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Katy Citizen Watchdog$ |
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We’re Taxpayers. It’s Our Money. |
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Merrell’s Tractor |
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The other day I was visiting with a friend and the subject of Merrell’s tractor came up. Just when I was trying to put the whole ugly past of Merrell’s reign behind me, my friend’s question began to bring back all the bad memories.
So in order to exorcise some old “demons”, so to speak, I decided to follow up that conversation in commentary form and offer my final thoughts on the whole “retirement gift” matter. So let’s begin:
When the Watchdog$ got wind of this “retirement gift” scheme, we immediately suspected from the beginning that the only way such a large and expensive purchase of this kind could have been made is if KISD vendors and/or local area developers put up the cash. Now some of the local Watchdog critics/bloggers want everyone to believe that it was out of the goodness of the teachers’ hearts that such a purchase was made. Yeah right! Utter and complete nonsense! What we now know from sources both inside and outside the district is that very little money was raised from teachers and administrators. I think the fact that only 150 people showed up for Merrell’s “Retirement Party” in the Merrell Center confirms this. Remember, this is a district with some 6000 employees. And let’s not forget the “huge crowd” of less than ten (10) that showed up for his final Board meeting. What the Watchdog$ have been told is that only a few hundred dollars was raised from teachers and staff; at least proving to this commentator that Merrell’s “popularity” was more of a figment of his own imagination, along with those other “Merrellites” that continue to cling to his failed legacy. Face it, Merrell’s “popularity” in the community came from the folks that are and have been feeding at the district trough.
Let’s focus on the money for a moment. It is interesting to note that only $9,950.00 was publicly disclosed. Did we see ALL the disclosure statements that were filed by the district? Per your own research this tractor probably cost somewhere between $15,000 and $18,000. If it’s true that only a few hundred dollars was raised from KISD faculty and staff where did the rest of the money for this purchase come from? My guess is that there are quite a few donations of less than $250.00 that came from other business “friends” of Merrell.
The Watchdogs found it quite amusing that Merrell decided to file all the required disclosures on the last day of his employment. Could it be that he swore out those disclosure statements at the last minute because of all the negative publicity that the Watchdog$ brought to this matter? Would he have sworn out these same disclosures if the Watchdog$ had not been told about the scheme?
As a businessman who is bound by a code of ethics in my profession, Merrell’s acceptance of such a large gift at time when he was still employed by the district was, in my humble opinion, inappropriate and unethical to say the very least. Was it illegal? Well, only a District Attorney could answer that question. I’m sure if asked Merrell would claim that he had absolutely no idea that he was going to be given such an expensive and outlandish gift but rumor has it that this tractor was what HE wanted and he made sure that he steered the “retirement gift” committee in that direction. The Watchdog$ were the first group that publicly exposed what was going after we started receiving e-mails on our web site from teachers that were objecting to being asked for donations for this purchase. We published that information on our web sites (www.katycitizens.org and www.radiofreekaty.com) and it appeared in a Watchdog newsletter. Even if the rumors about him telling the committee what he wanted are false there is simply no way that he didn’t know what was coming in my opinion.
But just for a moment let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he had no idea he was going to receive a tractor as a “retirement” gift. As far as I am concerned Merrell should have stopped this the minute he got wind of it. At the very least, he should have immediately donated the tractor to the district’s FFA program rather than accept it at his “retirement party”. Look, the vast majority of the money for the tractor came from district vendors. Was it given in the spirit of “influence peddling”? We will probably never know. Was acceptance of the tractor unethical? In my view, yes it was and it is unfortunate that Merrell didn’t feel the same way. He already has an arena named after him what more does this man want from us?
I for one am overjoyed that the Merrell regime has come to an end. The district, along with local area taxpayers and students, will be far better off without him and his ilk. Our Board should have never allowed this man to run this district like his own personal fiefdom.
By the way, once I heard that he is now working for UBS I closed my UBS account immediately.
© 2007 by Chris Cottrell. All rights reserved. |
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Chris Cottrell, Katy Citizen Watchdog$ |
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Date: 09/14/2007 |
