More Evidence of a Broken System: Blunt Cronies Win More Fee Offices

Proving yet again that the state's new fee office bidding system is a sham, the Department of Revenue announced yesterday that a company connected to the family of James Harris was awarded the contract for the Warrenton fee office.

Harris, you may remember, is the former Matt Blunt operative who resigned as the former governor's appointments director under a cloud of suspicion, and is currently managing a campaign funded by ultraconservative activists to inject more partisanship into the state's judicial selection process.Harris' grandmother, Mary Winkelmann, who bagged a contract when James was  Blunt's appointments secretary and is still the agent for the Wentzville office, has now added the Warrenton feather to her cap. Who else is a partner in the company that will administer the Warrenton office?  One John Harris. It's sickening, really.

To make matters worse, contracts for Forsyth, Edina and Versailles were also awarded to Blunt appointees.

No word yet on when the MOGOP will demand that their members junk the new system they pushed through the legislature and replace it with a system requiring the Department of Revenue to ignore all political considerations and judge bids strictly on their merits.