Taxpayer $ to Sell the Bond?

Cooke County Citizens for Better Government

Were College Resources used to Sell the Bond?

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Were Taxpayer Dollars used to Sell us the Bond?

What did NCTC know about Texas Law's prohibition on the use of NCTC resources to sell the bond?

We have several NCTC e-mails documenting employees working on the bond during working hours, on campus. There are also e-mails regarding the plan and release of almost 3,600 confidential student e-mail addresses for the purpose of doing an e-mail blitz to current and former NCTC students. You don't have to take our word for any of this. We will provide access to the e-mails below, and we won't ask you to pay $92,000+ to see them like the college did.

Dr. Hadlock sent an e-mail to all NCTC employees on March 1, 2011 that stated among other things:

"Also attached are three other VERY important documents, which I urge you to read carefully, about what NCTC faculty and staff, including me, can and cannot do in regard to advocating passage of the bond, during college work hours or using college resources (email, college telephone system, college stationary, etc.)."

You don't have to take our word for it. Here is the link to the e-mail and the three VERY important documents.

That e-mail also tells the employees about a video he posted on 2-28-11 #2 at http://www.nctcfacstaff.podbean.com/. That web page has a caution statement: "Now that this vote has been taken, certain restrictions apply to members of our faculty and staff regarding the use of college resources to advocate for passage of the bond. More information about this is being sent through empmail." He also talks about it at the beginning of the video. See for yourself.

Click here to see Dr. Hadlock video of 2-28-11 on bond election and precautions on using college resources to advocate for the bond about half way into the video.

It seems clear Dr. Hadlock knew that college resources, facilities, email, paid time during working hours, print shop, etc., could not be used to advocate for the passage of the bond.

Why then did he do the following:

Write an ad during business hours using the college e-mail system advocating passage of the bond and use NCTC staff to deliver it to the Register to meet the ad deadline?

Dr. Hadlock e-mail to Charles Draper with wording of Ad

Note: e-mails printed by Steve Gaylord will show Steve Gaylord at the top, even though they were sent by someone else.

Dr. Hadlock e-mail stating: "Rather than send it, I had a staff member hand deliver it in order to meet a publishing deadline for the AD."

Use college offices and staff time to distribute yard signs on campus.

An e-mail was sent out on April 26, 2011, to what appears to be all NCTC employees saying signs will be in Dr. Hadlock's office on Thursday, signed by Dr. Hadlock. "Please feel free to pick up as many as you need to put in your yard or to give them to friends." It also states "Pat Ledbetter is needing volunteers to help her call voters to remind them to vote."

Don't take our word for it, read the e-mails below:

Hadlock e-mail about signs in his office and Pat Ledbetter needing volunteers

Hadlock Thursday 4-28-11 e-mail on Sandy delivering signs on campus

NCTC decided to pass a file with almost 3600 confidential Cooke County student e-mail addresses and home phone numbers to the Political Action Committee, (PAC), supporting the Bond, some of which turned out to be cell numbers, so they could contact them and ask them to vote for the Bond.

Those e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers are Confidential by Law. NCTC properly declined to provide them when they were previously asked for in 2004 for political purposes. Why didn't they do the same this time?

Rodger Boyce and Debbie Sharp e-mail on student file & e-mail addresses

The "Pat in a Tizzy"" e-mail below between Dr. Hadlock and Rodger Boyce documents several political activities at the college including giving the student e-mail addresses to the PAC, talks about distributing signs and also talks about using PBK and Mike Stevens of Action Printing as consultants to help pass the bond. NCTC previously paid Mike Stevens more than $6,000 for a survey in Fall 2010 to see if the bond would pass. Was there some expectation of additional consulting as a result of that. There is also the mention of PBK as consultants. PBK is the architectural firm that NCTC switched to less than a year ago. Apparently there is some expectation of some free consulting to help pass the bond in exchange for getting the architecture work of about $1.8 million when the bond passes?

Do you think it appropriate for NCTC to be using their contractors as free consultants to sell us the bond?

Pat (Ledbetter) in a Tizzy e-mail between Dr. Hadlock and Rodger Boyce

Attorney General to NCTC: Don't release confidential student e-mail addresses

Mike Stevens - Action Printing invoice to NCTC for $6.763 for Survey

The above is just a sampling of the many e-mails documenting the use of NCTC e-mail, contractors and political activity in support of the May Bond Election by NCTC staff on campus, during working hours. Is it any wonder they complained so loudly about our asking for these? The original estimate was over $92,000 of which $72, 000 was labor and overhead to read them and figure out what they didn't want to release. We ended up paying more than $320 to get these after the Attorney General's Office told NCTC their estimate was excessive.

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