Rats Abandon Sinking Ship - Herschel Resigns

The KC Star is reporting Henry Herschel, the general counsel for Gov. Matt Blunt, has followed former Chief of Staff Ed Martin out the door.

Henry Herschel presided over the Sunshine Law debacle of destroying emails, Scott Eckersley being trashed by his own party, Ed Martin making a fool of himself and the entire administration being knocked off track. I'm sure Henry will be welcomed back to Jefferson City for his deposition in Eckersley's case.

Makes perfect sense that he is exiting stage left, but do you really want a new chief of staff, a different general counsel and a bunch of strangers running around while Matt Blunt has the biggest race of his life on the line?

Ed Martin Resigns!

Here at Blog CCP, we pride ourselves on our quality of analysis, our wit, and our progressive values. Today, we get to be among the first in the Blogosphere to announce that Ed Martin has resigned his position with the Governor's office.

More analysis later . . .

(Somebody tell KC Blue Blog . . .)

Blunt Pushes Journalists Around Over Secret Emails

The Blunt fiasco over super-double secret emails and the hatchet job on Andy Blunt's friend and lawyer, Scott Eckersely, continues to spiral out of control.

Some folks in the traditional media had the nerve to ask Governor Blunt if he would like to re-visit his denial that a memo existed from Scott Eckersley to Blunt staff that emails are public records that must be saved. Blunt got nervous, didn't answer the question, told his driver to leave and Blunt's security (Missouri Highway Patrol) pushed the reporter's out of the way. This ain't bloger spin, watch the video.

KC Blue Blog continues to track this story, calling for an apology by Blunt for his staff manhandling reporters. This entire ordeal is sad. Eckersley has been trashed by Ed "bunch of Mexicans" Martin and his fellow S.W. Missouri Republicans - the very guys he went to high school with. Blunt can only say Eckersley "was fired for cause." With Eckersley being forced to hire some of the top tier lawyers in the state, the Blunt administration is in for a fight that the media and Missourians will not soon forget.

Blunt Wrong About Secret Emails

You all remember the flap over the destruction of emails. Blunt says he destroys them. Blunt's former attorney, Scott Eckersley, says he warned Blunt not to do it and was fired for that advice. Blunt says - not true; Eckersley was fired because he did outside legal work and that he has looking at porn at work.

Well, the AP is reporting that the memo exists from Eckersley to Blunt saying emails are public records. KC Blue Blog has done an outstanding job of keeping track of this story.

What is shocking about this administration is how fast they turn on their friends and how the truth seems to be irrelevant. Scott Eckersley was high school buddies with Andy Blunt, lobbyist extraordinaire. When Blunt didn't like Scott's legal advice, Blunt (and his chief of staff Ed "bunch of Mexicans" Martin) trashed him completely, leaked emails to media outlets and made sure the Source (Jeff Roe's blog) got the first shot at the story. Blunt says no memo exists. The AP has a copy of the memo. Someone is wrong.

Eckersley hired Republican attorney Chip Robertson (former Missouri Supreme Court judge appointed by Ashcroft) to represent him. The truth will ultimately come out and the depositions of Martin, Blunt and Eckersley will make for enjoyable reading by someone.

Blunt's Secret Emails Result in Firing of Counsel

This blog, and many other blogs and traditional news sources, have been highlighting Blunt's administration with secret emails. The saga continues.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch confirmed with Scott Eckersley that he was fired by Blunt and Ed Martin for his opinions that government emails are public records. "I believed I was fired for pointing to written office policy which ... contradicted how the office was handling record requests," Eckersley said. Seems that the Blunt administration has been monitoring Eckersley personal email account even after he was fired.

Eckersley said his attorneys will look into how Blunt staffers monitored his e-mail account, and other issues related to his firing. He has hired Steve Garner, a lawyer with the politically prominent Strong Law firm based in Springfield, Mo. Also assisting is lawyer Chip Robertson, a former chief justice on the Missouri Supreme Court. These two lawyers are very intelligent and very successful (one even happens to be a Republican who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Ashcroft).

Blog World is hopping. FiredUp asks this question "Did Scott Eckersley advise the governor or Ed Martin (or both) that the actions of the governor's office violated written policy on records retention?"

Blue Blog is continuing their call for Ed Martin to be fired for these actions and for Governor Blunt to ask for the Attorney General's Office to open a full investigation into these matters, with complete cooperation by all Blunt staffers.

All I got to add is this letter I got from Eckersley politely telling me he got my Sunshine request and he would respond. While I ultimately got a response from Henry Herschel, it would have been nice to see what Eckersley would have produced.

Secret Email, Illegal Immigrants and the Legacy of Blunt

Matt Blunt is shaping up his legacy - kicking the sick and the poor off health care insurance, secret emails and companies that hire illegal immigrants get kick tax breaks.

First Matt Blunt says his emails are deleted and that they are not public records. Then Ed Martin at an MHDC meeting starts talking about "a bunch of Mexicans" when discussing contractors that employ illegal immigrants. After complaining about the racist remarks, a Hispanic employee of the MHDC resigns under pressure. Next thing you know, some folks on the MHDC attempt to takes tax credits taken away from a contractor/developer named Hennesy for employing illegal aliens. According to Gone Mild, Ed Martin, speaking on behalf of the Governor, simply gets off the phone to stop the vote. Then, according to a video posted on Blue Blog, Blunt starts dancing around the issue of whether he has any responsibility for the crazy move of allowing contractors keep state tax breaks if they hire illegal immigrants.

One area that the media has muddled is the multiple contractors/developers at play at the MHDC. One vote at MHDC was about a developer/contractor named Hennesy that continues to employ illegal immigrants. Republicans and Democrats alike on MHDC supported pulling the tax credits, but with Ed Martin, Blunt's chief, getting off the phone, not enough votes existed to pass the resolution pulling the credits.

The other developer/contractor is Gundracker. He's guy that fired a Texas subcontractor using illegal immigrants and then went to the MHDC asking for more tax credits because he had to comply with the law and employ real to life Americans.

You know what fixes this - using union labor. You don't hear about JE Dunn getting caught with illegal immigrants on the job, because they use union labor. Imagine that, a world where a super rich Republican like Dunn can pay people a living wage and employ Americans. Almost sounds patriotic.

Blunt's Secret Emails Continue to Cause Fuss

Well, Blunt keeping his emails secret continues to cause problems.

Shortly after it was mentioned here that Scott Eckersley was responding to Sunshine requests about emails, Fired Up! reported that Scott got fired. Readers may recall that I made a Sunshine request for emails about Jim Torres getting forced to retire from MHDC after he complained about racist comments and promised to keep you posted.

I got a letter dated September 25, 2007 from Henry Herschel enclosing Torres' resignation email, a letter from Ed Martin to Pete Ramsel (director of MHDC) and Pete's email. Jim Torres emailed his resignation letter to Pete on September 6, 2007 at 4:58 pm. Pete's email (grammer errors are his, not mine) to Ed Martin of September 7, 2007 at 5:13 am says:

Ed, Jim resigned yesterday. i am OK with this. it is to bad, but it is the best thing for the agency and JIM. again, i apologize to you. so you know he had issues with other commissioners, especially Jeff Schaeperkotter. pete

Jeff Schaeperkotter is not on the MHDC, but he does serve as Nixon's representative. Why would Pete Ramsel be revealing Jim Torres "issues" with other commissioners?

The letter from Ed Martin to Pete, dated September 6, 2007 (that means Ed quickly went into CYA mode) says in part:

Thanks for the call last night. I appreciate it and accept your apology on behalf of the MHDC. As I mentioned, I was surprised to read the fax from Jim Torres. I found it both unprofessional and inappropriate. . . . And I was clear that there are too many developers and contractors who deny that there is a problem with illegal immigration. Too many of them simply look the other way and that is unacceptable. . . . What [the contractor] did was illegal and the Governor and MHDC cannot accept his excuses.

OK, I'm calling BS. Ed Martin says simply looking the other way is unacceptable and that the Governor cannot accept excuses?? Well, Gone Mild reported how when that same contractor got caught employing illegal aliens AGAIN and there was a motion to take the tax credits away from the contractor, Martin looked the other way and hung up the phone so he wouldn't have to vote. KC Blue Blog dug in further and identified Nixon's representative (Jeff Schaeperkotter) as the person seeking to pull tax credits from the contractor that employs illegal aliens.

Chief of Staff Ed Martin and Gov. Matt Blunt, care to explain why you looked the other way and wouldn't pull the tax breaks from a developer that employs illegal aliens?

Part 2: Blunt's Chief Makes Racist Comments (without apology)

KC Blue Blogger beat me to it. As noted last week, Joe Torres, the legislative liaison for the MHDC, wrote to Governor Matt Blunt about Ed Martin's racist comments. Tony's KC broke this story. I've made a Sunshine Law request (there's a helpful form on soon to be Gov. Nixon's web site). KC Blue Blogger got the letter and here's the good parts:

I am the proud grandson of Mexican immigrants who came to this country to provide a better life for their family and unlimited opportunities for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. My mother’s family were migrant farm workers. My father’s family were railroad laborers. My uncles all served honorably during WW II and fought for our country on D-Day and during the Normandy invasion; the Battle of the Bulge; Iwo Jima; Guadalcanal and Okinawa. They were highly decorated with two Bronze Stars; a Purple Heart and many other commendations. My father served honorable in the U.S. Navy. He also served in the U.S. Army and fought in three major battles during the Korean War.

I am extremely proud of my Mexican heritage, culture and especially my family and I will not let anyone demean or degrade it, least of all Mr. Martin.

In your letter to MHDC on or about August 29th, you directed the Commissioners of the Missouri Housing Development Commission, and I am paraphrasing, “to address this emotional issue in a dignified manner that shows respect…” If you stand behind those words, I strongly encourage you to take any and all actions to ensure that Mr. Martin’s inflammatory language is never again repeated in a public or private meeting. Lastly, I am respectfully asking you to direct Mr. Martin to issue a public apology at the beginning of the September 14th MHDC Commission meeting and have it included in the official record of the meeting.

The following folks are calling for a resignation and an apology:
Coalition of Hispanic Organizations (COHO)
Kansas City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce- Missouri
Kansas City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce- Kansas
Kansas City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce PAC
Communication Workers of America (CWA)
Teamsters Missouri Hispanic Caucus
Daniel Romero, President of Inter-Faith Workers Justice
Rita Valenciano, President of Coalition of Hispanic Organizations
Mario Rojas, Teamsters Hispanic Caucus
A.J. Villegas Jr., Representative CWA District 6
Lynda Callon, Westside CAN Center
Theresa Garza, Jackson County Legislator-At-Large
Nicholas Moreno, Legislative Assistant to Jackson County Legislator Theresa Garza
Mike Talboy, State Representative
Leonard Hughes IV, State Representative
Paul Rojas, Former State Representative
Lali Garcia, La Raza and Westport Political Club
Enrique Chaurand, Vista Communications
David Moreno, Vice-President UAW Retirees Council

Blunt's Chief Makes Racist Comments

Governor Matt Blunt's Chief of Staff, Ed Martin, is revealing this administration's true colors.

First raised on Tony's Kansas City, Ed Martin was asked at a Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) about how to determine if there are illegal immigrants and he responded "I'll tell you what's available to every developer in order to figure out who's illegal. When there's a bunch of Mexicans out there, there's probably some of them who are not legal." Bunch of Mexicans!?!? Maybe out of the mouth of Semler, the Minuteman, but out of the mouth of Blunt's chief of staff?!?!!?

Tony's KC and KC Blue Blog are all over this story and are calling for heads to roll.

Here's the latest - Jim Torres (who works for MHDC) has written a letter to either Blunt and/or Martin condemning the comments. Torres is not a political hack, just a government servant. He happens to be Hispanic and I am told a very bright, hard working public servant. He's standing there, so apparently there was a "bunch of Mexicans." I have made a Sunshine request (since Blunt is now such a friend of Sunshine) to get a copy of the letter. The results will be posted here. Stay tuned.