Topics discussed during the Clay County Commissioners’ regular weekly meeting on December 9th included: Jury Trials, National Opioid Settlement, motor graders, road projects, accidents, 15-year longevity, advertising, and more.
Sierra Urban, Deputy Clerk, presented an email to the Board from BrownGreer PLC on the county’s Opioid Settlements. A motion was made for Urban to sign the authorization from the National Opioid Settlement to continue funding for the county’s subdivision, passing unanimously.
Joel Mason, County Attorney, reported that it has been a busy week due to a jury trial set for Thursday and Friday.
Bobby Shomper, Highway Administrator, presented bids for new equipment to the Board. Casey Fraser, Foley CAT, and Lance Jones, Murphy Tractor Equipment took the floor to present bids from their respective companies for two new motor graders. After the discussion of bids, the Board made a motion to accept the bid from Foley CAT for the new equipment. Shomper stated that the Underwoods project had been completed and showed the Board the end result. He also stated that other projects are coming in steadily. He stated that the Department has a 2-year goal to rebuild roads throughout the county.
Alan Benninga, Sheriff, reported on the unfortunate fatality accidents that took place in the County recently. He also stated that he will be attending Wakefield Rescue’s public meeting to address improvements and conflicts with rescues and equipment. No date for the meeting has been posted yet.
Whitney Baer, Noxious Weed Director, met with the Board to review her 15-year longevity with the Board. Commissioners signed Baer’s 15-year payroll change. Baer reported that they are having issues with some vehicles. The Board informed Baer to look for a new pickup and to have repairs done on a sprayer truck. The Board instructed Baer to work on attendance and time entry issues moving forward.
Ryan Wilson and Melanie Musselman, Clay Center Dispatch, Natalie Muruato, Grow Clay County, many other Grow Clay County members, and concerned citizens met with the Board to discuss advertising and other business between the Dispatch and Grow Clay County. Much was discussed with many people speaking on the different subjects. Muruato presented a letter to the Board to be posted in the minutes (listed below from minutes). After much discussion from both sides, the Board instructed Wilson and Muruato to speak one-on-one to resolve all conflicts.
Full minutes of this, and all other previous County Commissioner meeting minutes are available to the public at www.claycountykansas.org.
Letter by Natalie Murauto directly from the Minutes:
“In response to recent accusations and misleading statements from the Clay Center Dispatch and the Clay County Commissioners’ minutes, I am providing clarification and ask that this be included in its entirety in the minutes.
On March 6th, Grow Clay County received an email from Melanie requesting information to include on the Easter page. In response, Kathryn sent them our map, featuring our name and logo along with Glavan Ford’s name and logo, as we had done in previous years. Melanie replied, suggesting the addition of eggs around the print we submitted, expressing dissatisfaction with the map design, which has been consistently used for the past decade. We responded, explaining that we preferred to keep the map unchanged for branding and readability purposes, to which she agreed.
However, on Tuesday, March 19th the Dispatch published a blurry, altered version of the print that bore little resemblance to what we submitted, with our name and sponsor information removed. I emailed Melanie to address the misprint and request a resolution. In response, Ryan emailed me, providing several reasons for why he decided to alter the image without our consent.
· Did not scale well as a 5-column image and was outdated after 10 years.
· Created a new image after permission to modify the map was not granted.
· Assumed $100 donation had no conditions
· Glavan Ford was excluded as a sponsor because they don’t support the Dispatch.
The image was not resized to the required width because we were not informed that resizing was necessary. While the map has been used for several years, it remains a critical element of our branding and readability efforts. The decision to remove Glavan Ford, the event sponsor, and exclude our logo was disappointing and undermined the representation of our event.
Ryan’s claim that the $100 contribution was a free-will offering contradicts the communication we received from Melanie. She quoted specific rates of $12 for a 1×1 black-and-white ad and $15 for a 1×1 color ad, and we were never informed of any “free-will” option. In further email conversations with Kathryn, Melanie quotes a $100 contribution to the page with this map (the one we submitted) being the prominent feature. Despite this confusion, Ryan stated that payment was not required.
However, on March 16th, Grow Clay County received a bill from the Dispatch for $100 and again on March 30th. In response, we sent $25 to contribute toward the color printing costs, along with a letter explaining why we were not paying the full amount. Additionally, we requested the opportunity to review ads in advance if we are expected to share in the cost of printing moving forward.
On April 2nd, Ryan published our response we had issued regarding the school district’s decision not to participate in the Life Center, framing it as a letter to the editor—when in fact, I never submitted it for publication.
On April 17th, 2024, I received an email from Ryan Wilson expressing that he felt insulted by my letter. In his response, he stated:
“We won’t be consulting Grow Clay County when we cover such events in the future, nor do we wish to be part of your organization moving forward.”
Despite the tone of the email and the fact that he copied both Jerry Mayo and Mayor Thatcher on his response, including a copy of my letter, I chose not to engage. This decision was made to maintain professionalism and avoid escalating the situation further.
On April 23rd, I received a message from Melanie inviting Grow Clay County to advertise in the Yearbook edition. This is not an opportunity we typically participate in, as most of our advertising is funded through event sponsors or tied to specific grant programs. Given our limited discretionary funding for non-event-related advertising, I relayed the message that, per Ryan’s previous statement indicating he no longer wished to do business with us, we would not be participating in this opportunity.
On April 30th, nearly two weeks after receiving my letter about the Easter event, Ryan published my letter as a letter to the editor with the headline, “Easter page doesn’t meet Grow Clay County’s standards.” I believe this was a retaliatory action. As someone who values professionalism and integrity, I do not condone calling out individuals publicly, as it is neither reflective of my character nor an approach, I believe true leaders should take.
On May 19th, Ryan reposted a letter from Cowboys for Christ with the caption, “We’ve had a lot of comments about this. Please let Grow Clay County know what you think of the time change.” This appears to have been an effort to keep negative comments regarding the parade time change active, which many of them were aimed at discrediting our volunteers and staff.
After we placed our Christmas flyer in the Regional, which had received prior approval from the commissioners, On November 12th Ryan raised a concern with the commissioners about our decision not to place the flyers in Dispatch.
During the week of November 12-15, Melanie visited my office to solicit Christmas advertising. I reminded her that Ryan had previously requested no longer be part of the Grow Organization and that I was open to a conversation with him directly. The following week, November 18th, Melanie attended the commissioners’ meeting to complain that we were not advertising with the Dispatch. Coincidently, in the November 25th commission minutes we read: After much discussion, Commissioner Mayo made a motion to put Grow Clay County on notice that the County will not renew their contract until it has been re-negotiated.
On December 2nd, Grow Clay County was accused of: knowingly and willingly discriminating against a Clay County business while receiving tax dollars from Clay County, namely against the Dispatch. In point of fact our services and programs directed over $6,000 to the Dispatch this year alone—more than most other local vendors we support. For comparison, in previous years, the Dispatch had only received between $1,200 and $1,300 annually from Grow Clay County.
On December 5th the Dispatch posted the December 2 minutes where, Ryan made a false claim stating that our grantor for Navigator Services, Thrive Allen County, is required to publish in the paper of record—a requirement that, according to Rhonda Culp, our grant coordinator, questions the validity of this statement Rhonda had simply requested that we submit a list of newspapers and radio stations in our service areas to Thrive Allen County, as they had additional advertising funds and sought to strengthen the branding of the Kansas Cares program statewide. Both the Dispatch and the Union were included on that list.
On Friday, December 7th, Ryan emailed Grow Board member Kerri Spielman, requesting a meeting with the Grow Board. Kerri directed him to contact me to schedule a time and copied myself and Grow Clay County President Monte Green.
On Saturday, December 8th, Ryan replied to Kerri Spielman again (and copied President Monte Green, but took my name off the email), stating that because he believes I misrepresented events surrounding the Easter promotion, he intends to publish an editorial about it in Tuesday’s paper. This is yet another attempt to intimidate and publicly discredit myself and the Grow Clay County organization. I have not received any communication from Ryan directly.
And now, we find ourselves once again in a public meeting where Ryan, with the commission’s preference for addressing grievances in this forum, continues to escalate conflict and cause further harm.
I have deep concern and disappointment regarding the handling of recent matters involving Grow Clay County, the County Commission, and the Dispatch. This situation has not only been approached unprofessionally and with malice, but also undermined the mission of our organization and my personal and professional reputation.
The decisions made and the actions taken—particularly the dissemination of unsubstantiated claims—have caused undue harm to Grow Clay County, which is itself a Clay County business employing five individuals. The publication of these damaging statements, both in public minutes and online, perpetuates harassment and defamation against our organization, fueled by Ryan Wilson’s persistent behavior. Even after presenting clear evidence disproving claims of discrimination against a local business in the December 2 County Commission meeting, these assertions were irresponsibly shared without fully assessing both sides and investigating further.
This conduct raises significant concerns about fairness, transparency, and professionalism. Requiring us to work with a vendor whose practices are problematic, who manipulates logo placements based on advertising relationships, and who has repeatedly targeted our organization with false narratives does not align with the principles of impartiality or quality that should govern such decisions. Will your recommended advertising procedures be communicated to other entities that receive county tax dollars, or is this just for Grow Clay County? Additionally, the introduction of ambiguous funding and utility discussions for future contract changes, without clear directives, further intensifies the challenges we face in fulfilling our mission. It might be coincidental, but it seems organizations are being financially crippled based on false information.
The inclusion of our grantor—whose support constitutes one-third of our operational budget—in these false claims undermines not only our current and future funding but also the broader trust and confidence of stakeholders. This reckless dissemination of misinformation jeopardizes grant programs, deters potential investors and partners, deters assistance to county residents, and casts a shadow of pettiness and antagonism.
These actions have far-reaching implications for Grow Clay County, our mission, and the citizens we serve. The harm to our reputations and the potential long-term consequences for our organization cannot be overstated. I urge all parties involved to address this matter promptly and professionally, including issuing corrections to the false claims made and taking steps to ensure transparency, fairness, and respect in future dealings.
We formally request a retraction of the meeting minutes, as we have irrefutable evidence demonstrating that we have not engaged in any discriminatory actions against the Dispatch using taxpayer funds. Additionally, we ask for the retraction of the claim that we provided false information regarding the effort to increase the Transient Guest Tax. We have an email from Shannon Stark that prefaces a phone conversation where the proposed bed tax increase was discussed with Sandy Rothfus, who indicated it would not impact their establishment and expressed no objections to the increase. The information presented was based directly on what was shared when we assumed responsibility for Travel and Tourism.
Furthermore, the dissemination of these false claims not only damages the credibility of Grow Clay County but also raises serious legal concerns. The failure to verify the accuracy of these claims before making them public undermines the principles of due process, veracity, and fairness, should carry the day. It is imperative that this matter be addressed promptly and responsibly to mitigate further harm and uphold the integrity of our institutions.”
