Dear Editor,

The Nov. 17 meeting of the Board of Commissioners went pretty much as I expected with regard to the Ashley Hall/Area 51 agenda item. Please note that Paul Donohue was not able to attend the afternoon session due to a medical emergency. After failing to accommodate Mr. Donohue?s request to me to postpone this item till he could be there, the Board heard my presentation demonstrating Mr. Hall?s default of the consulting contract by excluding the Treasurer and Assessor as required by the terms of the contract.

I have been assured by both the Treasurer and the Assessor they were excluded from the process.

The Board heard from Mr. Hall?s attorney, who assured them they had not defaulted and stated that I had not proved the Secret Alliance had excluded the Treasurer and Assessor in their process. This was taken by the Board to be gospel, with no member of the Board attempting to confirm same with either the Treasurer or the Assessor. Basically, they lied and evaded, falling back on their ?top secret? dealings with the Air Force as justification for not speaking freely.

Mr. Hall?s attorney assured the Board that Mr. Hall and Vaughn Higbee utilized their expertise in obtaining money from the Air Force, even though Mr. HIgbee?s expertise would appear to be education and coaching if we are to believe the resume which appears on Mr. Hall?s website. It is my opinion the only thing Vaughn Higbee brought to this process was his access to the Board and his apparent ability to influence the Secret Alliance on behalf of Mr. Hall.

It should be noted that only Daniel Hooge, Kevin Phillips and Ed Higbee were involved in the Secret Alliance. To the best of my knowledge Paul Matthews, Adam Katchke and Paul Donohue were not involved in any of the secret negotiations and did not sign a non-disclosure agreement with the Pentagon as the others have claimed as justification for them not responding to the Tax Commission as to their inappropriate (criminal) acts and actions.

It is beyond me these gentlemen do not realize that since the Air Force and the Pentagon were involved in the secret meetings, many federal agencies can come into play in the investigations of the perceived wrong-doings of our Board and District Attorney. Before you know it, we may have investigators busy investigating the investigators to determine the lawfulness of the actions of the Air Force and the Pentagon. They actually believe this matter will finally be settled by them in the Lincoln County Courthouse.

At any rate, none of the Commissioners were willing to make a motion on this matter and so it died – for now. I had hoped those commissioners who were not involved in the secrecy and deceit would take an opportunity to act in the spirit of damage control and terminate the contract. They appear to be more than willing to pay Ashely Hall over $1 million dollars for his 22 months of manipulation.

The only thing Mr Hooge said on this matter was that the contract is due to expire in two years (fiscal years) and he did not forsee any reason to extend the contract when it expires (Decermber 19, 2015). Again, the contract states it can only be terminated by the Board for default so I cannot see this statement as accurate.

If anyone out there has knowledge about how to start a blog, please give me a call. I have not previously been involved with social media and could use a tutor. The myriad of questionable acts and actions of the Board at each meeting means I can?t include each indiscretion in these letters.

Sincerely,

Carol White, Pioche