MCVPAC has uncovered some interesting facts today regarding the appointment, or lack thereof, of agents to Missouri’s License Offices:

· Of the 139 license offices that have been put up for bid since Governor Jay took over, 18 have had a bid process that has been closed for over 110 days.

· Of those 18 that have had a bid process closed for over 110 days, only one has received an appointment to date (St. Charles — The bid process was closed for over four months (128 days!) before an agent was named).

· Twelve of the 17 that are awaiting an appointment are in the Kansas City or St. Louis Metro Areas.  These are some of the most lucrative offices.

· The Liberty office bid process has been closed for 133 days with still no agent named!

If these appointments are based solely on a point system, MCVPAC wonders what the delay in naming these agents could be.  Could the Governor be waiting until the July 4^th weekend to name his cronies to some of these lucrative positions, hoping his loyal media buries the stories in their coverage?

If the ‘new’ license office appointments are based on a ‘point’ system devised by the Missouri Department of Revenue, why did it take 97 days from the closing of bids to name James Montee as the agent for the Lee’s Summit office?  If the appointments are based only on the merits of the Request for Proposal (RFP), then why the delay?  It couldn’t be that our Governor was waiting to name high profile Democrats to these offices when the State Legislature was out of session, could it?

Also, in the ‘Personnel Qualifications’ section of the RFP (see below), the offeror (James Montee in our case) is to list the amount of hours he will be present in the office.  This was added because Jay Nixon wanted to ensure that the agents were running the offices.  MCVPAC is interested to know how many hours James Montee will be in the Lee’s Summit office.  Surely a license office can’t be as lucrative as his multi-million dollar law firm.

PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS

MO House Speaker Ron Richard (R)-Springfield and House Republicans have made good progress in advancing a proposal that would use $1 billion of Missouri’s federal stimulus dollars as a tax cut. As of Monday, April 27th, by a vote of 7-3, the House Tax Refform Committee added the tax cut onto a bill that will provide tax credits to individuals making donations to providers of developmental disability care. All of this was done as Democrats on the Rules Committee made whinning claims of rules violations. After House Rules Chairman Mike Parson (R)-Bolivar ruled agianst their point of order motion, the Democrats tucked their tails and walked out of the hearing before the bill was presented to the committee. We here at MCV PAC believe that Missouri Legislative Democrats are clinging to their ideology of higher taxes and increasing welfare. Prior to their claims of rules violations, Democrats said the proposal was illegal since the $1 billion is not considered general revenue. Well, unfortunatly for Democrats, the money could be considered general revenue as long as exhisting programs aren’t cut. With the Friday Constitutional balanced budget deadline quickly approaching, Democrats are running out of time. Will Governor Wrong Way Jay Nixon try and deny Missourians a tax cut? We will see.

MCVPAC readers will recall our reporting regarding the appointment of Democrat donor and party operative Doug Galaske as Fee Agent for the Moberly License Office.  MCVPAC has gathered the information regarding all of Missouri’s 183 License Offices and will keep a watchful eye on the bid process as it continues to develop.  Since the Department of Revenue has decided to make this information obscure and scattered across its website, and since the media across the state has decided to turn a deaf ear to this process, MCVPAC promises to keep you informed.

Here is the link to information regarding the fee offices. We will keep this information updated regularly.  It can also be accessed on the sidebar of the website.

We will hold Governor Jay Nixon accountable to the promises he has made, even if the traditional media will not.

Patronage Continues Under Governor Jay

MCVPAC doesn’t want to say it, but we told you so in our previous report. Governor Jay Nixon, in referencing Missouri’s license fee offices, announced early in his tenure that, “The era of office patronage ends today.” Maybe it ended that day, but less than 100 days into his reign, it is back.

The Missouri Department of Revenue issued a press release that Doug Galaske has been awarded the contract for Moberly, one of the original six offices put up for bid. A Google search on Mr. Galaske turns up two very interesting facts:

Galaske is listed as the contact for the Randolph County Democrats at the State Party website at http://www.missouridems.org/local.asp?g=RandolphCountyDemocrats

Galaske and his wife Cheri are shown in Missouri Ethics Commission reports to have been longtime substantial donors to Governor Jay and his cohorts:

For Year 2008:

For Year 2007:

For Year 2006:

Who says the dollar isn’t worth anything? For $3349.64 you can buy a Department of Revenue contract in Moberly Missouri.

This should be front page news will all media outlets, but MCVPAC doubts this will barely be a ripple with Nixon’s media allies. Let MCVPAC be the first to say that Governor Nixon blatantly lied to the people of Missouri.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon barely waited for President Barack Obama to sign the $787 billion stimulus package before announcing on February 17th the use of $8.5 billion (nearly a 5th of the $46 billion slated for transportation) for construction of what was believed to be the nation’s first stimulus-fueled project: a crumbling 76-year-old bridge that crosses the Osage River about 30 miles southwest of Jefferson City. The remote bridge project which will benefit only a couple hundred people living in Tuscumbia, the county seat of sparsely populated Miller County is likely to employ 25 to 30 mostly local workers.
MCV-PAC questions the economics and the “stimulus” nature of a project that amounts to spending $28.3 million per job “created or saved”, or at best $4.25 million per resident of Tuscumbia.

On January 14th, Governor Nixon announced the first six license fee offices to be put up for bid.  In his announcement, he stated, “The era of office patronage ends today.”  Since that date, he has announced six new offices up for bid each week without delay.  Like clockwork, the Department of Taxation and Fees Revenue issues a press release every week to announce new offices up for bid.

The bid process is only open for five weeks, thus making the bidding for the first six offices ending on February 18th.  In almost a month since that date, MCV-PAC wonders why we have not heard any announcements on the new agents for these six offices (South Freemont, Columbia, St. Charles, Liberty, Mexico, and Moberly).  Why has a Governor, who promised efficiency and transparency, been so silent on his selected fee agents?

MCV-PAC would like to point out Karen Mitchell, Nixon’s DOR director, stated, “Although the bidding process began Tuesday, future RFPs (Requests for Proposals) could be adjusted to make sure the process produces the best proposals.”  What does this mean?   Was this statement included in order to give Governor Nixon some wiggle room to appoint agents friendly to his regime administration?

It appears to MCV-PAC that the Nixon administration is long on PR, short on results.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gov. Jay Nixon gets off to a rocky start with the media by attempting to collect their cell phones before his first news conference.

Nixon scheduled a news conference on his first full day in office Tuesday to announce several economic development actions. Before allowing the media in, Nixon’s staff said reporters needed to leave their cell phones outside his office.

Nixon spokesman Scott Holste claimed the cell phone ban was for security reasons, although cell phones have been allowed by previous governors.

After the media threatened to boycott Nixon’s news conference, Nixon’s office reversed course and allowed reporters to carry in their phones.

Nixon communications director Jack Cardetti said later that the cell phone ban will stand for other non-media meetings with the governor.