Haywired
Deb McCoy
Perpetrators: Shared Services of the Bourbon County IT Department that involves both the County Courthouse and the City Hall
Unethical Actions: Wiretapping, and Breach of Privacy that includes County and City Offices of City and county officials and associates.
Timeline: 2022 to present
Victims: Bourbon County/City Citizens, employees, and anyone else who contacts the County or City by telephone or email.
City and County Officials Who Are Aware of this activity:
– Sitting County Commissioners
– County Counsel and Bourbon County Prosecuting Attorney
– County Officials and County employees
– Sitting City Managers, past, interim and present
– Sitting City Commissioners – Sitting City Attorney
– City Employees
– Citizens who have been involved in observing and taking an interest in the local government activities.
Agencies that have been contacted regarding the unethical activity:
– County Prosecutor
– Local Sheriff
– Kansas State Attorney General’s Office
– Kansas State Ethics Department
– Kansas State Office of Research
– FBI
Action that has been taken: – Ongoing
Consequences of the above unethical behavior:
– Employees are avoiding City/County email/ phone conversations by using direct employee communication or private phones.
– Parties calling into the Bourbon County/City Hall are not made aware that their conversations are being recorded and therefore are innocent bystanders in the scheme of the unethical actions.
– Employees are not taking actions due to fear of retaliation and losing their jobs.
– Loss of elected and non elected employees who reported the actions, and became the target for doing so.
– Citizen mistrust, due to the action and inactions of those employees and officials in office.
– Citizen mistrust in employees and officials, who do not want to follow the Rule of Law and State Statutes, Policies, Procedures, Ordinances and Resolutions.
– Citizens in the community who do speak up are publicly shamed.
The Rule of Law does not oppress you. It gives you the Freedom in knowing the boundaries. Where as a community are we going to be, if this unethical behavior continues with our elected officials and city/county employees?
As the “Watergate” situation coined the phrase, “the cover-up will be worse than the crime.” How can the City continue to share services with such a lack of trust? Between IT and accounting shared expenses will be a savings loss of $100k that will be incurred by County. It boils down to what is being hidden, what is being gained? What power for what purpose is being leveraged?
Good question, Michael. It seems the county is self-imploding with the questionable dealings with the hospital and REDI, the disbarment of county attorney, and the issues Deb has just pointed out. I am glad the city did not move our offices into the courthouse.
I hope people don’t forget the same IT person using county recording devices in an inappropriate manner several years ago…and was caught up in a civil case.
Can you cite the case to review the circumstances?
Not forgotten.
In Kansas one of the people participating in the conversation must be aware that it is being recorded. If there is concern about this, all it will take is for someone from the county & someone who called them to file a freedom of information request asking if their conversation was recorded. If the answer comes back yes, then take it to the county prosecutor (or state level if necessary) as evidence of illegal wiretapping.
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