Builder: I paid city official

David Ray Freeman, a Lawrence contractor, admitted to a federal judge on Tuesday that he bribed a Junction City official during a housing scandal.

[Travelingman1985]

Okay that is step one in this process. We will now see who Mr. Freeman names and what charges are to be filed against them. More importantly the point of restitution is being enforced by the court. The question is after he pays his fine what will be left for the tax payers in Junction City? I hope the same rules apply to all others convicted in this scandal. They pay full restitution to the city and the taxpayers.

[Writing was on the wall]

Imagine that the commissioner that was on the take will eventually be charged with the same crimes the builder was charged with. Which could also mean 30 yrs and fines; well surely that will loosen the tongue. It took at least three commissioners to get anything approved, there must have been some discussion, influence peddling or maybe even coercion. Sooner or later we will find out, unfortunately the taxpayers are not going to gain a whole lot from it, the debt will still have to be paid, and I am sure anyone stooping to taking bribes does not have a lot to fall back on; consequently there will not be much to recover. The mill levy will have to go up and the city will fall apart, essential services will be cut, it'll be years and years before Junction City sees the light of day again. With high property taxes and high Specials who will buy here or build here? The few that tried to bring this to the attention of the citizens were disregarded. Poor judgment on the part of officials is not an excuse for what has happened here, those in charge blindly jumped into the fray without making themselves knowledgeable of the facts so they would be able able to make sound decisions.
The trust the citizens and the voters have put in elected officials has been betrayed in a big way, so lets not forget and remember when you vote in the next commissioner election, three will be up for vote in 2011. this may sound like a long time, however it is one way to change the landscape of those that were part of the decision making process that got us into this situation.

[Just Wondering]

Was the City Manager blind to this?

[Peanut]

Just Wondering wrote:

Was the City Manager blind to this?

Hell no the city manager was not blind to this! He was the puppeteer. And sooner or later he will get his too, I gaurantee that!

[Bill]

I wonder if Mick being on the take the whole time could be a way to void agreements he voted on; if this could be a way to get out of the 90% tax breaks he was so fond of?

[Question]

Bill, very good question. It certainly should be pursued to find out what can be invalidated and perhaps save the city/taxpayer some money.

[Travelingman1985]

The city attorney needs to file an injunction to freeze all of his and her assets until this sorts out. I am sorry it has to be this way for his family but like the old Berretta saying goes "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time". I do not want to sound spiteful but I am angry at what has happened to our city. Because of the ex mayor and maybe others we have more debt in our city than the entire shortfall for the state of Kansas.$200 million for Junction City and $127 million for the state. I have said this before we had better come up with some inventive ways to pay this debt off. I truly hate to say this but a dedicated sales tax might end up being the answer with a guarranttee that it will be removed once the debt is taken care of. As part of that deal property taxes need to return to the levels of 5-6 years ago. We also need to pass a city law that requires that any spending by the city be paid for and not borrowed with a city wide vote. This is my opinion and anger talking and maybe my ideas are not realistic or even possible. But a balance budget with no sacrifices to services and property owners ought to be where we want to be.

[Question]

Travelingman1985: I agree 100% with your comments. Dedicated sales tax is the way to go.

I feel there had to be others that knew what was going on, even if they were not personally involved in any schemes. If they knew and did nothing, they are responsible as well. We need a complete investigation by the KBI and FBI as well as a forensic audit with no holds barred.

The truth must come out.

[onp]

Travelingman1985 wrote:

The city attorney needs to file an injunction to freeze all of his and her assets until this sorts out. I am sorry it has to be this way for his family but like the old Berretta saying goes "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time". I do not want to sound spiteful but I am angry at what has happened to our city. Because of the ex mayor and maybe others we have more debt in our city than the entire shortfall for the state of Kansas.$200 million for Junction City and $127 million for the state. I have said this before we had better come up with some inventive ways to pay this debt off. I truly hate to say this but a dedicated sales tax might end up being the answer with a guarranttee that it will be removed once the debt is taken care of. As part of that deal property taxes need to return to the levels of 5-6 years ago. We also need to pass a city law that requires that any spending by the city be paid for and not borrowed with a city wide vote. This is my opinion and anger talking and maybe my ideas are not realistic or even possible. But a balance budget with no sacrifices to services and property owners ought to be where we want to be.

I don't know about any other members of his family, but his WIFE was certainly involved in this also. According to the news releases, she accepted a check in his behalf so that makes her an accessory to the crime.

[nkp]

Writing was on the wall wrote:

Imagine that the commissioner that was on the take will eventually be charged with the same crimes the builder was charged with. Which could also mean 30 yrs and fines; well surely that will loosen the tongue. It took at least three commissioners to get anything approved, there must have been some discussion, influence peddling or maybe even coercion. Sooner or later we will find out, unfortunately the taxpayers are not going to gain a whole lot from it, the debt will still have to be paid, and I am sure anyone stooping to taking bribes does not have a lot to fall back on; consequently there will not be much to recover. The mill levy will have to go up and the city will fall apart, essential services will be cut, it'll be years and years before Junction City sees the light of day again. With high property taxes and high Specials who will buy here or build here? The few that tried to bring this to the attention of the citizens were disregarded. Poor judgment on the part of officials is not an excuse for what has happened here, those in charge blindly jumped into the fray without making themselves knowledgeable of the facts so they would be able able to make sound decisions.
The trust the citizens and the voters have put in elected officials has been betrayed in a big way, so lets not forget and remember when you vote in the next commissioner election, three will be up for vote in 2011. this may sound like a long time, however it is one way to change the landscape of those that were part of the decision making process that got us into this situation.

Isn't this "Poor judgment on the part of the officials is not an excuse for what has happened here"....what Scott Johnson also stated when he called for the three commissioners to resign?(or something close to those words)...and this is proving that he was right!
Guess we'll see just who else will fall. Wunder won't go down alone for this, he'll talk when the coals get hot enough on his feet.

[Redneck]

Sounds like some of these Kansans equate w/Bernie
Madoff? Bernie's wife should be brought up on
charges, as well as the family-members who they
were sending jewelry and other gifts to. All these 'crooks' should be made to account for their
crimes, no matter who or where.

[Writing was on the wall]

FLASHBACK!

Remember the Public Special Session in Apr 2008. Bond Counsel and The Mayor Mick Wunder trying very hard to sell the RHID to the public and the County Commission?

No wunder the Mayor was trying so hard to get the RHID through, although it had already been turned down by the County previously. In retrospect the effort expanded by Mr. Wunder in favor of RHID is now explained by he indictment, his "life" was on the line. He knew if RHID does not go through, eventually the scheme would collapse.

It makes one wunder how deep the deception and corruption really went for Bond Counsel to support something that only would have made a minute difference in the aount of Specials.

[JC Taxpayer]

How about Rod Barnes insistence on giving city services to Veolia? Pinaire objected, to no avail. Absolutely no way to put it out for bid. Anyone see a pattern developing?

[Question]

The city attorney was privy to all information in the Executive Sessions; as an officer of the court was the city attorney not aware of anything? Did the city attorney have any suspicions?

Are there any written or recorded notes of the Executive Sessions?

What about the information packets provided to the commissioners prior to each commission meeting, are they available?

[son of sam]

Travelingman1985 wrote:

The city attorney needs to file an injunction to freeze all of his and her assets until this sorts out. I am sorry it has to be this way for his family but like the old Berretta saying goes "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time". I do not want to sound spiteful but I am angry at what has happened to our city. Because of the ex mayor and maybe others we have more debt in our city than the entire shortfall for the state of Kansas.$200 million for Junction City and $127 million for the state. I have said this before we had better come up with some inventive ways to pay this debt off. I truly hate to say this but a dedicated sales tax might end up being the answer with a guarranttee that it will be removed once the debt is taken care of. As part of that deal property taxes need to return to the levels of 5-6 years ago. We also need to pass a city law that requires that any spending by the city be paid for and not borrowed with a city wide vote. This is my opinion and anger talking and maybe my ideas are not realistic or even possible. But a balance budget with no sacrifices to services and property owners ought to be where we want to be.

The attorney from Kansas City works for the commission in an illeagally appointed position. State law says to be city attorney her salary must be set by ordinance and the city says she has to live here. Isn't it strange we already had a city attorney before? I smell a hired gun.

[Apple]

Wondering out loud here: Do we have a citizens law suit against the City, the builders, and Wunder? we are all paying for this, look at your home taxes.

[hmmmm]

son of sam
If the State law says to be city attorney she has to live here, then why isn't this law being followed? You might be on to something in this matter. In my opinion, she never seems to knowledgable at the commission meetings anyway. And isn't she supposed to approve every contract that the city makes? If so, maybe she is liable for some of our problems? What happened to our former city attorney and who was that person?

[Duuuuuh]

Because son of sam doesn't know what the heck he is talking about.

[on behalf of]

i believe Chuck Zimmerman was the former city attorney.

[on behalf of]

i believe Chuck Zimmerman was the former city attorney.

http://www.kansasjudicialperformance.org/eval...