Some people call William Carlin Walker a whistleblower; some call him a watchdog or a little bulldog. Some in Liberty school district educational circles likely have other names for his relentless quest for accountability and persistent demands for public records, not always willingly turned over by reluctant administrators.

“They can call me whatever they want,” Walker said. “The more they (school administrators) pushed, the more I persisted.”

In his efforts to make school board business more transparent and accessible to taxpayers, Walker exposed financial mismanagement, a party culture and rampant credit card abuse among top administrators in the district.

Besides forcing the district to head down the right path, Walker’s tireless work has paid off in national recognition. Walker is the recipient of a Golden Sammie, awarded by the Sam Adams Alliance, a new media and advocacy group that works for open and honest government. Walker’s award comes with a $5,000 stipend.

The Sammies are named for Founding Father Samuel Adams, who helped lead resistance against British rule and toward American independence.

Walker — among a dozen Sammie winners — will receive his Sunshine Award in ceremonies in Chicago Saturday, April 18.

The soft-spoken Walker said he was surprised and pleased about the honor and was looking forward to attending the ceremony. Walker said any other ordinary patron concerned with how the school district spent money could have done the same thing he did.

“This isn’t all about me,” Walker said. “It took a lot of people to change the culture.”

Nic Hall, contest coordinator, said the alliance had a difficult time selecting this year’s winners from nearly 200 worthy nominations. The winners will share $40,000, ranging from $1,000 to a top prize of $10,000, which will go to Ari Armstrong, a Colorado author and columnist.

“The Sammies prove without a doubt that citizen activism is alive and well in America,” Hall said by e-mail.

Natalie Shelton, a former Liberty Tribune reporter who wrote extensively last year about the financial scandal, nominated Walker for the award.

“I wholeheartedly believe that no one else in the nation is as deserving of the Sunshine Award than Mr. Walker. The past year or so of his life has been singularly defined by his efforts to ‘make things right’ in the Liberty school district. Not only did he expose the misuse of taxpayers’ money, he did it in a culture in which, I believe, one quickly became very unpopular for merely questioning the status quo,” Shelton said by e-mail.

“In addition to what Mr. Walker exposed, he achieved another very important outcome: He caused people to question their local government entities and not take what those entities say at face value.”

EXPOSURE BROUGHT REFORM

Whistleblower William Carlin Walker’s efforts to expose financial improprieties and rid the Liberty School District’s administration of its party culture resulted in a number of changes:
- School board implemented policies and procedures to better monitor expenditures and behavior.
- Credit card use and travel allowance guidelines were tightened at all levels.
- School district recouped thousands of dollars from questionable expenditures.
- School board hired Westbrook & Company to perform a procedural audit.
- A citizens’ petition drive called for a state audit, which is expected to be released next month.
- Liberty police launched an investigation into allegations of possible wrongdoing by some top administrators.
- Former Superintendent Phil Wright was forced to resign and two other administrators were placed on paid leave.
- The Public School Retirement System of Missouri filed a lawsuit against retired Superintendent Scott Taveau and the school district to recover retirement benefits that Taveau was reportedly not entitled to receive.
- Retired Superintendent Scott Taveau resigned as executive director of the Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City.
- The Missouri General Assembly introduced bills that would prohibit school employees from buying alcohol with taxpayers’ money and to make it a felony to knowingly deceive PSRS.
- School board established an audit oversight committee composed of five patrons and two board members.
- School board introduced a fraud and abuse hot line so patrons could anonymously report potential wrongdoing.
- School board president John Sedlock was defeated for re-election.
 

Liberty Editor Angie Anaya Borgedalen can be reached at 781-4941 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .