tire contract.  (Note:  This reporter has verified the accuracy of this assertion.  This reporter has personally reviewed every tire and tire service invoice paid by the county during the past five (5) years.  When Central Tire Company has had the county contract, tire carcass credits were clearly reflected in their invoices.  When Jost Tire Company had the contract, this reporter could find no evidence that credits for used tire carcasses were reflected in their invoices.  I encourage all readers who wish to independently verify what I am saying to request these tire invoices from Clerk Lietzow.  Oh by the way, there are numerous other interesting irregularities which you will find in these invoices such as duplicate invoices, unsigned invoices, invoices for which Presiding Commissioner Jost had signed on behalf of county road department employees, a conflict if I have ever seen one!)

Now, the important question arising from Commissioner Penning's allegation or rather assertion of the absolute provable fact that Jost Tire Company has never given Gasconade County any credits for re-usable tire carcasses is this ..... "Where did all of that money go?"  Penning asked this question at least twice and received no response from his colleagues.  Commissioner Penning reported to his colleagues that he had taken a close look at a three (3) year period during which Jost Tire Company held the county tire contract for 2-1/2 years and Central Tire Company held the contract for 6 months.  Commissioner Penning reported that Central Tire provided tire credits while Jost Tire did not.  He estimates the county may have lost anywhere from $18,000 to $28,000 during this three (3) year period, depending upon the portion (%) of tire carcasses which may have qualified for a credit.  That % is unknown and unknowable after the fact.

This discussion seemed to make Commissioners Jost and Lairmore uncomfortable and defensive.  Lairmore attempted to change the subject by suggesting that used tire carcasses should be transported back to the Drake County Maintenance Shed from Central Tire in Owensville. Lairmore suggested that the county could then manage the "disposal" of used tires.  What??!!!!  Why??!!!!  Central Tire has been giving the county credit for tires that were re-usable (something that Jost Tire Company never did), and now Commissioner Lairmore has the unmitigated gall to cast dispersions upon Chuck Lewis and his company! 

Presiding Commissioner Ron Jost, visibly uncomfortable with Penning's revelation in an open meeting that Jost Tire Company had not provided tire credits to the county, was quick to change the subject to tire disposal fees.  He accused Cental Tire  Company of charging a minimal tire disposal fee for un-usable tires which have to be scrapped.  Jost asserted that Jost Tire Company had NEVER charged the county any tire disposal fees.  Penning and Lewis disagreed with Jost's assertion on this point.  (Again, HH readers should know that this reporter has reviewed county tire invoices from Jost Tire Company.  The TRUTH of the matter is that the county HAS BEEN CHARGED tire disposal fees by Jost Tire Company during prior years when they had the contract with Gasconade County.  Jost was either unaware of this fact or he intentionally misrepresented a fact which is documented in the invoices and which can be proven to be TRUE.)

Somewhere in all of this infernal bickering back and forth, Commissioner Penning made the valid point that the county's bid package and bid specifications for the tire and tire service contract needs to be reworked and updated.  Penning informed his colleagues that the tire specifications included in the bid package represented only 60% of the total expenditures PAID by the county during the three (3) year period he examined.  40% of county expenditures were for tires, tire services and other parts and labor not even specified in the county's bid package.  Chuck Lewis agreed with Penning.  (Again, this reporter has seen the county's bid specifications for tires and tire services, and they are woefully incomplete and inadequate.)

It was agreed that Commissioner Penning should rewrite the bid specifications and bring them back for review at the 6/24 Commission Meeting.  When the bid specifications have been updated and improved, the tire vendors will be asked to re-submit their bids in accordance with the new specifications.

Yes, there was once again a lot of fogging, spinning and obfuscation going on during this morning's County Commission Meeting!  My friends, I am here to tell you that none of the fogging, spinning and obfuscating was attributable to the Associate Commissioner of the Northern District.  Matt Penning is the ONLY member of the Gasconade County Commission who didn't behave like an unruly, irresponsible kid!  Commissioner Penning was doing the work of the county taxpayers this morning.  It is not clear to me what Lairmore and Jost were doing.

If you don't believe my reports on the Gasconade County Commission Meetings, I urge you to begin attending the meetings yourself.  You will only need to attend two or three meetings to get a good feel for the problems which exist within the County Commission.

Jeff Noedel, Publisher of CNL, another local online news website, puts a different "spin" on things.  For your convenience, I've provided a link to Mr. Noedel's report on the 6/17 County Commission Meeting:

http://countynewslive.com/content/2010/jun/17/county-commissioner-penning-alleges-county-lax-way-it-awards-tire-business-other

Noedel reports the following in his 6/17 article ..... On Thursday night, Lairmore said to CountyNewsLIVE.com, "Matt could have brought-up these concerns at the road department, with the two of us. But he didn't say a word until he got in front of the camera...it was a set-up. It's all smoke. He's just trying to damage Ron to try to tilt the election. The people of Gasconade County aren't dumb. They can see right through this."  Just more spin and deception from Commissioner Lairmore!  The facts are that election campaigns go on all the time.  Yet we still need to expect commissioners to do The People's business.  The "Road Department Meeting" at the Drake Maintenance Shed held earlier in the morning is a meeting where road and bridge maintenance concerns should be discussed with Road Department personel.  It was completely appropriate for Penning to discuss his tire bid concerns in the public meeting at the courthouse.  Penning was addressing legitimate concerns about county business.  He is attempting to improve the tire bidding process and get the best value possible for the county taxpayers.  And all you can do, Mr. Lairmore, is make your bogus allegations that Penning is playing politics!  Shame on you, Jerry Lairmore!  You are accurate about one thing .... the people of Gasconade County aren't dumb!  And they can see right through YOUR fogging, spinning, and obfuscating!  And Mr. Noedel, for the professional news reporter you claim to be, I am surprised that you swallow Lairmore's baloney "hook, line and sinker"!  Have you taken the time to look at the tire bid packages of previous years?  Have you compared the small list of items on the tire bid specification to all the tires, parts and labor which the county actually purchases during a 12 month period.  Why don't you do some real journalism and check things out before you run to Jerry Lairmore for his "comments"?!  Save yourself the embarrassment of being used as his shill in the local news media.  Lairmore is playing you for his own purposes like a finely-tuned violin!

On the otherhand, reporter Anna Wiegenstein of Hermann NEWS, a mainstream local online news website, does a very good job covering the County Commission Meetings.  Unlike Noedel, Ms. Wiegenstein is a very accurate, fair and balanced news reporter.  I recommend her news articles to all HH subscribers.  Anna is meticulously thorough, accurate, fair and balanced in her news reporting.  For your convenience, I've provided a link to Ms. Wiegenstein's report on the 6/17 County Commission Meeting:

http://www.ngnn.com/65041/content/2010/jun/22/county-commission-debates-tire-bidding-process

Performance Metrics:

Total # FREE Subscribers: 000,340

Total # Premium Subscribers: 000,027

Total # Ultra Premium Subscribers: 000,003

Total # Platinum Lifetime Subscribers: 000,003

Subscribers Currently Online: 000,083

New Visitors Currently Online: 000,039

Alexa U.S. Traffic Ranking: 310,198 

Total # Subscriber Telethons, Raffles & Bake Sales: 000,000

Reciprocal Websites:

www.bergerbaloneywithmayoblogspot.com/ (Berger News)

www.dschaefer.vemma.com/ (Ultra Premium Nutritional Drinks)

www.heart2heartlyrics.blogspot.com/ (Song Lyrics)

www.hermannhookups.blogspot.com/ (Social Networking)

www.mid-missouri-mule-rides.blogspot.com/ (Family Fun)

www.ngnn.com/ (Hermann, New Haven and Owensville NEWS)

www.rivertownrecipes.blogspot.com/ (Food & Drink Recipes)

www.vemmadrinker.blogspot.com/ (Premium Nutritional Drinks)

www.watkinsonline.com/richardhschaefer (Watkins Products)

Non-Reciprocal Websites:

www.dorasspinningwheel.com/ (Embroidered Caps, Shirts, Etc.)

www.hermannadvertisercourier.com/ (The Hermann A-C)

www.hermannchamberofcommerce.com/ (Hermann C of C)

www.timeforpie.com/ (Pie, Rolls, Scones, Coffee, Lattes & More)