CLEO chair responds to Springfield, Workforce Development Board tussle

Bob Dixon: CLEO has been concerned about the contentious relationship for years. 

Last edited 1:27 p.m., Feb. 19, 2025 [Editor's note: A comment from the city of Springfield's spokesperson has been added.]

The seven-county Council of Local Elected Officials is paying close attention to the fractious relationship between the city of Springfield and the Ozark Region Workforce Development Board. 

Springfield Business Journal reported Feb. 17 that the city of Springfield, fiscal agent for the seven-county Workforce Development Board, does not plan to pay bills submitted for consultant fees toward a strategic plan for the board, putting the relationship between the two organizations on rocky ground.  

Bob Dixon, chair of CLEO and Greene County commissioner, reached out to SBJ yesterday after publication of that article in response to questions sent to him on Feb. 14. 

“The CLEO has been concerned about the ongoing rocky relationship between the citizen board, comprised of regional business and union leaders, and some city departments for quite some time,” Dixon said via email. 

The CLEO, which is made up of the presiding commissioners of Greene, Christian, Dallas, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster counties, appoints Workforce Development Board members and weighs their recommendations in deciding on workforce issues for the region. Dixon said  strained relationships between the board and city departments dates from before he began in his role in 2019. 

Currently, the CLEO is mulling that relationship, including the question of whether the public is best served by having the city of Springfield administer the Missouri Job Center, according to Dixon.  

“This is ultimately what the WDB and the CLEO is attempting to determine through an open and public process of learning best practices around the state and nation along with recommendations for areas of improvement so that we can serve job seekers and employers at the absolute best of levels,” he said. 

The issue is expected to be addressed in recommendations from a consultant from New Orleans-based Dadco Consulting Services Inc., which is the company the board chose to formulate a strategic plan. The contract with Dadco is for $82,500. 

As reported Monday by SBJ, the city of Springfield Finance Department, fiscal agent for the board, has reviewed a request from the Workforce Development Board to pay a portion of the consultant fees from federal Department of Labor Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funds and does not anticipate paying them. 

The reasons have to do with the board’s failure to follow procurement requirements in line with city, state and federal requirements, according to Jody Vernon, Springfield’s assistant director of finance. 

A Feb. 11 memo from Vernon and Amanda Ohlensehlen, director of Economic Vitality and Workforce Development for the city, spells out problems to members of Springfield City Council while noting the board’s initial intention was to pay for the consultant through private and contributed funds not subject to city policies. 

The board did not require sealed bids, and problems with scoring sheets used in consideration of the bids triggered a review. Specifically, the memo notes that documentation was submitted late in the process and the sheets had nearly identical numerical ratings and phrasings. 

Vernon told SBJ that the city is committed to doing its duty as fiscal agent. 

“On behalf of the board and the workforce programs, we’re protecting the city, we’re protecting the board, we’re protecting the CLEO,” she said. “The city also managed in fiscal year 2024 over $47 million in federal funds, so we know what we’re doing when it comes to handling federal funds, and we will not be pressured into making a payment that we have concerns with until we’ve done our due diligence and made sure that either those concerns are resolved or that we can say definitively that we cannot make this payment with federal moneys. Regardless of what board members may say, the city is committed to doing our duty as a fiscal agent, and that will not change.” 

Asked if the city’s role as fiscal agent is under review, Dixon said in an email that the decision about the fiscal agent will be made by the CLEO with board input. 

“This decision will not be made until we have all had an opportunity to review the report, best practices and recommendations of the professional consultant,” he said. 

There is also a chance that the CLEO will look outside the Springfield government to operate its Missouri Job Center. 

“Certainly, that possibility exists, as does the possibility of repairing the current relationship, if that can be done,” Dixon said. 

Dixon said the board’s action in requesting a payment of $27,900 from WIOA funds was simply to inquire as to whether those funds could be used to pay the consultant. 

“A simple answer to the board of yes or no would have been professional and operationally done in good faith,” he said. “Requests for guidance were made early on, and the board chair had to resort to reading the city’s purchasing manual to get answers.” 

He added that the first attempt to stop the use of WIOA funds was not to communicate with the board but rather to report the matter to the state Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development for review.  

That department responded that the city should make the decision without the state’s intervention, he said, quoting an email from Rebecca Fletcher, assistant director for program performance in that state office. 

Dixon said a Finance Department memo to City Council – information from which was included in this story – was leaked to the press before it was provided to the Workforce Development Board and the CLEO.

After reading Dixon’s remarks in an earlier version of this story, Springfield spokesperson Cora Scott told SBJ this was not the case.

“I wish to correct the record that the city provided the memo in response to reporter inquiries and only after being sent to the CLEO, board and City Council,” she said.

Scott forwarded the memo to SBJ on Feb. 12, following the city’s fulfillment of a Sunshine request for a copy of the Zoom recording of the Feb. 5 meeting of the Workforce Development Board. She said she has emails to prove that she sent it to the CLEO and board first.

Dixon’s email went on to say the city’s actions – disputed by Scott – are "more of the same kind of poor communication and character assassination the regional business and union leaders who make up the citizen board – and who we are all supposed to be serving – have endured for several years and do not deserve in exchange for volunteering their time.”

Added Dixon, “The entire mess seems to stem from a toxic culture of silos, fear and self-preservation, which does not serve the taxpayers, job seekers or employers at the highest and best standard, which we all expect.” 

He added that the matter is unfortunate, but it will be resolved, one way or another. 

“I hope the relationship can be repaired,” he said. “In order for that to occur, we all need to be honest about what is not working well.”