To share her Resignation from Christian County Library, Renee Brumett again Reaches out to Springfield Daily Citizen
There is a pattern in Springfield Daily Citizen’s reporting, no matter who they send to cover. It has a spin, bias, and disingenuous nature.
Resignation
Renee Brumert resigned on December 17th, 2024, as Executive Direction, from the Christian County Library, giving her thirty-day notice.
It is telling she gave a copy of her resignation to the Springfield Daily Citizen (which I have demonstrated has not covered this developing story out of Christian County accurately here and here).
The new journalist covering these stories is Jack McGee. Here is information on MuckRuck. He uses “He/Him” prononuns on this profile. He’s cannot be unbiased about transgender books for kids if he’s unaware of how reality works. “Boys have penises. Girls have vaginas."
He quotes Brumett as saying she’s laid a strong foundation at the Library. Yet for the last two years of her tenure, she’s found herself at the center of a major controversy that didn’t have to happen.
As the head of a taxing entity in Christian County, she had an obligation to act in a conservative manner to create the greatest possible good with the money (generated by the hard work of the citizens of this county) for the benefit of the greatest number of people in the county (without harming anyone). This is a simple principle that isn’t hard to apply in her position.
Instead, she chose to radicalize the library collection and the library staff. I’ve recorded multiple instances of this on my substack. There is far more I’ve covered, along with Gretchen Garrity at Right to Win Ozarks.
I only started writing, in large part, because of Brumett’s resistance to her own community and the unseeemly connections CCL had with news outlets which twisted the truth, such as Springfield Daily Citizen is doing in their latest article. Their coverage of Brumett’s exit isn’t the only problem in this article. They continue to let Allyson Tuckness say things that aren’t “accurate” without holding her accountable.
Tuckness, Former Board President
Allyson Tuckness claims harassment by citizens. I assume she means me. I am not harassing her. I am calling out her public statements she has made in public forums as board president and in the media and telling you they aren’t true. Tuckness doesn’t explain how she has harrassed the community at the Library Board meetings. Neither does McGee nor does his publisher. That’s more sleight-of-hand stage magic which requires a rather dark stage, rather than reporting.
For example, Tuckness voted for the labeling of the books. Below is the evidence. I’ve covered this particular “mistruth” before and called her out for it. That’s not harassment. That’s correcting the record of a public official who calls her neighbors and fellow Christian County citizens Nazi’s and book burners.
The Lawsuit
They don’t tell you about the lawsuit, but give you a link to follow.
Janis Hagen may being used by Harry Stryon to sue three members of the board—Echo Schneider, John Garrity, and Diana Brazeale. I say used because there are some concerns about Hagen’s mental capacity. I contacted her about this and she never denied it. I even contacted Harry Styron about it through his law firm’s website and he’s never denied it.
The lawsuit reached another milestone yesterday when the Judge found it strange that the Library Board Harry is suing fired him for suing the Library Board.
On Dec. 16th, 2024, at the CCL Library Board meeting, I took these notes.
Mary Miller (financial manager of the library) broke up the legal fees from Styron & Shilling
$4162
Outside of the scope of his $500 monthly fee (by notifying Renee)
Did not receive a budget from Styron explaining costs
Brazeal (speaking)
We should give him a chance to justify the hours
Garrity asking
Who commissioned Styron to do the legal work?
What notice did he provide?
What budget did he provide?
Brumett
We can approve the anticipated bills with the exception of that one check to Styron & Shilling
Check
$1312.50 (To be held by the Library)
To approve the rest of the amount (estimation bill)
$2850.50 to be paid to Styron & Shilling
In what could be a possible ethics violation, Styron did not share the full information in his billing nor what the $1312.50 was related work. The question remains, who authorized him to do this work?
Missouri Rule 4-1.5 requires that legal fees be reasonable and transparent
Rule 4-8.4(c) prohibits conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation
This could also violate Rule 4-1.15 regarding the proper handling of client funds
What we do know is that the day after Brumett is questioned about this by the Board, she resigns on December 17th, 2024. There won’t be another Library Board meeting until February 2025.
Do you want a Board that holds its employee responsible or do you want a Board that has no control over its employee? Which direction do you think the Springfield Daily Citizen is trying to nudge you by not giving you all the facts?
Appointment By Commissioners
McGee is either ignorant of the law or ignorant of why Article V of the bylaws was changed.
During Brumett’s, and shortly before her tenure, there was a wild scramble to change many of the by-laws in the Library by library staff and Stryon. Much of the process seems to have by-passed the sitting boards at the time, or only got a cursory review by those boards with the work all by done away from board meetings. This has been documented and researched through Sunshine Requests.
Article V was changed by the Library Board to match Missouri Statue which is below. I highlighted the relevant parts for easier reading.
The recent by-law changes aren’t nefarious. They are happening in public view, allowing for public comment, and for even the media to scrutinize. This is how you preserve truth in a Representative Republic. Changing Article V changes it to match the Missouri Statute, as it should, rather than to create a parallel system where the Library staff and current board get to select their own new board members.
Under this system, it denied a Representative government, and created a Politburo Library Board elected by stooges and goons from a tight inner circle of power brokers within an elite community—much like the same community that elects leaders to Habitat for Humanity, Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks, Friends of the Zoo.
The Fourth Horseman
There is a desire to cast Hernandez de Carl as the Fourth Horseman of the TransApocalypse because she cares about children. This is disingenuous. They are ignoring her actual accomplishments, her admirable goals, and treat her concerns as disingenuous (and hence dismissible).
She’s far more capable than they realize and they should be frightened of her tenancity to tell the truth and to rally people together.
Conclusion
I want to speak to Brumett first.
Renee,
I don’t think you’re a person who wanted this fight, but when it came to your library, you chose it. I don’t know why. In what I have learned about your past, and what I can guess, I would have hoped you would have reached different conclusions about your responsibility to your faith and commitment to a higher cause than your career.
I pray you find a suitable position for your skills, but I do hope you cannot make these types of decisions for the lives of children until you decide your current beliefs were wrong.
Sincerely,
David Rice
Jack,
Welcome to Christian County. If you are going to cover news here, you will need to do Good. We ask for Truth. Not balanced, not fair, and not guided by foundations or donors.
Tell the truth and things will be fine, even if we don’t agree on conclusions. Leave the sophistry in Greene County with the wealthy elites and Republicans who are Democrats.
Sincerely,
David Rice