The Llano Ledger
Newsletter Text V103
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guy's responsibility? Think again. The clock is ticking...*****
********************July 30, 2001********************
Due to an interesting e-mail exchange with the District Attorney's
office earlier today, the decision was made to combine what would have
been two Newsletter editions into one. This edition has become so long,
however, it will indeed fill two webpages. Be sure to access Newsletter
Text V104 as well to read the exchange with the office of our
apparently corrupt and abusive DA.
Readers will recall Kingsland resident Fred Mraz ran unsuccessfully for
the School Board earlier this spring. The election was indeed dirty and
fraught with irregularities and other abuses. Mr. Mraz has submitted a
statement for publication in regard to the race as well as problems he
and other parents have had with school officials for quite some time.
The statement will be published in its entirety and is the first of
more to come. Indeed, the Superintendent and his cronies will be held
accountable. Over the next few months, pressure will certainly be
ratcheted up on Patton and his compadres. Not only are financial
irregularities and waste a problem in the District, education of our
children is suffering as a result of despotism, Aryan arrogance, and
self-aggrandizement displayed by School officials.
***********************************
Mraz Statement:
Due to the ongoing struggle for justice in the Llano School
District, I, Fred Mraz, have launched an investigation as to how
certain individuals of higher authority have misused their power and
have done all they could to cover up wrongful actions by individual
teachers and principals on power trips! These faculty members outright
lied to attempt to justify the lack of concern for my children and
others' education, taking it upon themselves to see that my children
could not succeed.
This action, Mr. Glover got involved with, attempting to harass my kids
to the point of belittling them in an attempt to make them cry in front
of other students. Also by calling them out of classes to have them sit
in the office, missing valuable class time only to send them back to
class with no explanation why. He had informed my children that they
were being disrespectful when asking why. -- With conveniently having
no records except the testimony of my children, when this was allegedly
taking place. I had to go as far as having to insist that Mr. Glover
have no dealings with my kids' discipline or have any contact without
another teacher present.
Because other times when there were assumptions of wrongdoing, my
kids were dealt with in a Gestapo-type manner, insisting that they were
liars. Along with this, faculty members had claimed to be mind readers.
They tried to say that they knew what my kids were thinking, which
subsequently and conveniently put my children in trouble. None of which
had any substance, only to try to prove some kind of so-called pattern
that they had invented. All of this had never played into my children's
character. Ms. McQuatters, a math teacher at the high school, had begun
participating in this tactic. -- Informing my kids that "they had
better not piss her off; that she could become a bitch". Well. this she
claimed was taken the wrong way by my children, after being confronted
with this. I think she got mad that my kids had even informed anyone of
the way she had acted. Shortly after, my daughter had been refused any
help from McQuatters. Literally, during class, Ms. McQuatters began
singling her out in front of the other students.
At one point, she began hollering at my daughter, loudly stating "that
she was stupid, and that she needed to go back to the fifth grade". The
fact of the matter was, my daughter had been in the same class, with a
different teacher earlier, -- with passing grades. Then was transferred
to McQuatters class, and then could not get a passing grade.
After Ms. McQuatters had succeeded in belittling my daughter to the
point of making her cry in class, my daughter informed her that she did
not have to take the abuse and walked out. My daughter then went to Mr.
Glover to explain, which he took as being funny. After Mr. Glover had
succeeded in just crushing my daughter, crying, she asked to use the
phone to call her dad. Mr. Glover refused, and went as far as
unplugging the phone in the room that she was to wait in .
After school, Mr. Glover attempted to make a spectacle of my daughter
in front of other students, and as she was trying to leave, she fell.
Mr. Glover began to laugh until one of the other students saw him, then
he attempted to act concerned. The list goes on and on. My children
began having medical problems due to stress, so the doctor claimed it
most likely to be. After bringing this to Mr. Jarrett's attention, he
claimed he would handle it. This turned out to be his way of just
getting me out of his office, I guess. It came to the point of having
to tape-record our meeting because of the lies that continued.
I have had other parents claim to have these same problems. Each one of
us was dismissed as troublemakers. My children's grades went from A
& B honor roll in previous private school, to absolutely nothing my
kids could do to get a passing grade in McQuatters class. -- Even with
the help of another teacher that was assigned to oversee and help with
their work. I felt this other teacher portrayed herself with real
concern for my children's education, and could not even help produce
one passing grade in Ms. McQuatter's class.
She had not even attempted to inform this other teacher, that was
directly overseeing my children's learning, of any problems. Mr.
Jarrett had said he would investigate, but all he seemed to do was
harass and threaten the one teacher that had only been trying to help
my kids succeed and be treated fairly. Ms. McQuatters had not thought
to inform anyone that my kids were even having a problem. -- For over
six weeks about their grades, until they would not have been able to
catch up. This was an attempt to justify failing my children.
Although when confronted with this, she claimed to have sent by
mail " 5 " letters of concern, but could not produce even one after
waiting over two weeks to respond to my request. She never produced
any. Mr. Jarrett stated he would look into finding copies but was
unsuccessful. In my opinion, the way Ms. McQuatters presented herself
when asked about this and why she had not informed anyone that my kids
were even having a problem until it was too late to correct, was
inexcusable. My daughter then said there was no way she was going to
get a fair shake and refused to return to school. Shortly after, these
same things began with my son, almost instantly.
-- Being railroaded by Mr. Glover over the last year in his cover-up of
the countless times he had kicked my kids off the bus, pulled them into
the office, and attempted to harass them to the point of crying with no
explanation or documentation of this ever happening, this I had a
serious problem with. Alleged accusations, not pertaining to the bus
nor justified documentation that my kids had even been kicked off the
bus, could be found. When asked, however, to produce my kids' complete
disciplinary history, nothing of any substance but the harassment of my
children could be found.
My son's work could not even be graded fairly, and even right answers
were being marked wrong. These officials have done all they could to
cover this up, maybe thinking I would like other parents, rather than
fight for my children's rights I might just pull my kids out and again
resort to other means of educating them. The system had failed them. --
Not for the lack of knowledge of the work. Higher officials have for
years I have been told, harassed parents of children in need of
support. Instead, frustrating these parents to the point that these
individual children could not expect to be given at least a fair shake.
I believe that throughout the Hill Country people will be held
accountable for these acts of wrongful persecution of people, wrongful
use of power, misuse of funds and so on and so on. These things people
have been reporting to me on a regular basis. Individuals,
"authoritative individuals" getting away with too much. Just for the
sake of common knowledge, the legality of all this is about to unfold.
There have been so many illegal acts going on in the Hill Country I am
amazed so many people have allowed their community to be held hostage
by the very people that are paid to serve and protect. Too many
coincidences!
The election of the School Board? -- What a subject! As a candidate not
really expecting to win but at least expecting to get a fair shake and
when just beginning to obtain support, the rules changed. -- How the
elections were to be held, who was to count them, why they weren't
reported on the night of the election, being it was the only opposed
race. The night of the election, although being a candidate, I couldn't
find out who was even producing the results. Channel 14 had no idea,
even though they had been reporting everything but this race. No one in
Llano County that night could give any answers. They had stated that
the County Clerk's office was doing the count. I came to find out this
wasn't true. No one seemed to know who was counting.
Mr. Patton made every attempt to discredit me, claiming that I was a
troublemaker. He really has no idea! The one thing I can't stand is
liars and second is cheaters. Well, I have found several of these in
Llano County. I think they really believe themselves, and although when
put on the spot in public, you can tell they know they have done wrong
because these people can't look you in the face or speak clearly, or
even at all.
Just for public knowledge, to the liars and cheaters, the legal battle has just begun!
Fred Mraz
Kingsland July 29, 2001
******************
Mr. Mraz's statement indeed speaks for itself and is representative of
outrageous problems parents and their children are having with School
officials on a continuing basis. This has to change and parents are
encouraged to contact this publication. There is great strength in
numbers, and the only way these problems are going to change is by
being exposed to the light of day. I publicly thank and encourage Mr.
Mraz and others to continue submitting material to this publication. As
always, this writer remains willing and eager to meet with anyone
victimized by corrupt and abusive officials, -- whether in the School
District or elsewhere in Llano County government.
There will be further commentary to come regarding the Mraz statement
in the next few weeks. He has certainly hit the nail right on the head
regarding the School District as well as with problems with the last
election. This publication is carefully looking into how Patton and his
cronies not only iron-fistedly manipulate the educational system and
its funding, but also School Board elections. There is much more to
come...
*****LMHS Update*****
Before continuing review of LMHS employee expense reports, readers
will recall the last Open Records Request of June 22, 2001 included a
lengthy pointed complaint regarding Hospital stonewalling of all open
records requests. The message was also cc'd to state officials. While
the Administrator again responded quite late to the request, not
surprisingly, he had nothing to say regarding the complaint.
Interestingly, the latest open records inspection was scheduled for
Tuesday, July 23. The 23rd, however was on a Monday. Although this
writer arrived on time, the Executive Secretary was unprepared, -- not
even in the Administrative Offices.
An Administrative Assistant, hired several days earlier, made a quick
phone call and got the ball rolling. ... Hell, most of the time I don't
know what day of the week it is myself, and can certainly understand
how such things can happen. Approximately some 15 minutes of inspection
time, however, was lost, not to be made up.
Interestingly as well, LMHS Administrator/CEO Kevin Leeper chose to
introduce himself ten minutes before the scheduled end of the
inspection. Imagine that. Never failing to miss a golden opportunity,
Mr. Leeper was peppered with a series of questions regarding months of
egregious management stonewalling and obfuscation and, more
importantly, outrageous looting by employees, -- as well as the
condition and incompleteness of the vouchers. Remember? This writer
takes no prisoners...
Looking like a deer caught in the glare of headlights, however, the
Administrator didn't quite know what to say. Having admitted to reading
some of this publication, he had to have known any encounter would not
be easy. Despite the obvious discomfort, Mr. Leeper is quite unlike his
predecessor.
Although as gifted as Ernie Parisi, there isn't the air of arrogance or
disingenuousness. In fact, he appears quite comfortable in his position
and secure enough to admit when he doesn't have all the facts. So is
his Chief Financial Officer, Michael Choate. The Administrator took the
time to introduce his assistant and approximately 45 minutes or so was
spent discussing Hospital issues and financial status with both
executives.
Just as importantly, each agreed in principle to an interview at a
later date and time, and have strongly claimed to have made positive
changes. The contrast in approach, opposed to their predecessors, is
indeed stark and refreshing. ... Hopefully, it is what it seems to be
and will endure.
In follow-up to what appears to be a thawing of relations, the following message was recently sent to the Administrator:
Kevin Leeper, Administrator/CEO
Llano Memorial Healthcare System
Llano, Tx. 78643
July 24, 2001
Re: Open Records Request
Dear Mr. Leeper:
As per posted Public Information Act notice on bulletin board in
LMHS Administrative Offices located on 103 W. Lampasas St., Llano,
Tx. 78643, this is an e-mailed request for information under the
Texas Public Information Act, Ch.552, Gov't Code, Public Information.
Hopefully, our recent conversation on July 23 represents an opportunity
to finally resolve the current open records inspection, dating back
to the original request of October 11, 2000.
As discussed, a thorough inspection could require an additional
10 to 12 hours should inspection be limited to 1hr. monthly and
coupled with interruptions as has routinely occurred for months.
Although we had agreed on one additional five-hour inspection to
be conducted with no interruption, a considerable amount of additional
thought has been given to the wisdom of continuing the current search.
After all, the ongoing inspection was not intended as a criminal
investigation. It was no more than an intense examination of records
designed to indicate to readers probable cause indeed exists for
an independent criminal investigation.
An independent criminal inquiry will not occur, however, since our
apparently corrupt and abusive District Attorney Sam Oatman is a
Good Old Boy, protects his own, and engages in selective prosecution.
Sadly, this point has been clearly made on both websites and in
fact, aggressively driven home to readers, -- repeatedly. Not only
that, the fierce opposition and stonewalling for all these months
are further evidence of the intense discomfort of Hospital management and staff.
Although records from only approximately two and a half years of
the five-year period have been inspected and reported so far, the
looting of the Hospital by employees has been horrendous.
The condition of these records as well leaves much to be desired
in terms of completeness. Although your auditors may indeed ignore
and/or accept the quality of the employee expense reports during
"snapshot" sampling, it is highly questionable criminal investigators
would be as generous or forgiving.
You and Chief Financial Officer Michael Choate, however, have strongly
asserted in our recent meeting changes have indeed been made since
your arrival. Your inclination to look to the future rather than
the past, although self-serving, is a point well-made. -- Especially
in view of the fact you and Mr. Choate have agreed in principle
to an interview regarding the present and future status of the Hospital.
Indeed, inspection of recent records from this year should indicate
whether or not employee expenses have finally been reined in by
management. Should you agree to allow an uninterrupted 5-hour inspection
of this year's employee expense reports to be scheduled on a day
convenient to all, and the offer of you as well as that of the CFO
to be interviewed at a later date and time still stands, this writer
is prepared to end the current inspection dating back to October 11, 2000.
Let's move on, Mr. Leeper. All of us want the Hospital to survive.
If indeed your administration has produced positive change, it
is to your advantage to make yourself and your colleagues available to the media.
My readers are certainly interested in the entire Hospital operation.
Employee expenses, although egregious, are only a small part of
the pie. Your openness to community concerns would certainly be
an indication of a change in management philosophy as opposed to your predecessor.
Access to following documents is respectfully requested:
1. Employee expense reports from January 1, 2001 to present.
This e-mailed request is in keeping with the policy posted on your
bulletin board and will certainly save time and effort for all.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation in a matter that is of great concern to my readers.
Sincerely,
Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger
http://maxpages.com/llanoledger
http://maxpages.com/llanoledger2
P.O. Box 997
Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609
cc: Llano Ledger website
cc by e-mail: Michael Choate, Chief Financial Officer, LMHS
**********************************************
Mr. Leeper or his colleague apparently didn't appreciate the new Open
Records Request, however. The following e-mail exchange with the
District Attorney's office occurred earlier today:
(Continued On Newsletter Text V104)
Tim Chorney, Publisher
P.O. Box 997
Buchanan Dam Tx. 78609
llanoledger@mailcity.com
Page Updated Mon Jul 30, 2001 4:31pm EDT