The Harrisonville Democrat-Missourian has an editorial this week that brushes off the nepotism charges levied against Janet Burlingame and Pam Shipley. Mr. Beaudoin, the publisher said, “I get that as auditor, Johnson has a duty to watch and protect the county coffers. But soon, and maybe it’s already happening, people are going to start to suggest he’s taking the fight to a different level, an ugly one that will further divide this courthouse.”
Mr. Beaudoin appears to be ignoring the corrupt practices being followed in the county government. He ignores the Auditor’s report on the pay raises given by Ms. Shipley and says instead, “…seems to have gotten an across-the-board raise just like everyone else in that office when extra duties were divvied out.” The Auditor’s report however, clearly shows the raises were not across-the-board. When the distribution of raises is examined, it’s $3000, $3000, $3000, $4500. Guess who got $4500 when the others only received $3000? Yes, Ms Shipley’s relative.
An editorial by the paper’s publisher has no requirement for being factual nor accurate. It is an editorial, an opinion piece and everyone has their own opinion. I understand that a report on certain county operations from an outside auditor is due soon. Will Mr. Beaudoin’s opinion change or will he continue to be partisan following the oligarchy’s party line?
If County Auditor Ron Johnson can discover evidence of nepotism and mishandling of funds, I would expect the outside auditor will confirm that evidence. Will the county oligarchy of both parties claim the outside auditor is on a “witch-hunt” too?
When corruption is discovered and exposed, watch to see who squeals the loudest. Those are the guilty ones.
UPDATE: I’ve been told some readers are unable to follow the link to Facebook to the Auditor’s Report. As an alternative, I’ve acquired images of the first eight pages of the report. Some of the images are poor quality and may be difficult to read.
UPDATE-2: The link above is to a folder now includes a .PDF of the Cass County Auditor’s report on the Collector’s office.