Parker, Tim | Testimony transcript

Transcript of the Testimony of Tim Parker

Date: December 4, 2013Volume: I

Case: In Re: Joplin Critical Investigation

Printed On: December 18, 2013

Holliday Reporting Service, Inc.Phone: 417-358-4078

Fax: 417-451-1114Email:[email protected]

Internet:

Tim Parker In Re: Joplin Critical Investigation

417-358-4078

Holliday Reporting Service, Inc.

Page 1

IN RE: JOPLIN CRITICAL INVESTIGATION

SWORN STATEMENT OF

TIM PARKER

Taken on Wednesday, December 4, 2013, from 4:02 p.m. to 4:18

p.m., at the law offices of Juddson H. McPherson, LLC, 626

S. Byers, in the City of Joplin, County of Jasper, State of

Missouri, before

SHARON K. ROGERS, C.C.R.650,

a Certified Court Reporter and a Notary Public within and

for the County of Jasper, and State of Missouri.


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APPEARANCES

MR. THOMAS E. LORAINE

Loraine & Associates, LLC

4075 Osage Beach Pkwy., Suite 300

Osage Beach, MO 65065

[email protected]


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S T I P U L A T I O N

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED that this Sworn

Statement may be taken by steno-mask type recording by

SHARON K. ROGERS, a Certified Court Reporter, and

afterwards reduced into typewriting.

It is further stipulated that the signature of the

witness is hereby waived, and that said Sworn Statement of

said witness shall be of the same force and effect as

though said witness had read and signed Sworn Statement.


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I N D E X

Page/Line

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LORAINE . . . 5-4

E X H I B I T S

Exhibit #45 . . . . . . . 5-6

Incident Report

Exhibit #46 . . . . . . . 16-23

Photograph

Exhibit #47 . . . . . . . 15-11

Board of Appeals meeting

Exhibit #48 . . . . . . . 15-24

12/2/13 statement to Council

Note: Exhibits in separate binder

(sic) - typed as spoken

(ph.) - phonetic


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1 TIM PARKER

2 Having been first duly sworn and examined,

3 testified as follows:

4 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LORAINE:

5 Q. Mr. Parker, you have given me what has been

6 marked as Exhibit #45 and it consists of a

7 number of pages. The court reporter tells me

8 there is 13 pages. Is this what you've

9 handed me?

10 A. Yes, sir.

11 Q. You know you're sworn in to tell the truth

12 today?

13 A. Yes, sir.

14 Q. And you called my number to meet with me

15 today?

16 A. Yes, sir.

17 Q. Up there in Osage Beach?

18 A. Yes, sir.

19 Q. I appreciate you calling and let me have you

20 tell me what this Exhibit #45 is all about

21 and where we need to stop a minute I'll ask

22 you additional questions. What basically is

23 #45 all about?

24 A. This is a police incident report I pulled

25 regarding our City Manager, Mark Rohr. And


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1 in it you'll find an incident that was

2 reported or observed by the Police Department

3 that I believe any other citizen of Joplin

4 would have been arrested for if they had

5 committed the same violation. Mr. Rohr has

6 supervisory capacity over the Police

7 Department and I believe that got him a free

8 walk on this.

9 Q. You got this through the Freedom of

10 Information Act?

11 A. Yes, sir.

12 Q. And you went through I guess Barb Hogelin?

13 A. Right there.

14 Q. And that would be the first page of this

15 Exhibit #45?

16 A. Yes.

17 Q. Okay. Can you tell me when you read this

18 what it is that leads you to the conclusion

19 there was some kind of obstruction of the

20 Police Department's job? What do you believe

21 --

22 A. When you read the report the officer states

23 that Mr. Rohr's wife screamed for her

24 daughter to call the police because she was

25 being to my belief abused by Mr. Rohr. When


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1 the police arrived they found no markings on

2 her and didn't investigate further. That's

3 as far as they took it. But any other

4 citizen in Joplin that commits a domestic

5 violence charge is usually arrested.

6 Q. Did you hear the 911 tape?

7 A. No, they wouldn't allow me. If you'll notice

8 on the letter they do not allow me the 911

9 call. I understand you can subpoena those if

10 you believe there was a crime committed,

11 however I don't have the money to be hiring

12 attorneys to do this.

13 Q. Let me get your background a little bit.

14 You've never worked for the City?

15 A. No.

16 Q. And you're a carpenter by trade?

17 A. Yes, sir.

18 Q. Are you a finish carpenter?

19 A. I'm a union carpenter. We do mainly

20 commercial work.

21 Q. Commercial work?

22 A. Correct.

23 Q. Do you work in the area down here?

24 A. I'm retired.

25 Q. So you're retired?


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1 A. Yes.

2 Q. How did you come about wanting to talk to me?

3 A. Well, I think people ought to know what's

4 going on here, that it's not right that a man

5 is not subject to the same laws that we are.

6 Q. You believe if this had been you --

7 A. Any other citizen.

8 Q. Any other citizen?

9 A. Any other citizen that didn't have

10 supervisory capacity over the Police

11 Department would have been arrested. Mr.

12 Rohr is the supervisor of the Police

13 Department.

14 Q. Do you know anything more about that, whether

15 or not, for example, do you know if the City

16 Council has looked into that?

17 A. I've called the Council members.

18 Q. Who have you talked with there?

19 A. Mr. Scearce and I've talked to Dr. Rosenberg.

20 Q. And you reported this kind of stuff to them?

21 A. They said they're aware of it.

22 Q. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you

23 coming in here. We need to hear from

24 citizens about what they think about their

25 community. Anything else that you have


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1 observed on Mr. Rohr that you should report?

2 A. Well, when I went to City Council - back in

3 2011 I lost my home in the tornado. The City

4 came out with an ordinance, it may be part of

5 the original ordinance, dangerous building

6 ordinance, but they said that anybody that

7 lost their home, once their home was cleared

8 they also need to remove their driveway.

9 They did declare my driveway a dangerous

10 building and I went to the Council meeting

11 and spoke with Mr. Rohr and Mr. Rohr told me

12 if I gave my information to the City Finance

13 Manager then I would not be subject to this.

14 That was the only requirement in the

15 ordinance, that you state to the City your

16 intent prior to October 15th. I attended the

17 Council meeting on September 6th, 2011 and

18 gave them my intent. Mr. Rohr lied. He went

19 ahead and proceeded my driveway as a

20 dangerous building. And that's what got me -

21 well, that, and there was some other items

22 that came up in the paper showing how he was

23 abusive towards his employees. I assume if

24 he's abusive towards his employees he's

25 abusive toward anybody so that's why I


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1 subpoenaed that, or made a Freedom of

2 Information Request.

3 Q. Did you, in fact, have to take your driveway

4 out?

5 A. Not yet I haven't. I told them I'm going to

6 fight it in court. I'm going to hire me an

7 attorney and we're going to fight.

8 Q. Now the fact that your building was destroyed

9 there's nothing wrong with the driveway?

10 A. Nothing. They declared it dangerous. I told

11 them I had a structural engineer that will

12 testify in court that my driveway withstood

13 the winds of an EF5 tornado and remained in

14 place and it was indeed not a dangerous

15 structure.

16 Q. Why does this want the driveways out?

17 A. I don't know. I guess he wants a cookie

18 cutter separate lots kind of community here.

19 I don't know. It befuddles me.

20 Q. That ordinance I believe was passed by Mr.

21 Rohr?

22 A. Yes, it was his ordinance according to the

23 news release that brought me to the Council

24 meeting.

25 Q. And have you talked with an attorney? I mean


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1 that's probably inverse condemnation is

2 probably what it is.

3 A. I've talked to a couple of attorneys that

4 tell me they don't think they can win. They

5 said that once this goes to court the typical

6 Circuit judge will side with the City as

7 opposed to a homeowner.

8 Q. The problem is that the ordinance would have

9 to be proved unconstitutional which costs you

10 a lot of money.

11 A. Exactly.

12 Q. And the City has got lots of money to argue

13 against you.

14 A. Yes, sir.

15 Q. And what you're telling me is that lawyers

16 have told you you're fighting an uphill

17 battle?

18 A. They're saying it will be a very expensive

19 dilemma.

20 Q. I think that's probably true. What's it

21 going to cost you to have to rebuild that

22 driveway?

23 A. Approximately $4,000.00. The county taxes me

24 on that driveway. It's listed as an

25 improvement on my property and they tax me on


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1 it. The City gets a share of that tax money.

2 But they list the value on there the tax

3 bill is $2,000.00. In actuality if I had to

4 replace it it would cost me $4,000.00.

5 Q. And you're going to have to tear it out so

6 that's going to cost you money?

7 A. Yes, sir.

8 Q. Then you'd have to replace it so that's going

9 to cost you money?

10 A. Yes, sir.

11 Q. Has anyone thought about a class action

12 against the City on this?

13 A. That's what I spoke with an attorney about

14 and I figured I had a case being they told me

15 in City Council meeting that they weren't

16 coming after my driveway and they did anyway.

17 But like I said he said you're fighting an

18 uphill battle. You're fighting City Hall.

19 Q. I think in strength there's numbers.

20 A. There's over 400 citizens that have been

21 cited for this ordinance according to the

22 City Finance Director. Over 400 people. I

23 was at those Board of Appeals meetings.

24 Pitiful.

25 Q. Who is on that Board of Appeals? Is Woolston


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1 on there?

2 A. No, he's not on there. Kyle Denham (ph.) is

3 the local architect and he's the Chairman of

4 the Board. I worked with Kyle on numerous

5 projects in the past. We've worked together.

6 I know him to be an honest man. I brought

7 this up to him. Everybody that came before

8 the Building Board of Appeals the first thing

9 they asked you was when are you going to

10 rebuild, and that's the same thing they told

11 me. I said I'll rebuild when I'm ready. And

12 they said you either rebuild now or you lose

13 your driveway. It was people there that less

14 money than me, not as educated as I am that

15 just wanted their driveway, wanted to keep

16 their driveway so they could get on their

17 property off the street and they're not being

18 allowed.

19 Q. Do you know who all these folks are?

20 A. Which folks?

21 Q. The folks that they're having them remove

22 their driveway?

23 A. The City.

24 Q. I mean is it in the newspaper? Do you have a

25 list of these people?


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1 A. Yes, yes.

2 Q. Can you get me a copy of that list?

3 A. I've got a list out in my truck.

4 Q. Could you go out there and get it?

5 A. It's only 45 names that's on this list

6 because that's the only ones that were

7 brought before the Board when I was there.

8 Q. So there's been more since?

9 A. The City Finance Director says there's 400.

10 Q. Have any of these actually been removed yet?

11 A. Yes, I'm aware of an attorney here in town

12 just right down the road here, his name is

13 Genisio, Charles Genisio. He has two cases

14 right now where people are suing the City for

15 wrongful taking of their property.

16 Q. I think so.

17 A. But it's another deal like I was telling you,

18 it's going to cost you more than the

19 improvements. That's why I told the City

20 Council the other night during - I went to a

21 Council meeting Monday night and spoke on

22 this and they just pooh-poohed me off.

23 Q. Could you get me that list you've got out in

24 the car?

25 A. Sure.


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1 Q. Is it something I can make a copy of?

2 A. You can have it.

3 Q. Is it handwritten?

4 A. No, it's a typed list the City provides.

5 Q. Could I have a copy of that?

6 A. You can have it.

7 Q. Let me give you a chance to go get it.

8 (Short break taken, back on record)

9 Q. (By Mr. Loraine) Mr. Parker, you've brought

10 me some items in. First of all I'm going to

11 give you what is now marked Exhibit #47 and

12 that's a list of the people, 45 of the 400

13 you said?

14 A. Yes, sir, from the last Board of Appeals

15 meeting.

16 Q. And these are people that are being forced to

17 either build their house back or tear their

18 driveway out?

19 A. Correct.

20 Q. I'm going to give you a picture of --

21 A. Not necessarily the driveway. Some people

22 have other concrete improvements on their

23 property. Not necessarily a driveway.

24 Q. Okay. I gotcha. I'm going to give you #48.

25 Tell me what that letter is?


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1 A. That's my statement to Council. The date on

2 it is incorrect, November 4th. I went to

3 that meeting Monday night. It was December

4 2nd.

5 Q. December 2nd. Can I change that to December

6 2nd?

7 A. Yes, sir.

8 Q. It now reads December 2nd and I've scratched

9 that out. Do you want to put your initials

10 there that that's correct?

11 A. Yes, sir, I have the Council meeting that I

12 attended that Mr. Rohr told me I could keep

13 my driveway as long as I gave my information

14 to the City Finance Director.

15 Q. He told you that in a meeting and you got a

16 video on him?

17 A. Yes, sir, I had it in my truck as well. It

18 may not be in my truck, it may be in my home,

19 but I've got it.

20 Q. Have you talked to Mr. Genisio about this?

21 A. Yes, he tells me it's going to be expensive.

22 He says I've got a good case, might win, but

23 it's going to cost me.

24 Q. Now #46 is a picture of the driveway that is

25 allegedly in poor condition and needs to be


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1 condemned and ripped out?

2 A. It was posted as a dangerous building.

3 Q. So that's Number #46?

4 A. Yes, sir.

5 Q. And that is, in fact, an accurate photograph

6 of the driveway they want you to rip out?

7 A. I've got the address written on top, 2120

8 Mississippi.

9 Q. All right. Sir, I thank you very much for

10 coming in and talking to me. This is a thing

11 that I've not heard before. I've heard about

12 the police report, but I did not hear about

13 this. So you've certainly served the City

14 well by delivering this material and I will

15 certainly include it in my report.

16 A. All right.

17 Q. Thank you very much, Mr. Parker.

18 A. Thank you for your time.

19

20 (SWORN STATEMENT CONCLUDED)

21

22

23


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REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE

STATE OF MISSOURI

ss.

COUNTY OF JASPER

I, SHARON K. ROGERS, Certified Court Reporter in the

State of Missouri, do certify that pursuant to the

foregoing Stipulation the witness came before me on the 4th

day of December, 2013, was duly sworn by me, and was

examined. That examination was then taken by me by

steno-mask recording and afterwards transcribed; said Sworn

Statement is subscribed by the witness as hereinbefore set

out on the day in that behalf aforesaid and is herewith

returned.

I further certify that I am not counsel, attorney, or

relative of either party, or clerk, or stenographer of

either party or of the attorney of either party, or

otherwise interested in the event of this suit.

_________________________

SHARON K. ROGERS, CCR-650

Documents

Parker, Tim | Testimony transcript