Back in July we brought up our belief that James Ryan Williams wasn't acting alone - and the two names we brought up were Democrat politicians Bill Skaggs and Phil Snowden.
Their involvement went a long way towards explaining why James Ryan Williams was beating other politically connected bidders. They certainly didn't put together better bids: for conclusive proof look to the Gladstone fee office.
Skagg's and Snowden's involvement has been a loose thread in the story. We pulled on it, and succeeded only in raising more questions.
In Williams' original bids for the Gladstone and North Kansas City fee offices, Sandra Skaggs and Jane Snowden were set to cover 50% of the costs and receive 50% of the profits.
By all appearances it's a sweetheart deal. License offices aren't exactly risky financial ventures, which makes it difficult to explain why they would get a 50% share of the profits with so little responsibility. Williams claimed the two will be involved in the fee offices, but outlines no specific duties or responsibilities. They're both noticeably absent from the implementation and personnel plans.
In short, it's difficult to tell if Sandra and Jane or Bill and Phil are the reason why the deal came together. Other than the political clout of their families,
But then they got cut out. James Ryan Williams included the same explanation in revisions to the two bids:
"[Insert name here] is a long time friend . . . has agreed to extend her credit . . . in exchange for a percentage of potential future profits . . . will only be accessed in the future event that I have a need for additional credit."
The revisions don't necessarily mean anything - Williams could just as easily include them again. Our theory is that they got spooked by the extent of the fee office hi-jinks, and wanted to sit back and see if things worked out.
They might have been wondering, just as we have been, how one man was supposed to win so many fee offices and why the quantity of bids didn't count against their quality. The decision to allow it was beyond our comprehension, just as the outrageous success of Nixon donors in the bidding process has been.
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