Blunt scandal: Fee office operator speaks

Derrick Good said a former Republican state representative and current Jefferson City lobbyist with reported connections to Blunt contacted him shortly after he was awarded a state license office. The caller, Jewell Patek, was seeking a business relationship, Good said.

“I didn’t know who was behind it,” said Good, who declined the third-party contract offer.

According to Kansas City Star reports, Patek has “close ties” to the Blunt administration.

That solicitation is at the heart of a quiet FBI investigation. It’s unknown how many of the state’s 183 license offices received similar phone calls, but federal agents are reportedly investigating possible illegal actions and examining Blunt’s possible role in them.

Blunt, like his predecessors, awarded control of the state’s license offices to political supporters upon taking office in 2005. Blunt didn’t break the law by simply awarding the license offices to private businesspeople through a no-bid system. Missouri governors have passed out those political plums for more than 50 years.

The license offices, where people obtain driver’s licenses and car tags, are powerful thank-you gifts that can generate nearly $1 million in transaction fees each year. For example, the downtown Springfield office operated by Leslie Carter recorded a state-high $980,638 in transaction fees during fiscal-year 2005, which ended June 30. Contract agents, who cover their own operating expenses, receive $2.50 to $10 per transaction through a state contract with the Department of Revenue.

License offices typically change hands every time the governor’s office changes hands.

However, it appears that at least one third-party management firm was established prior to awarding some of the license offices ¬– the one Patek was representing when he contacted Good. Detractors of the Republican governor, such as Missouri Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti, say Blunt played a role in the establishment of that management company through attorney Jamison Shipman of Kansas City law firm Lathrop & Gage LC. The goal, speculators say, was to covertly funnel money back to Blunt.

Fee office solicitation

Springfield license office operators Leslie Carter and Ben Newhouse – along with operators in Branson, Ozark, Republic and Nixa – say they were never solicited by a third-party manager. They each said that they personally registered their license office with the state and operate them independently. Carter operates under LTC LLC and PGF LLC, and Newhouse operates under Springfield Collection Agency LLC. Both Carter and Newhouse have ties to Blunt’s political campaigns.

Fee agent Good, who also is president of the Jefferson County Republicans political club, said Patek offered him the use of a limited liability company named Highridge Services, which Missouri secretary of state records show Lathrop & Gage’s Shipman organized Jan. 26, 2005.

“Jewell (Patek) contacted me as the attorney for a management company that was willing to operate the (state’s) offices to relieve that stress and pressure from the incoming fee agents,” Good said.

Good, who operates the office at 1684 Gravois Road in High Ridge, called the governor’s director of boards and appointments, James Harris, to see if Patek’s actions were sanctioned by Blunt. Harris told Good they weren’t, and Good decided to decline Patek’s offer. Good later bought the rights to Highridge Services LLC.

Spence Jackson, spokesman for the governor, didn’t return phone calls asking about Blunt’s relationship with Patek and Shipman. Patek could not be reached, and Shipman didn’t reply to phone messages.

Good said no FBI agents have contacted him. Ten southwest Missouri license office operators contacted for this story also said they hadn’t been contacted by the FBI.

Darrell Preston, Greenfield license office operator in Dade County, said he might not have been solicited by a third-party management firm because his office is small.

“They probably wanted the bigger ones that had all the money,” he said. “This is just a little old small business here. We barely eke out a living.”

By that logic, though, Carter’s downtown Springfield office should have been the first one called. Her 149 Park Central Square office is the most lucrative in the state, pulling in $21.59 million in revenues during fiscal year 2005.

That office was state-run until June. It generated $19.8 million of its revenues while still under state control.

“Nobody ever approached me about running the offices for me,” Carter said. “It’s something I wouldn’t have ever considered.”

Carter also operates license offices at 3061 S. Fremont Ave. and 103 E. Church St. in Ozark.

Newhouse operates the office at 1534 S. Glenstone Ave., Ron Mark operates the office at 243 U.S. Highway 60 West in Republic, Mendie Schoeller operates the office at 214 Village Center Road in Nixa and the Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce operates the office at 1447 State Highway 248 in Branson. The Branson chamber has operated its license office since the 1970s.

Local License Office Revenues

Listed by location and operator; total revenue; transaction fees

Springfield (Park Central Square), Leslie Carter; $21,594,019; $980,638.

Republic, Ron Mark; $8,975,180; $380,239.

Nixa, Mendie Schoeller; $7,967,904; $300,495.

Ozark, Leslie Carter; $6,284,942; $296,420.

Springfield (Glenstone), Ben Newhouse; $1,634,410; $34,028.

Springfield (Fremont), Leslie Carter; N/A; N/A (established Sept. 12).

Source: Missouri Department of Revenue[[In-content Ad]]