PD Story Raises Questions Regarding Patek's Ties To Blunt/Lobbying Contracts

The St. Louis Post Dispatch weighed in with a front-page above-the-fold story today on the ties between Capitol lobbyist Jewell Patek, Governor Matt Blunt, and his brother, Andy.

It's worth buying a hard copy of the paper just to see the graphic on page A-8 which shows the tangled web of connections.

Reporter Virginia Young does her best to write around the facts and explain away all the questions surrounding Patek. Despite that fact, the editors apparently felt that the Patek arrangements were newsworthy.

In the story, SEMO President Ken Dobbins says he doesn't recall Andy Blunt's name being on the bid when it was submitted. Perhaps this will refresh his memory.

Patek now claims that there is/was no contractual relationship between he and Andy. (It is important to note that he he doesn't say whether he and Andy share a common ownership interest in a consulting business.)

But for the sake of argument, if Jewell is correcting in stating that no relationship exists between Blunt and Patek, then perhaps the SEMO RFP should be re-bid, because if his current statement is truthful, then that would mean that Jewell made a misrepresentation of a material fact in his original bid proposal upon which SEMO relied in making their contracting decision. Therefore, the contract should be voided and re-bid.