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DougSki
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| Joined: | Mon Apr 2nd, 2007 |
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Posted: Sat Apr 14th, 2007 11:43 pm |
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I came across this article in the Sedalia Democrat today.
Pettis County funds were used to pay for body armor a radio morning show host wore on a trip to Iraq.
The County Commission paid $2,872 on Dec. 22 for the body armor, which it purchased from Alpine Armoring Inc. Charlie Thomas, the host of KDRO’s morning show, wore the armor on a December trip to Iraq.
Benne Broadcasting of Sedalia, which owns KDRO, wrote a $2,000 check to the county on Jan. 30, 2007, to cover part of the cost of the armor.
Presiding Commissioner Rusty Kahrs said the station would pay the remainder of the cost, $827. He said he called Stu Steinmetz, the general manger of KDRO, on Thursday after a Democrat reporter asked him about the purchase. Mr. Kahrs said he told Mr. Steinmetz that not all of the cost of the armor was repaid. Mr. Steinmetz did not return messages left at the KDRO office Friday.
Mr. Kahrs said the county purchased the armor because the trip “affected citizens of Pettis County, and it affected citizens that have family over there.”
The county also “received vital information I believe was critical to Pettis County.”
He said it would have been difficult for the radio station to purchase the armor as quickly as the county could. “We helped expedite the process,” Mr. Kahrs said.
Mr. Kahrs said before he called Mr. Steinmetz Thursday, the station manager hadn’t realized the cost of the body armor hadn’t been covered.
Mr. Kahrs said he and others called legislators’ offices after Mr. Thomas’s reports about when troops could fire on enemies. Mr. Kahrs said that a rule had been changed since Mr. Thomas’s trip.
“Whatever role that we played in getting that changed was well worth the effort,” Mr. Kahrs said. Jeff Mittelhauser, the county’s prosecuting attorney who advises county officials on legal matters, said the purchase concerned him, because it used county funds for a private individual. He said he wasn’t aware of the specifics of the purchase, and would need to find out more about it before answering more questions.
Mr. Mittelhauser said public funds can be spent for “any legitimate county purpose.”
The Missouri Constitution states that “No county, city or other political corporation or subdivision of the state shall be authorized to lend its credit or grant public money or property to any private individual, association or corporation ...”
The purchase order, which Mr. Kahrs and Western Commissioner Larry Wilson signed on Nov. 22, states that the “goods ... above specified are necessary for the use of the department, are solely for the benefit of the county.”
Mr. Wilson said: “I didn’t have any problem with us being the middleman.”
Eastern Commissioner Rod Lindemann, who didn’t sign the purchase order, said he might have been gone that day.
He said he didn’t object to the purchase because the county was just “an avenue for them to get that through.”
Mr. Thomas said he didn’t know how the County Commission got involved in buying the body armor. He said he gave managers a list of items, including body armor, he needed to be embedded with the Missouri National Guard’s 206th Area Support Medical Company.
He said he returned the armor to the radio station when he came home.
omalley@sedaliademocrat.com
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Ken Dillon
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| Joined: | Thu Feb 15th, 2007 |
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Posted: Tue Apr 17th, 2007 04:56 pm |
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Gee...I feel like I should post SOMETHING, but then again, I don;t know whether to laugh, cry, or cry from laughing!
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DougSki
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Posted: Wed Apr 18th, 2007 01:43 am |
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Here comes the next story about the purchase, again from the Sedalia Democrat.
KDRO has donated to the county body armor used by a radio show host in Iraq.
Stu Steinmetz, general manager of the radio station, said he decided Friday to make the donation.
The county paid $2,872 on Dec. 22, 2006, to Alpine Armoring Inc. for a tactical vest and ballistic helmet and face shield. KDRO paid the county $2,000 for the body armor on Jan. 30.
The radio station paid the balance of $872 on Friday. Mr. Steinmetz, who was not available Friday to answer questions about the transaction, said the station planned to donate the equipment to the county all along, but that he had forgotten about it.
Presiding Commissioner Rusty Kahrs said Monday the county expected to be reimbursed but he never checked to see if it had.
Last week, after a Democrat reporter asked Mr. Kahrs about the purchase and pointed out that the county wasn’t paid back for the full cost, Mr. Kahrs called Mr. Steinmetz.
“(The county) didn’t buy it for us, they just ordered it for us,” Mr. Steinmetz said.
KDRO received $500 donations for the equipment from Starline Inc., Ditzfeld Transfer and W-K Chevrolet, all of Sedalia, and Spectactular Attractions Inc., of Tulsa, Okla.
Barbara Hayden, chief financial officer of Starline, said she asked the other companies to contribute for the body armor. “It was a very worthwhile” trip that Charlie Thomas, the morning show host, made to Iraq, and the businesses wanted to support that, she said.
She said the companies didn’t purchase the body armor because the county, as a government agency, could get it delivered faster.
Mr. Kahrs said the Pettis County Sheriff’s Department would receive the body armor.
Sheriff Kevin Bond said he didn’t know exactly what type of armor it was, but the department would try to put it to good use.
Mr. Kahrs said he expected county Auditor Connie Purchase to tell him that KDRO didn’t cover the cost of the armor.
Ms. Purchase said she notified the commissioners that KDRO didn’t pay all the cost by leaving a note in the commissioners’ mailbox after the county received the $2,000 check.
“And that’s my fault for dropping that ball,” Mr. Kahrs said. “I just assumed that everything was in order.”
omalley@sedaliademocrat.com
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