Monday, January 31, 2011

Is this another one of Steve Helms' WTF moments?

This billboard,one of several in Springfield (I saw it on Grant Avenue, just north of the Brown Derby store at St. Louis Street) certainly caused some fireworks at the last meeting of the Greene County Republican Central Committee which was held last week at a downtown restaurant.

And the guy who started the fireworks?

Why Steve Helms, of course, the master of the sucker punch.

He is upset with Roseann Bentley, a Greene County Commissioner, Springfield Area Arts Council Board Member, former Missouri State Senator, former chair of the Senate's Education Committee, former president of the State Board of Education, and former president of the Springfield R-12 Board of Education.

The story I heard is that at the end of the meeting, as people were leaving, Helms got the floor and made a motion to censure Bentley for appearing in that campaign ad and also to remove her from the central committee.

After being seconded by Larry Russell, the motion passed.

WTF?

A recent bus rider had this to say about Helms:

He was discharged from the Army for reasons unknown; arrived in these parts of the country with fewer papers on birth, education and employment history than President Obama; drug out of bankruptcy by some woman active in the Republican Party; appointed to a top legal community position in the courts system with no prior skills by a Governor who quit his position after supporters had spent millions of dollars to get him elected, and, this is almost a novel but not as good as Winters Bone.
And now he wants to kick Roseann Bentley out of the Republicans.

Another bus rider said
The employees at the courthouse say Helms, when he is there, hides in his office and works on Springburg and has nothing to do with the running of the office and courts system.

The judges rely on another person for leadership and liason with the Circuit Clerk's office.


Look at Helms' personal bio on his website, stevehelms.net:
Born: September 12 no date given here, does he even have a birth certificate? is he hiding something?

Married: Virginia R Helms, January 30, 1988

Children: Sarah, David, & Elizabeth no mention of what school they attend, are they homeschooled?

Education: Sarasota High School, 1984 did he graduate? Is this Sarasota Florida?

Attended: OTC, Austin Peay State University, Hopkinsville Community College OTC we can assume is Ozarks Technical College here in #SGF, Austin Peay and Hopkinsville CC are in Clarksville TN and Hopkinsville, KY. Fort Campbell next to these two areas. So we can deduce that Helms was stationed at Fort Campbell sometime during his army career. (I took my basic training at Ft. Campbell, which is hte home of the 82nd Airborne.)

Military Service: US Army from 1989-1996 No memtion of rank? duty stations? dates of assignments? MOS?

Self-employed/Business: 1996-2008 Would the business be Helms Home Repair? Helms Enterprise and Complete Mobile Home, Mello's Tree Service? or maybe it is your "mini-vacation rental" business or your newspaper publishing business?

Greene County Circuit Court Clerk: 2008 - Present

Boards: S.A.L.T.

Local Emergency Food and Shelter Board

Organizations: American Legion National Rifle Association Missouri Republican Assembly - NFRA

Church: Second Baptist Church
What's Bentley done? - This narrative was taken from one of the many websites that come up when Bentley's name is googled.

This is from the Missouri Women's Council when they presented their Award of Distinction to Bentley in 2006.
Roseann Bentley
Greene County Commissioner 2nd District

Roseann Bentley’s exceptional contributions to the cause of women and children have had a significant impact locally, state-wide and nationally. She has been tireless in her efforts to make a difference over many years and through a variety of ways.

Roseann was the first woman elected to the Missouri Senate from Southwest Missouri. She helped set up a Take Your Daughters to Work Day in the State Capitol and gave keynote addresses to approximately 100 girls for several years.

Roseann sponsored legislation which was amended onto House Bill 1519 which took thirty million dollars from the gaming boat entry fees and used it to fund better early childhood education. This bill set up programs for more quality child care, for parenting education and for developmentally appropriate activities taught to childcare providers and to stay at home moms.

She chaired the Children’s Services Commission for three years. This commission discussed and analyzed how their actions and legislation affected families.

She was co-founder of the United Way Day of Caring fourteen years ago. This event has become an annual event in Springfield. She has seen thousands of volunteer hours given on behalf of women and children.

She served as the President of the Junior League of Springfield. The year she served, the League started a thrift shop which has given three million dollars back to the community from the profits the shop has generated. She was awarded the Association of Junior Leagues’ International Mary Harriman Award for her work on behalf of women and children.

She co-sponsored the bill that set up the first Missouri Office for Women’s Health.

Her insights and far reaching efforts are a tribute to a woman who has made significant contributions to the cause of women and families. Her dedication and focus are truly amazing.

For Helms to even suggest that Bentley needs to be censured for appearing with Coonrod in the billboard speaks volumes about the mindset of Helms. Helms needs to apologize to Commissioner Bentley, the Greene County Republican Central Committee and HE needs to resign from the Central Committee.

WTF, Steve?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I say that we need to see some paper work on Helms. Is he a citizen? Was he honorably discharged from the military? Can he prove he doesn't work on his little newspaper on the taxpayer's dime and county equipment?

We need some proof. He seems, I don't know...Belgian, maybe?

Anonymous said...

I have heard that Steve Helms spends little time at his elected position and has limited office hours. Greene County taxpayers may be interested to know about his extra curricular activities.

Anonymous said...

My goodness, every letter Steve ever had published in the SN-L is posted on his website.

It's revealing how often his political moralistic finger wagging points to the topic of legal/illegal plunder considering his bankruptcy history which included the usual business debts and a phenomenal credit card debt, often indicative of out of control spending.

-pp

Anonymous said...

What a crappy looking Web site. Helms should be embarrassed, but then again, he's playing on the county's dime rather than doing the work he was elected to do.

Anonymous said...

Helms is living proof that you can't fix stupid or disrespect.

I can't imagine that his brothers and sisters at Second Baptist Church, if they pay any attention to what is happening in their community, agree with the stunt he pulled.

Mrs. Bentley's resume is one of an outstanding community leader, contrasted to Helm's actions which are stupid and disrespectful.

Mr. Helms actions of working on non-court business while being paid by tax revenues is stupid and disrespectful to the taxpayers. His actions show a great need for attention and a desperate attempt to build his political future.

In fact, Helms actions had the most negative street talk at the Courthouse the day after the meeting that I've heard in several months. People generally agreed that you can't fix stupid and disrespect and that the sitting Judges are contributing to the problem. They can get Helms under control, but choose not to.

I doubt Commissioner
Viebrock put Helms up to this powergrab. He recognizes that Coonrod took advantage of Bentley and Bengsch with the photo. If he did, he too is stupid and disrespectful. You can't fix that.

Furthermore, is this an indication of the leadership of the local Republican Party? I can't imagine the officers of the GOP committee being this stupid and disrespectful, yet they let it happen. But you can fix that.

The leadership should disavow Helms and the person who seconded the motion at the meeting and publically apologize to Mrs. Bentley. That does not fix stupid but it goes a long way toward showing some respect.

Anonymous said...

Larry Russell, another of the Dumb Brotherhood, seconded the motion.

Helms is the political spawn of Mavis Busiek, which just goes to show you how her being senile for the past 20 years has contributed to the demise of the Republican Party organizations in Southwest Missouri.

Anonymous said...

The Republican Party is being taken over by these (in this case...possibly illegal) crazies like Helms. John McCain for crying out loud was not born in the USA. Who cares?

The kookier they are the more the true conservatives (soon to be a thing of the past) fear them and therefore give these people their way. This is how they will lose their party.

They should not. Some of the good conservative people, of which Ms. Bentley is one, should call them out. Do it now or they'll lose the party and elections to these nut cases like Helms.

Ms. Bentley, if you want to be a Blue Dog Democrat, c'mon over. We will welcome someone with your accomplishments, dedication, and common sense. Not all Dems are flaming liberals, many such as myself resemble Independents. You know,,,, Blue Dogs. I suspect you'll find more compassion in the Democratic Party than in the Republican Party. How sad.

How dare this idiot be mean to Ms. Bentley.

Bus, thanks for the article. Good reporting and good insight into what's really going on.

Anonymous said...

Who the f### names a kid "Mavis"?

It even SOUNDS inbred.

Anonymous said...

How come we read about this in a blog and not in the News-Leader?

This is something that needs to reach a broader audience than this.

Anonymous said...

Local media, cover this? You've got to be kidding.

The radio, TV stations and SN-L are trying to figure out how to live on automobile advertising.

They are under so much financial pressure they can't afford to take on issues of importance to the area. Might make some potential advertiser mad.

Seriously, who is Helms? Why did he do this? is he running for public office. He better hope not.

Anonymous said...

A thief will steal time from his employer.

Anonymous said...

I always poop while on the clock. ALWAYS.

Anonymous said...

Never sweat on their time or poop on yours. Yes, I too am a union member.