Fee offices

Gov. Nixon fails to reform fee offices

• Jay Nixon has bragged about changing the system for awarding license offices, but although the bidding process is different, the outcome is the same: Wealthy donors and political insiders continue to be rewarded with the state’s most lucrative with fee offices.
• Despite Nixon’s assurances that politics would be removed from the system, his method of awarding fee offices has been marred by controversial decisions, irregularities in the bidding process, a lawsuit, and a rumored FBI investigation.
• Nixon’s actions are so egregious that Democrats and the media have taken notice.  Even one of his fellow Democrats contends that Nixon misled voters, saying, “It’s all politics. … Don’t let anybody fool you.”
• A judge issued a restraining order preventing Nixon’s handpicked organization from taking control of the Deer Creek license office after the current operator sued citing inconsistencies in the bidding process.