Colbert-Kean, Melodee | Testimony transcript

Transcript of the Testimony of Melodee Colbert-Kean

Date: November 7, 2013Volume: I

Case: In Re: Joplin Critical Investigation

Printed On: November 13, 2013

Holliday Reporting Service, Inc.Phone: 417-358-4078

Fax: 417-451-1114Email:[email protected]

Internet:

Melodee Colbert-Kean In Re: Joplin Critical Investigation

417-358-4078

Holliday Reporting Service, Inc.

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IN RE: JOPLIN CRITICAL INVESTIGATION

SWORN STATEMENT OF

MELODEE COLBERT-KEAN

Taken on Thursday, November 7, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:45

a.m., at the law offices of Juddson H. McPherson, LLC, 626

S. Byers, in the City of Joplin, County of Jasper, State of

Missouri, before

SHARON K. ROGERS, C.C.R.650,

a Certified Court Reporter and a Notary Public within and

for the County of Jasper, and State of Missouri.


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APPEARANCES

MR. THOMAS E. LORAINE

Loraine & Associates, LLC

4075 Osage Beach Pkwy., Suite 300

Osage Beach, MO 65065

[email protected]


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S T I P U L A T I O N

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED that this Sworn Statement may be

taken by steno-mask type recording by SHARON K. ROGERS, a

Certified Court Reporter, and afterwards reduced into

typewriting.

It is further stipulated that the signature of the

witness is hereby waived, and that said Sworn Statement of

said witness shall be of the same force and effect as

though said witness had read and signed Sworn Statement.

.


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I N D E X

Page/Line

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LORAINE . . . 5-4

E X H I B I T S

Exhibit #A. . . . . . . . 6-22

Advice of Rights

Note: Exhibits in separate binder

(sic) - typed as spoken

(ph.) - phonetic


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1 MELODEE COLBERT-KEAN

2 Having been first duly sworn and examined,

3 testified as follows:

4 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LORAINE:

5 Q. Mayor, my name is Tom Loraine and as you know

6 we chatted just a little bit in the hall

7 here. I'm here at your and other members of

8 the Council's request to try to solve three

9 primary problems, that was what my contract

10 called for, and any collateral issues that

11 arise out of that. As we have been

12 conducting these interviews with Advice of

13 Rights, basically you've read this document

14 and I'm going to read it again because I said

15 I will do that. It says, "I wish to advise

16 you that you are being questioned as part of

17 an official investigation by the City of

18 Joplin. You will be asked questions related

19 and specifically directed to the performance

20 of your official duties of fitness for

21 office. You are entitled to all the rights

22 and privileges guarantee by the laws of the

23 Constitution of the State and the

24 Constitution of the United States, including

25 the right not to be compelled to incriminate


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1 yourself. I further wish to advise you that

2 if you refuse to testify or to answer

3 questions relating to the performance of your

4 official duties, you will be subject to

5 departmental charges," in this case it would

6 probably be Council members, "which could

7 result in your dismissal from your official

8 duties. If you do answer these statements

9 may be used against you in relation to

10 subsequent department charges, but not in any

11 subsequent criminal proceedings." In other

12 words we can't make you talk and incriminate

13 yourself so you need guaranteed immunity from

14 that. But the only way a city can know what

15 a city knows is talk to its employees.

16 A. Correct.

17 Q. And here we are.

18 A. Okay.

19 Q. With that have you executed your signature on

20 this document?

21 A. Yes.

22 Q. And it's called Exhibit #A?

23 A. Yes.

24 Q. All right. I'll witness that and we'll date

25 it today's date and we'll proceed, and thank


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1 you, Mayor, for your cooperation.

2 A. Thank you.

3 Q. I'm going to show you, and you know why I'm

4 here, you know what my contract reads, I'm

5 sure you've read that. Do you want me to read

6 the three primary areas to refresh your

7 recollection?

8 A. Please.

9 Q. Number one, the conduct of Mayor Pro Tem

10 Scearce involving leasing of a building to an

11 individual later convicted of bookmaking.

12 Specifically it is the desire of the City

13 that Loraine request the file held by Federal

14 Bureau of Investigation regarding Mr.

15 Scearce's conduct and provide a report of the

16 same to the Council. Number 2, the facts and

17 circumstances surrounding release of

18 information related to Mr. Scearce's conduct

19 including but not limited to the handwritten

20 note referenced by Mr. Scearce in City

21 Manager Rohr's handwriting. Number 3, the

22 fact and circumstances and ethical

23 considerations surrounding the involvement of

24 Council member Woolston with Charles Kuehn,

25 Four State Homes, its subsidiaries, related


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1 entities, and the City's master developer

2 Wallace-Bajjali with respect to the purchase,

3 sale, or leasing of real estate for the

4 current or future development. Those are the

5 tasks that I'm specifically directed to, and

6 more specifically anything that comes out of

7 that that is unusual in regards to

8 performances, officials of the City to

9 perform or failure to perform their duties.

10 In that respect, Mayor, I would like to show

11 you the famous note, it's marked as Exhibit

12 #1, and I can tell you that Attorney Head

13 identified this as the handwriting of City

14 Manager Rohr. Mr. Rohr identified it as his

15 handwriting and an enlargement of the note

16 that he said was stolen from his desk, and

17 I've had it identified by Mr. Scearce as an

18 enlargement of the note that he received. To

19 that extent I can make those representations

20 to you. Here it is and it's marked Exhibit

21 #1. For your information part of the record

22 will be the translation of this. Mr. Rohr

23 has given it to me line by line.

24 A. I don't know what that is.

25 Q. Yeah, I forget what he said. It was an


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1 adjective, but in any case I've got the

2 details.

3 A. I see Carol Stark.

4 Q. Yes, Carol Stark. 8/12 is significant

5 because it's a date of a helpful and

6 contributing to a continuing criminal matter

7 and that's this Lovett, and of course we've

8 got Carol Stark's name and we've got --

9 A. Does that say limit like Facebook requests?

10 Q. You know, I don't know what it says. But I

11 do know what it says when I go back and read

12 Rohr's transcript, which we don't have yet.

13 A. All right.

14 Q. As you can see there's limited information

15 that Mr. Scearce was given and limited

16 information that Mr. Rohr, in fact, wrote.

17 A. Yes.

18 Q. I don't think you've seen this before you

19 came in today, did you?

20 A. This is my very first time seeing this.

21 Q. This is as you know the basis for the big

22 mystery and I assume you do not know how Mr.

23 Scearce got it. Is that true?

24 A. I don't know from him telling me. I do not

25 know. I know what Becky Brill told me and


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1 that's how I know.

2 Q. What did Becky tell you?

3 A. On the day that they had her reception for

4 leaving, her last day there, I was pulling

5 her aside and thanking her and telling her

6 how good of a job she'd done, and then she

7 said, I know we've got so much going on, and

8 she said I was the one, how she said it was,

9 found the note, and I believe to my

10 recollection she said she picked it up off

11 the floor. It was going in the trash.

12 Q. It was right in front of the johns?

13 A. Correct. And that she took it and I guess

14 gave it to Bill from there. And I didn't

15 really follow-up, I just said I'm glad you

16 did.

17 Q. And what she did the record will reflect that

18 she gave it to Attorney Head.

19 A. Head, yes.

20 Q. And Attorney Head looked at it, made a

21 decision that he considered it was Rohr's

22 testimony, according to Rohr's handwriting,

23 and it involved Bill Scearce so he had

24 knowledge about that so he gave Mr. Scearce,

25 questioned him briefly about it. There is no


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1 mystery obviously as to how it was stolen so

2 part of my job is over. There's no big

3 mystery there. Now there has been some

4 discussion from Mr. Head that Brill wanted to

5 remain anonymous. Is that your knowledge,

6 also?

7 A. Yes.

8 Q. And why is that?

9 A. There's a, whether it's perceived or not, an

10 intimidation factor at City Hall with the

11 City Manager and it kind of goes with you do

12 what I want you to do. And I'm not saying

13 face consequences, but it's implied.

14 Q. Have you felt that pressure yourself?

15 A. Not as much because we are his boss, so to

16 speak. He has nine bosses. But I have

17 heard, not heard, it's been brought to me

18 directly with conversation, however I didn't

19 feel that I could address that without having

20 someone stand up and say, yes, that's what's

21 happening. And without that I didn't - you

22 know, maybe that's my bad, but I didn't feel

23 that I could bring that and say, okay, are

24 you going to back this up, and so I have no

25 doubt that it is happening and it has


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1 happened because it's been told to me.

2 Q. And this is employees of the City?

3 A. This is employees of the City.

4 Q. Mayor, this investigation is under oath and

5 the investigation is important for your City,

6 as you know, and I want to stick with that

7 topic a little bit because that topic has

8 come up in my work and as you know I came

9 here knowing nothing.

10 A. Correct.

11 Q. So I would ask you if you can, if you feel

12 comfortable at this point, knowing that

13 there's going to be consequences for this

14 reaction, but can you give me any of the

15 specific names or events that this kind of

16 discussions have been revealed to you?

17 A. I can. I know one for sure because he's one

18 of our employees, also, and that's the City

19 Attorney. He's been, I won't know the word

20 --

21 Q. I think the word is threatened.

22 A. Okay, I do know the word. Yes, yes. And

23 he's been threatened not so much as his job

24 because we are over him, also, we have four

25 employees and he's one of those that the


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1 Council is over, but he's been threatened

2 with things personal that Brian wouldn't want

3 out, just to be thrown out there.

4 Q. Certainly an intimidation issue.

5 A. It has been. It has been.

6 Q. Have you heard anyone else actually talk with

7 you specifically of more underlings of Mark

8 Rohr?

9 A. Lynn Onstott has said --

10 Q. Who is that?

11 A. Lynn Onstott, the PIO officer, she's on the

12 second floor, also.

13 Q. How do you spell that last name?

14 A. O-N-S-T-O-T-T, Onstott.

15 Q. Mayor, would she relate that information to

16 me, do you think?

17 A. She wouldn't want to. I guess if you swear

18 her in. She's very truthful.

19 Q. Onstott. O-N --

20 A. -- S-T-O-T-T.

21 Q. It's become enough of an issue in my previous

22 discussions that I really think that we

23 probably should do that, and I certainly, you

24 know, I think that this person needs to be

25 protected to some extent.


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1 A. Yes.

2 Q. Anyone else?

3 A. There's been some of his department heads. I

4 hesitate, and I'm not going to tell you that

5 I don't want to, I'm going to tell the truth

6 regardless, but putting their names out

7 there.

8 Q. Well, yeah, I understand. But I tell you --

9 A. Chris Cotten, Leslie Jones, well, Leslie

10 Haase now.

11 Q. All right.

12 A. I know those are the main ones that --

13 Q. Chris Cotten is the Parks Director?

14 A. Correct.

15 Q. Are you aware, Mayor, that Chris Cotten

16 received a criticism from Mr. Rohr on his

17 record for, if you will, thinking out of the

18 box and making contact with a ball club to

19 come to the City?

20 A. I was not aware of that. I know he has

21 mentioned to me about talking to a ball club,

22 and actually we're having a meeting next

23 Monday.

24 Q. Yes, we are.

25 A. Yes, so I don't know why he would have been


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1 criticized for that. That's his job.

2 Q. That is his job. That is why he was hired.

3 That's what he told me.

4 A. Correct.

5 Q. However, when he first did it he was told

6 that Bajjali, all matters should go through

7 Bajjali. Did you know that?

8 A. That's another issue there that we are - just

9 recently, just recently I was even notified

10 on the Wallace-Bajjali group giving him a

11 Cease and Desist Order that has nothing to do

12 with what their project or plans was, but I

13 did not know that it was put on his record or

14 anything like that.

15 Q. Well, he was criticized, according to him.

16 And I'm going to ask to see that record.

17 A. Good.

18 Q. I hope that it is not destroyed in any way,

19 but he had to sign one of those criticisms

20 and was put it in his record for going

21 outside the box and making this contact

22 without going through Bajjali. Now that's

23 his statement.

24 A. I believe it. I believe it.

25 Q. Do you see how this is developing?


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1 A. Yes, I do. And I'm appreciative of the steps

2 you've taken even though it's came about from

3 a different manner of you being here because

4 these are things we can't get backed up with,

5 we can't get the proofs, if you will. Now we

6 can.

7 Q. Right. I wanted to alert you of that because

8 in the words of Mr. Cotten the difference is

9 it's going to cost the City about 5 million

10 dollars to get this ball club, this

11 independent league ball club here. If it

12 goes through Wallace-Bajjali it's going to

13 cost the City about 30 million dollars. So,

14 you see, there seems to be by him getting

15 criticized for saving the City money I think

16 there is an issue that you as a Mayor should

17 be aware of. Now I didn't know if you were

18 aware and I'm bringing this to your

19 attention.

20 A. I was not aware he had anything in his file

21 related to his performance at all because he

22 has done such a great job since he's been

23 here.

24 Q. And we'll see if I can find that document,

25 but I don't believe - Mr. Cotten was sworn


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1 in. I don't believe he would lie.

2 A. Oh, no, I would very much say, yes, bring him

3 in. He will tell you the truth.

4 Q. I've already talked with him, but I think I

5 want to see if I can get ahold of that record

6 and see if it still exists because he had to

7 sign the criticism.

8 A. And it should. If he had to sign anything it

9 should be a part of his file.

10 Q. I would think so. So in any case I --

11 A. I've had numerous conversations with him

12 about intimidation, threatening of a job,

13 yeah.

14 Q. And these folks are going to be a little

15 scared to talk to me about this.

16 A. Yes, yes, as they have been even with myself

17 because they're like I don't want to lose my

18 job.

19 Q. Yes. And I'm just asking to know what you

20 did now.

21 A. Right.

22 Q. So it may well be that we should talk to Lynn

23 Onstott. Are you aware of any other people

24 along those lines that I should talk with?

25 A. Not directly, just from hearsay.


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1 Q. And that's okay if I can get the names.

2 A. Jack Schaller, which was a former assistant

3 engineer. He's not with the City anymore

4 just since this last month or two. It was

5 part of one of the big shake-outs.

6 Q. Is he a City engineer? Was he an engineer?

7 A. He was the assistant City engineer. He was

8 right under David Hertzberg.

9 Q. Hertzberg is also gone?

10 A. Well, he got demoted. You need to talk to

11 him, too. He's a gentle person.

12 Q. And he's an actual engineer?

13 A. Yes, yes.

14 Q. Do you think Schaller, is he still available?

15 A. Oh, yes.

16 Q. Do you have a number, a phone number or

17 anything for him? How would I get that?

18 A. He's with - I can get it for you.

19 Q. Would you provide that?

20 A. Yes, I sure will. Yes, I sure will.

21 Q. So you would recommend that I also talk with

22 Hertzberg?

23 A. Correct. I would actually recommend you talk

24 with Barbara Hogelin, too. She's my City

25 Clerk, well, she's the whole Council's City


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1 Clerk, but she gets - yeah, yeah, talk with

2 her.

3 Q. All right. Anyone else that you can think

4 of?

5 A. That would be all that comes to mind.

6 Q. Normally I ask questions and don't answer at

7 these things, but I think it's important, I

8 don't want you surprised by anything later, I

9 think it's your job to be on top of

10 everything so that's a tough job.

11 A. Yeah, I know the least.

12 Q. Now is there anything in the nature, and this

13 is a tough question for me to ask one of my

14 bosses, is there anything in the nature of

15 your business loan that can be controlled by

16 Mr. Rohr?

17 A. No, my business loan went through the

18 Chamber. The loan I received was the Henry

19 Burnett Scholarship Grant and that has

20 nothing to do with City tied money at all.

21 That's a privately funded organization that

22 goes through Chamber. And the other one was

23 the Joplin Tomorrow Fund, and that is

24 personal. It's a private funding. It has no

25 City money whatsoever. And I made sure of


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1 that. And I have texts --

2 Q. I absolutely knew you were telling me that,

3 but I also knew that had to come up, and I

4 want to clear all the air when I'm clearing

5 it.

6 A. I thank you.

7 Q. And Mr. Rohr would have no control over that

8 in any way, shape, or form?

9 A. No, he's not over - that I know of - unless

10 him and Rob have - which I don't - but I have

11 texts to where I specifically asked board

12 members and Rob, which is the Chamber

13 President, this cannot be any part of City

14 money that comes through that we fund.

15 Q. And you have proof of that?

16 A. And I have that, yes. Yes.

17 Q. Thank you, Mayor. You made my life a lot

18 easier.

19 A. I know how some people work so I try to --

20 Q. Thank you very much.

21 A. Yes, sir.

22 Q. Do you know, and I want to know, I've been

23 told that Lane Roberts briefed you on Mr.

24 Scearce. Can you tell me what Lane Roberts

25 actually told you?


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1 A. That was a year and a half ago.

2 Q. Yeah.

3 A. Not long after I became Mayor I was called

4 into a meeting with him and Mark and it was

5 to tell me about this investigation on Mr.

6 Scearce. I can't remember if they said it

7 was ongoing or if they said it was done, I

8 don't remember that, but they told me about

9 gambling implications and I think that was -

10 I know that was gist, you know. And they

11 informed me that they had this meeting with

12 the former Mayor Woolston and former Mayor

13 Shaw, I guess Shaw first and then in that

14 order, and I was like, well, is there

15 anything that we need to be aware of, is

16 there anything we need to put out there? No,

17 at this time we're just giving you that

18 information so you're aware, and that's what

19 I was told.

20 Q. So that's not much information.

21 A. I was told there was an FBI investigation.

22 Q. That's the same thing that's on that note.

23 And let me say to you as Mayor that I have

24 asked Lane Roberts and he has refused to

25 detail anything more than that. Now he has


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1 great credibility as a police officer,

2 however I think he probably historically has

3 been a good police officer, I mean he has

4 established that kind of credibility with me,

5 but that can be, that alone tells me nothing.

6 I mean the man is not indicted, he's not

7 been indicted, and he's not going to be

8 indicted.

9 A. And I even asked about indicted. I said is

10 he in trouble, are they going to take him

11 away, and they say no.

12 Q. So, I mean, what value - I mean we have had

13 this discussion in the newspaper at nauseum

14 and on the air.

15 A. Yes.

16 Q. So my question remains under the Garrity I

17 could take additional action against the

18 Police Chief for failing to disclose and have

19 told him those things, however I honor the

20 fact that there's some kind of continuing

21 investigation, it has nothing to do with

22 Scearce.

23 A. But I - I'm sorry.

24 Q. Go ahead, ma'am.

25 A. I asked. I said so did the FBI, is it


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1 guilty? No, no, we just want you to be

2 aware.

3 Q. So what was the purpose of that?

4 A. I just listened and then when I was done I

5 left.

6 Q. Well, one of the things I'm charged with is

7 that very issue, and I wouldn't tell this to

8 anybody else, but you're my Mayor. And I've

9 talked with a former FBI task force who

10 worked for the City and he won't talk to me.

11 He says there's nothing to say about that.

12 I've talked with Lane Roberts and he won't

13 tell me anything. I tried to talk with Carol

14 Stark and she won't even meet with me. So my

15 conclusion on that is not much, you know.

16 A. And all this probably wouldn't have even

17 gotten out had I not relayed that meeting

18 back to Mr. Scearce, but I felt like I should

19 have.

20 Q. I would, too.

21 A. I was like do you know, and he said what, â€9̃3

22 and I wasn't there, I was cleared of it, and

23 I was like, okay, I'm just letting you know.

24 Then he set up a meeting and he said, hey, I

25 want to talk to you with Mark and Elaine,


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1 which he should have.

2 Q. Absolutely. And they didn't tell him anymore

3 than they've told us. So my point I guess

4 I'm telling you is I've dug into that and

5 there is nothing there that I can get. Now

6 as far as the FBI report, I would guess that

7 that report will never come because it has

8 nothing to do with what we want.

9 A. Correct. I believe that, also.

10 Q. I just wanted to let you know where I'm

11 headed.

12 A. Okay. Should I mentioned I received a call

13 from Carol Stark on, let me find the date for

14 you, but it was the day I went to Branson for

15 an In-The-Mail conference. She called me

16 while I was there and she said they were

17 going to be doing a story related to Bill and

18 this investigation and she asked me - and I

19 told Bill, also. I called him because I said

20 is there any reason why Carol Stark is

21 calling me, you know, and I even called my

22 City Clerk. I tried to get it so they don't

23 ambush me. And he said it's probably just

24 this story, you know, and I said okay. So I

25 called her back, I talked to her, and she


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1 asked me, let me make sure I get it right,

2 she said do you believe - let me recall, I'm

3 sorry. I want to be sure I get it right. Do

4 you believe that Mr. Scearce's actions when

5 we botched, is a good word, the attempting

6 resignation for Mr. Rohr, she said do you

7 believe that this when Bill came up is a

8 retaliation. She asked me that, do you think

9 that he is trying to get back at Mr. Rohr,

10 and I was like, I said no. I said, no, you'd

11 have to ask Bill that, you know. And I said

12 no so she knew that, but yes, she called me

13 and asked me.

14 Q. Well, she won't talk to me so I'm going to

15 discount her for awhile. Now let me ask you

16 this question. During the attempt at firing

17 this gentleman, Mr. Rohr, I'm told that you

18 changed your opinion several times back and

19 forth, back and forth?

20 A. I changed it one time, yes.

21 Q. And you went from wanting to fire him to not

22 firing him?

23 A. Correct.

24 Q. Can you give me the reason, what it would

25 have been, knowing some of the things that we


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1 do know? I don't think you knew what I know

2 now, but --

3 A. We had a closed session and that was all made

4 public after because there was a vote taken,

5 an informal vote but it was a vote so I

6 turned it in to the City Attorney. And at

7 that time it was to ascensions, myself and

8 Mr. Glaze, and four for firing and three

9 against the firing. That's nine, I think.

10 And that's how it ended that night. During

11 the course of that night and the next day I

12 don't know what - there was more information

13 given to me, there was more back-up, if you

14 will, that was presented to me, and that's

15 when I changed my mind and that's when I

16 said, oh, my gosh, okay, he needs to be

17 fired. Called him into a meeting, myself and

18 Mr. Scearce, asked for his resignation, and

19 of course he denied it. Fully expected that.

20 And we had conversation, extensive

21 conversation of just different aspects and

22 things of his performance and his behavior.

23 And he says, well, I've never even been given

24 direction of what to do. At the time while I

25 was sitting there I'm like, well, okay, we


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1 need to be fair and have this stuff written

2 out and so I said, okay, we'll rescind that

3 resignation, and that was the extent of my -

4 which just like I said of the debacle and now

5 where we are now and I fully accepted that.

6 I fully accepted that. Yeah, because if

7 you've been in this business for over thirty

8 years you pretty much know what you're

9 supposed to do. Master manipulator.

10 Q. That is a good word. That's a good word.

11 A. Yeah.

12 Q. Well, I wanted to just make sure that I could

13 get to the bottom of everything I'm charged

14 to do. Charles Kuehn is supposed to be Mr.

15 Woolston's business partner and of course

16 associated with him in some endeavors?

17 A. I don't know that officially, but that's what

18 I've heard, yes.

19 Q. I asked him to come and testify and he

20 refused. I don't have any jurisdiction over

21 him. He's not a City employee.

22 A. Okay. Hum.

23 Q. He said specifically do you want and I read

24 him Number 3, the facts and circumstances at

25 the consideration surrounding the involvement


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1 of Council member Woolston with Charles

2 Kuehn/Four State Homes, its subsidiaries and

3 related entities and the City's master

4 developer, Wallace-Bajjali with respect to

5 the purchase, sale or leasing of real estate

6 of current or future development.

7 A. And he refused?

8 Q. For your information.

9 A. Hum. One more.

10 Q. Yes, ma'am.

11 A. And it was back with Mr. Rohr. I was told, I

12 don't know - I was told that they would be

13 happy to tell the circumstances what

14 happened, but I was told that Mr. Rohr

15 snatched an account away from a business here

16 that refused to grant him preference, I

17 guess, in getting his tires changed, and that

18 the next day that account was handed over to

19 someone else.

20 Q. Do you know that for a fact?

21 A. I was told that. And I was told that this

22 person, which I'm not sure of their name,

23 would testify to that. I don't know, I just

24 --

25 Q. Is that a Goodyear dealer?


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1 A. Yes.

2 Q. I am looking for his name, also.

3 A. Okay. Jack Golden might have it.

4 Q. I will be talking to him. Anything else,

5 Mayor, that we should chat about in this

6 regard or in regard to any of the issues that

7 we talked about?

8 A. It was brought to a meeting by Mr. - he's not

9 a resident of Joplin - Clifford Warert and

10 Jarrod Hogan the other day, not even maybe a

11 week ago, they wanted a meeting with me. At

12 first all I knew it was Jarrod Hogan. I

13 didn't know it would be Clifford, also, until

14 he got there. And they asked me on what I

15 should be as Mayor and leader, everybody

16 throws that one out, --

17 Q. Yeah, when they want to.

18 A. -- on Mr. Scearce, what the issue is and why

19 are we wasting the City's money with this

20 investigation when Mr. Scearce should just do

21 the right thing. And I was like what are you

22 talking about? What's your think of the

23 right thing, you know.

24 Q. Who is Jarrod Hogan?

25 A. He's the director of Rebuild Joplin.


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1 Q. Is that a City employee?

2 A. He's not a City employee. And Clifford

3 Warert, he lives in Carl Junction, but he

4 just retired from U.S. Bank. He was the U.S.

5 Bank President.

6 Q. Ooh.

7 A. Yeah, came to me, and I want to be able to

8 trust my City, how do you say it, my City

9 leaders. He doesn't even live in Joplin, he

10 lives in Carl Junction. Which I didn't know

11 at the time when I talked to him, but I

12 called Mr. Scearce and I said I just had a

13 meeting and this is, you know, what was said

14 in it, and he was like are you serious? He

15 said he doesn't even live in Joplin, you

16 know. But it just goes to show you the

17 depths that are being taken to try and

18 discredit him. Mr. Scearce has never been

19 anything but up front with me, whether good

20 or bad, whether I like it or not he's told me

21 things I needed to hear and probably some I

22 didn't, but in my opinion, just a humble

23 everyday laborer's opinion, the FBI did their

24 investigation, they didn't come up with

25 anything. I assume the FBI is still


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1 confident and knows what they're doing, I

2 assume, and knows what they're doing and so,

3 yeah, I can't --

4 Q. I think he was called because he was the

5 landlord and I think that they wanted to know

6 what he knew about it and I think it was

7 informational only. I mean that's my take on

8 it. And to be honest with you I can't get

9 anybody to say anything to the contrary.

10 A. Yeah, I agree.

11 Q. I suppose Lane Roberts, you know, it seems to

12 be out of character, but I suppose he's just

13 looking forward to retirement?

14 A. Yes, he is.

15 Q. And he's presently got a boss that's over

16 him?

17 A. Correct. That would sum it up very well.

18 Q. And so I wonder if the Police Department

19 somehow can be out from under the City

20 Manager's position in this?

21 A. That's actually something that's coming up on

22 our charter review committee, is bringing him

23 out from under.

24 Q. Well, Mayor, they get all confused about

25 what's legal and what isn't. A simple way to


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1 handle that from a lawyer's standpoint is

2 just give them a contract. What could be

3 wrong with that for cause only and if he

4 can't prove cause give him a severance pay

5 package of six months and be done with it.

6 It's the cost of doing business.

7 A. That's very smart. Because when we had --

8 Q. Fire Chiefs do that, not with cities, but

9 with fire districts. They give them, here's

10 your contract, here's how we want it, and if

11 we fire you for cause you don't get anything,

12 and if we don't fire you for cause, we just

13 fire you, we give you six months severance.

14 A. Which is what we have on the City Manager and

15 out employees, yeah, we have tools in place.

16 Q. So anyway you talked to your City Attorney

17 about that on a going forward basis and it

18 might be a solution.

19 A. Well, and there was also because that brings

20 in when the police were called to the

21 manager's - and that --

22 Q. That was the home call?

23 A. Yes, of a domestic disturbance.

24 Q. Have you heard the 911 on that?

25 A. Yes, and she clearly said, she clearly said


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1 and then she clearly took it back.

2 Q. She said what for the record?

3 A. She said he hit my mom, yeah.

4 Q. So now let me ask you this question. Has the

5 rest of the City Council heard that 911?

6 A. No.

7 Q. I think they should.

8 A. We had a closed session. We brought in,

9 which right or wrong we brought in Chief

10 Roberts, and he relayed not the contents of

11 the call, but he relayed the officers'

12 reaction and what they did. Everybody, the

13 sum of everybody was okay with that and then

14 that basically was the end of it. The call

15 never got - and then Mark was in there, also,

16 and he said this is what happened.

17 Q. Mark told me under oath that it was him and

18 his daughter issue. That's not what the tape

19 said.

20 A. That's not at all what that tape says.

21 That's what he told us, too. He said that,

22 you know, they had been butting heads and

23 she's a teenager.

24 Q. And she's a stepdaughter?

25 A. Yes, she's a stepdaughter, but yeah, that's


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1 --

2 Q. That's not what that tape says?

3 A. No, it's not. Not at all.

4 Q. I would suppose that part of this - I would

5 propose to play that tape. And I understand

6 that the officers concluded, you know, no

7 arrests were made and I understand what the

8 reports say and I'll introduce the reports,

9 but I think the tape needs to be played.

10 It's a matter of credibility.

11 A. And it's their boss. What are they going to

12 say? And from my understanding it's like --

13 Q. A reason to have the Police Chief out from

14 under.

15 A. I agree with that.

16 Q. So think about a contract, Mayor.

17 A. Okay. Not a problem.

18 Q. Just a simple contract just like a City

19 Manager. All right, is there anything else,

20 Mayor, that we should chat about in your

21 opinion, you know, what I'm expected to do?

22 A. Yeah, right.

23 Q. I appreciate this Clifford Warert and Hogan

24 issues.

25 A. Yeah, you probably won't get much, but it was


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1 --

2 Q. Well, more intimidation to you is what it is.

3 A. I was just like, yeah.

4 Q. Let me say something to you, Mayor. There's

5 80 million dollars that potentially can be

6 made by this Wallace-Bajjali firm. That is a

7 lot of money.

8 A. Correct. You are absolutely correct. We

9 right now are in a predicament, that's a good

10 word. Brian has other words for it. Because

11 a lot of what has been promised and what has

12 been planned and written out and presented

13 has not come to pass, is not going to come to

14 pass, and has alternate themes that keep

15 popping up.

16 Q. Are you aware how much you've paid them in

17 the last year?

18 A. I am not aware. I would probably shudder at

19 the amount.

20 Q. I think you'd be amazed. I've already heard

21 numbers. I'll report that.

22 A. He made a lot of money and we haven't seen a

23 lot of progress whatsoever. But he's a

24 broker. That's what brokers do.

25 Q. Cost of business sometimes going forward is


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1 paying the costs.

2 A. I mentioned that to Brian. I said how much

3 come January to send him back to Dallas, and

4 we had it scaled down, started at 5, then it

5 got to 1 million so we'd be looking at a 3

6 million payoff basically. I said enough.

7 Sometimes you just --

8 Q. Yeah, a bad decision. How did you get there?

9 A. Yeah.

10 Q. How did you get Bajjali? How did you get the

11 Bajjali firm?

12 A. We did a - Mark did a send in your whatever

13 those --

14 Q. Mark did it. Now I'm told, Mayor, do you

15 know who did the due diligence on the firm?

16 A. I don't know.

17 Q. I was told, and I don't know this fully yet,

18 but I was told the due diligence was done by

19 Woolston.

20 A. Okay, I don't know that, but if that is the

21 case --

22 Q. I'll work towards finding that out.

23 A. That would be interesting.

24 Q. I thank you for your time, Mayor.

25 A. Thank you.


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1 Q. And hopefully some of these issues will start

2 clarifying.

3 A. Thank you. I have every confidence.

4 Q. Thank you for coming in to see me.

5

6 (SWORN STATEMENT CONCLUDED)

7

8

9


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REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE

STATE OF MISSOURI

ss.

COUNTY OF JASPER

I, SHARON K. ROGERS, Certified Court Reporter in the

State of Missouri, do certify that pursuant to the

foregoing Stipulation the witness came before me on the 7th

day of November, 2013, was duly sworn by me, and was

examined. That examination was then taken by me by

steno-mask recording and afterwards transcribed; said Sworn

Statement is subscribed by the witness as hereinbefore set

out on the day in that behalf aforesaid and is herewith

returned.

I further certify that I am not counsel, attorney, or

relative of either party, or clerk, or stenographer of

either party or of the attorney of either party, or

otherwise interested in the event of this suit.

_________________________

SHARON K. ROGERS, CCR-650

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Colbert-Kean, Melodee | Testimony transcript

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