Report: MO school board member part of anonymous group to defeat tax levy in own district
An investigation by the Missouri Ethics Commission revealed that a Bolivar school board member was part of an opaque group that actively campaigned to defeat a tax levy increase sought by the Bolivar district.
Board member Brad Wommack, re-elected in April 2023 after serving a stint on the board years earlier, did not publicly disclose his role in the group known as the Concerned Citizens of Bolivar and Polk County.
The group failed to register as a campaign finance committee in Missouri and failed to report how much it raised, and from whom, as well as how the funds were spent, according to the MEC
The involvement of Wommack was not known to the district, or his fellow board members, until the MEC published its findings Feb. 26.
In November, the Bolivar district asked voters for permission to become part of the official Ozarks Technical Community College service area, a move that would have raised residents' property taxes ? 20 cents per $100 of assessed valuation — in exchange for significantly lower tuition.
Gov. Mike Parson, who has a farm in Polk County, was supportive of increasing residents' access to the education and training provided by OTC, saying it aligned with workforce development, which has been his top priority.
In the days before the election, the Concerned Citizens group mailed postcards to voters and paid for a newspaper advertisement. The group urged a "no" vote and made statements, some of which were false or speculative in nature.
The only name publicly associated with the group was Janet Arnold, who was listed as treasurer on the newspaper ad but not the postcard.
Following voter defeat of the proposal, two members of Bolivar school board — president Paula Hubbert and vice president Kyle Lancaster — filed, as private citizens, complaints about the Concerned Citizens group with the MEC. The complaints named Arnold.
"As the president of the board of education, I filed my MEC complaint because I believe it is my role to defend and protect the Bolivar school district’s best interests," Hubbert told the News-Leader.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that a fellow member of the Bolivar Board of Education would have secretly funded a campaign built on blatant inaccuracy and lies in opposition to an effort designed to help our students and community."
In the report, the MEC described the Concerned Citizens group of people who "meet every month to discuss issues and encourage people to call state senators and representatives when they agree or disagree with their actions."
The MEC investigation found up to 20 people contributed a total of about $3,000 to mount an opposition to the tax levy proposal. The only names listed in the report were Wommack and Arnold.
"There were a group of individuals of like-mind that included retired school teachers, elderly, some retired business people that felt like I did and felt like we ought to get together and put something out there to the public that would avail them of an alternate viewpoint from what they're hearing," said Wommack, 70, who owns the Wommack Monument Company, in a Friday interview with the News-Leader.
The MEC investigation found that Arnold was not actually the treasurer. For that reason, the MEC said the complaint against her was dropped.
"The investigation showed Brad Wommack, a member of CCBPC collected the contributions for the advertisement featured in the Nov. 1, 2023 edition of the Bolivar Herald-Free Press," the MEC wrote in its report.
The MEC found that "Arnold contributed $100 and agreed for her name to be used in the advertisement because the newspaper required the name of a treasurer."
According to the MEC report, Wommack ordered and paid for the postcards. In all, he collected and paid $3,035 for the printed materials to oppose the tax levy.
The MEC concluded that based on Wommack's activity, he should have been the one to file the paperwork to form the campaign finance committee and the disclosure reports that were required.
The report stated: "Wommack also collected cash contributions and made cash expenditures in excess of statutory allowances and included incorrect 'paid for' disclosures on the materials."
After the report was issued, Hubbert and Lancaster each filed complaints with the MEC against Wommack.
"I wasn't aware that we were violating anything," Wommack said Friday. "We were just exercising our First Amendment right."
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The News-Leader asked Wommack why Arnold was listed as treasurer.
"When we went down to the newspaper just to put a notice in there about our concerns, the newspaper informed us that they had to have a treasurer. Well, we're not a group that collects dues, has a treasurer but she said 'We have to have somebody's name down there,'" Wommack recalled. "One of the ladies that was participating in it, Janet Arnold said 'OK, put me down as treasurer.' That is how that occurred."
Arnold is one of three candidates vying for two open seats on the April 2 board election.
"Put together a list of concerns"
Wommack said the group was crunched for time. He said there was a short window to get information out to the voters prior to the election.
"All I did and all the others did was come together and just put together a list of concerns that we all had," he said.
Asked why the group did not file paperwork with the MEC, Wommack said: "If we had done that and taken the time to do that, we would have never gotten it (the advertisement) in the paper. It was in the 11th hour, there is no way it all would have happened."
He added: "I'm sorry that some did not get their way on it. I apologize. But, I am just one voter. Apparently, there were 1,400 others that felt the same way I did."
Wommack said part of his frustration with the ballot measure stemmed from the final meeting with the OTC officials in the fall. There was a presentation and then a call to vote on whether or not the request should be placed on the ballot.
At that point, Wommack said — and Hubbert confirmed — that he wanted to "ask that our guests leave" so the board could go into closed or executive session. Wommack said he told the board he had questions that had not yet been answered.
Hubbert declined to close the meeting, insisting the discussion occur in the public part of the meeting. Wommack said: "The board president wouldn't have it...she went ahead and put it through for a vote."
A majority of the board voted to put the question on the ballot. Wommack voted against that step.
Asked his primary concern, Wommack said it was that the district was requesting the tax levy but the funding that it generated — estimated at $400,000 a year — were to go to OTC.
The college concentrates its services and offers in-district tuition to residents in the school districts that are part of its taxing district, which includes Ash Grove, Branson, Clever, Everton, Fordland, Hollister, Logan-Rogersville, Marshfield, Nixa, Ozark, Pleasant Hope, Republic, Springfield, Strafford, Walnut Grove and Willard.
"I don't recall...ever in the history of Bolivar R-1 have we put up a tax levy increase proposal whereby we would collect the money and simply hand it over to another entity, which in this would be a college," he said. "That is money that goes to the kids."
"Why we have election laws"
Lancaster, one of two incumbents not running for re-election in April, said the newspaper ad and postcards were not accurate.
For example, the Concerned Citizens group urged voters to oppose the ballot measure alleging, among other things, the levy was a "redistribution of wealth" that "takes money away" from Bolivar students and employees and transfers it to OTC, which provides programs that benefit "relatively few" high school students and residents.
The way the taxing district for OTC is structured, the request to join ? and the corresponding tax levy ? must be proposed by a school district and approved by voters.
According to OTC, 1,503 students from Polk County — 787 from Bolivar — had enrolled at the college in the five years before the vote. the prior year, there were 218.
The group speculated that "rents would likely be increased and businesses could adjust pricing to reflect higher costs" due to the higher taxes.
The Concerned Citizens group also alleged there was no "sunset clause" on the tax levy, meaning it would stay in place if approved.
That statement as misleading. Half of the proposed levy, or 10 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, was to remain in place but the "sunset" cycle on the other 10 cents per $100 of assessed valuation required voter approval every 20 years.
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Lancaster and Hubbert said there is no way to know for certain what if any impact the group had on the outcome of the election.
"The measure was defeated, due in large part to a negative and inaccurate campaign organized by an individual who did not want his name or the names of 18-20 donors to his cause, known to our community," Hubbert said.
"This group's actions are the epitome of why we have election laws governing the disclosure of campaign finance."
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri school board member works to defeat tax levy in own district
