News and sports in the Whitewater Valley

EDITORIAL BY JOHN ESTRIDGE

Today we are going to play a new game.

The purpose of this game is to find out if anyone affiliated with Brookville Town Council has at any time in their respective lives told the truth. And if they have told the truth sometime somewhere, which story may or may not be true. And of course, do they believe they are Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men” with the “You can’t handle the truth” attitude.

“You” in that Nicholson quote are the Brookville taxpayers and not Tom Cruise, in case anyone was confused.

Okay under WTH for $200: What is the truth about the nondisclosure agreement between Brookville and the LLC? For those who are new to this little trip to the bizarre and insane and possibly or probably corrupt we here in Brookville call home, the Brookville Town Council has somewhat proudly stated they could not share financial statements concerning Pig in a Poke Golf Course we, the taxpayers, purchased because our town council president Curtis Ward negotiated a nondisclosure agreement with the LLC on our behalf.

Or so we were told

Personally, I believe Curtis telling us he had negotiated a nondisclosure agreement on our behalves shades a little toward Nicholson because I really cannot see the rationale from a somewhat sane and/or scrupulous person there.

But first another little interesting fact to those reading their first episode of this tragic, confusing soap opera is Curtis, sometimes called King Curtis, but according to comments he makes on my articles, he prefers Lord Curtis. I would prefer him resigning and I would call him Thank You Curtis, on July 7, purchased nine lots adjacent to the golf course and then King, Lord, Thank You Curtis, at the August 10 BTC meeting, demanded of everyone that we buy the Pig in a Poke Golf Course RIGHT NOW.

AND IT WAS.

After he made the statement we had to purchase it RIGHT NOW on August 10, just two weeks later we bought, financials unseen, Pig in a Poke Golf Course.

Now back to our game.

Let’s look at Curtis’ statements regarding the nondisclosure agreement and the dates he made them.

At the August 10 meeting where Curtis first mentioned wanting to buy the golf course RIGHT NOW, and this was one month and three days after Curtis or somebody behind Curtis purchased nine lots adjacent to the Pig in a Poke Golf Course, I was haranguing Curtis concerning the fact no one knew, outside the LLC, how much money the golf course was making or losing per year. I was amazed no one had looked at any financial records but yet council wanted BTC Attorney Tammy Davis to reach an agreement to purchase the golf course from the LLC RIGHT NOW.

A warning here is whenever I have quoted Curtis, his lips were moving, so…

Curtis: “We’ve got that as part of our purchase agreement to disclose that (financials) if they will.”

I guess he is saying there he wants all of us to know the financials.

This is the August 24 town council meeting from my transcriptions of the meeting:

Ken Murphy: (retired Indiana State Excise Police officer and retired Franklin County Sheriff) “You were going to tell us about the financial aspects about the golf course?”

Curtis Ward: Curtis spoke about his conflict of interest statement first before answering Ken. I have left that part out because it is not pertinent to the nondisclosure agreement. His answer about the nondisclosure agreement starts here: “At the last meeting (August 10) we told the public we were in beginning negotiations with the LLC to turn, to go over the purchase offer. There have been questions regarding the finances, so what I’ve done is I’ve created an overview, because we have agreed to a nondisclosure agreement between the LLC and the town. So, we are not going to go over any of the financial details other than what they have agreed to allow to publicly be put out there.”

Remember, Curtis’ lips were moving, so … but he is saying “because we have agreed to a nondisclosure agreement between the LLC and the town.”

And the last sentence that – if this were in a comedy film, I would be laughing so hard at that, but guys, this is our reality here in Brookville right now. I do make light of these things because it is so easy, but really it is very sad our Brookville Town Council president makes statements like this:

“So, we are not going to go over any of the financial details other than what they have agreed to allow to publicly put out there.”

The they means LLC.

And, again Curtis:

“This is again consistent with what we did with Sparky Renaker back with his financial details previously with Darrel Flaspohler (former BTC member, who was narrowly defeated by Chuck Campbell at the last election) and myself.”

What this is saying is Curtis apparently had a nondisclosure agreement with Sparky, the former golf course owner, when this all began three years ago. Curtis must hand out, on our behalf, nondisclosure agreements the way John Rockefeller once handed out dimes to children.

After Curtis read the purchase agreement at the August 24 meeting, Paul Chaney, former BTC president, asked if the $400,000 Curtis threw out there earlier in the meeting as the golf course’s revenue was gross or net? This is where I verbally fought the feeling we were all in a Twilight Zone episode.

Paul Chaney: “Gross revenue? What was in there?”

Curtis Ward: “We’re not able to disclose that.”

Crowd members at the meeting became upset.

John Estridge: “Tammy, Tammy (Davis) is this allowable that a governmental entity spending taxpayer dollars gets into a nondisclosure agreement with a private entity?”

Curtis Ward: “Tammy, Tammy don’t answer that question.”

John Estridge: “You don’t want her to answer that in front of these taxpayers? And the taxpayers of the town?”

He did not answer. This is a couple minutes later in the same meeting.

John Estridge: “Did a CPA look at the books that you hired or was it just you and Cathy (Pelsor, town council member) looking at them today?”

Curtis Ward: “We looked at the books today.”

John Estridge: “Today?”

Curtis Ward: “Yes.”

John Estridge: “Did a CPA look at the books?”

Curtis Ward: “We did not ask to look at the books.”

For the noninitiated in BTC meetings, Curtis contradicted himself in a matter of seconds. I don’t think any regular attendees to the meetings were shocked by that. It seems to happen with regularity.

John Estridge: “You did not ask to look at the books?”

Later in the meeting, Bridget Hayes asked questions pertaining to the elusive Feasibility Study, which caused Curtis to once again bring up the nondisclosure agreement.

Bridget Hayes: “You said the public will never see the feasibility study?”

Curtis Ward: “It wasn’t the feasibility study.”

Bridget Hayes: “Oh, again, I’m sorry. I thought you said you couldn’t disclose it.”

Curtis Ward: “The only thing we’re not able to disclose would be that NDA (nondisclosure agreement) we have with the golf course regarding finances. The feasibility, we’ve never said we can’t disclose that.”

There was more at that meeting about what they did look at and more importantly what they did not look at but you get the gist of what was said about the nondisclosure agreement. At the next meeting, Sept. 14, although a $2.2 million bond issue was offered up to, in part, purchase the Pig in a Poke Golf Course at the meeting by Curtis, he told taxpayers and residents asking questions about the golf course he and other town council members would not discuss the golf course because it is was not on the meeting’s agenda.

Remember, we were conscious, straight and sober, and we heard the bond resolution read concerning part of it – about half or so — was to buy the golf course so we knew he was wrong and he knew we knew he was wrong, lying, misrepresenting the truth, but it did not matter to him.

I sighed right there while writing this – because that fact is so damn depressing — so if everyone else wants to take a moment to sigh, go ahead.

Now, we have to go to the September 28 meeting. At that meeting, I was first watching a performance of Dolly’s Stampede and eating very good rotisserie chicken in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and then settling in at the cabin in the mountains above Gatlinburg, sipping a cold beverage and watching the end to the BTC meeting on video. It was impossible to hear well, but here goes as much as I can truthfully relate about the meeting.

One digression here: People parked on the wrong side of the road in front of the cabin, and we lived through that horrible ordeal. I believe if we had called the local police and complained about it, they would not have responded to that call. Just putting that out there.

Derrike Kolb, former first deputy auditor for the county, who has asked very good questions of Curtis in the past, asked some more good ones at the Sept. 28 meeting. I noticed when Derrike received the answers from Curtis and Tammy, his body language was of one taking punches to his face and body. That can happen when the line between what one knows as facts is replaced by the fiction others are peddling as facts, and they seem to smack one right between the eyes. Back at the cabin, I did yell a couple of times during the exchange resulting from Derrike’s questions and the almost unbelievable answers, and that did mar a very pleasant, peaceful vacation. But Curtis and now, apparently, Tammy, can grind on one’s last nerve.

In answer to Derrike’s question on why the town signed a nondisclosure agreement with the LLC, Curtis and Tammy said (and Curtis talks so fast his words are an approximate. Bridget Hayes, just before Derrike spoke, had requested of Curtis and other town council members once again – seemingly it is at every meeting – to slow down when speaking as it is so hard to hear and understand them. And she, as were the others before her, was impolitely ignored yet again):

Curtis Ward: “Technically, we did not sign a nondisclosure agreement with the … at the request of the LLC, correct?”

Tammy Davis: “Right. It was what they had requested but with the process and its approval the month their counsel had not prepared a nondisclosure at that point. So we did not sign one. We don’t have any documents in our possession anyway, it was just a review by Cathy and Curtis. Obviously, once upon purchase, we MAY have more documents in our possession, and at that time, they will be public record.”

Note, Tammy has been at the other meetings. She heard Curtis say the things he said. I will say Curtis would not let her answer my specific question on the legality of a nondisclosure agreement. Why at that point didn’t Tammy tell Curtis it was a moot point since there was no such thing as a nondisclosure agreement, Curtis had touted for more than a month as why he could not release financial documents or information pertaining to the LLC?

To further confuse Tammy and Curtis Sept. 24 answer to Derrike, this is from the town’s Offer to Purchase to the LLC:

“Seller shall allow Buyer to review financial records of the Golf Course since the LLC acquired said real estate. A non-disclosure shall be executed by Buyer.”

The seller, LLC, is never mentioned in the Offer to Purchase, Tammy penned, as the one controlling the nondisclosure agreement. And, the Offer to Purchase I received had a clause concerning naming the LLC members, so I requested that attachment from Brookville Clerk-Treasurer Gina Gillman. In return, I got an email from Tammy saying what I was sent the first time was not the final version.

“After sending what I thought was the final version that was signed at the meeting on the 24th, I have now realized that my final version had a different name….so that being said attached is actually the language that the Town Council approved. I apologize as this was my error. I had too many different versions saved during negotiations. I have now capitalized the final so I don’t make that mistake again.”

This is from the final version she then sent me.

“Seller shall allow Buyer to review financial records of the Golf Course since the LLC acquired said real estate. A non-disclosure shall be executed by Buyer.”

Again, seller, LLC, is never mentioned regarding implementing the nondisclosure agreement. The wording regarding the nondisclosure information of the final version was not changed.

So let’s go over the pertinent features of this: At the August 10 meeting, Curtis said the town would look into the LLC’s financial documents. But in the first and last Offer to Purchase, the town’s Offer to Purchase states the town (buyer) will execute a nondisclosure agreement with the LLC (the seller). Repeat, the town would execute a nondisclosure agreement after Curtis said in an open meeting.

Curtis Ward: “We’ve got that as part of our purchase agreement to disclose that if they will.”

Then, in the August 24 meeting, when Curtis was asked about the financial condition of the golf course. After Paul Chaney asked if the $400,000 figure Curtis gave was gross or net, Curtis answered:

Curtis Ward: “We’re not able to disclose that.”

And later, in the same meeting:

Bridget Hayes: “You said the public will never see the feasibility study.”

Curtis Ward: “It wasn’t the feasibility study.”

Bridget Hayes: “Oh, again, I’m sorry. I thought you said you couldn’t disclose it.”

Curtis Ward: “The only thing we’re not able to disclose would be that NDA (nondisclosure agreement) we have with the golf course regarding finances. The feasibility we’ve never said we can’t disclose that.”

Regarding my editorials and articles, usually just the council members, their family members and their buds, if they have any left, have been railing at me concerning the veracity of my reporting. That is more than a little ironic.

Everything that is here in quotes is on audio tapes and videos. Check it out and see who has veracity and who does not.

Really, I cannot make something like this up that is so bizarre and insidious. No one outside of the BTC fiasco, which is now our fiasco, would believe it as reality.

At our next game, we will answer other questions concerning BTC’s veracity or lack thereof under WTH for $1,000.