Power Plant Snitch

Seventeen years before Harry Potter captured the Snitch in the movie “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone”, the Coal-fired Power Plant in north central Oklahoma was plagued by a similar elusive snitch.  Unlike the snitch in Harry Potter, which was a small ball with wings that held a special secret only revealed in the last moments of the last Harry Potter Book (and movie) “The Deathly Hallows”, the Power Plant snitch had a more sinister character.

The Snitch from Harry Potter, “The Sorcerer’s Stone”

The Power Plant Snitch reminded me once again of the phrase that “Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.”  I had experienced this phenomenon only a few years earlier when I was in High School and my father was a victim of this type of corruption.  This made me especially abhorrent of deceit and dishonesty in the workplace.  This was the reason why I had become so upset while I was a janitor and I learned a little “lie” that Jack Ballard had cooked up to force the employees to use their floating Holiday first (See the post Power Plant Secrets Found during the Daily Mail Run).

You see, in the Lone Power Plant stationed out in the middle of the country, a plot had been hatched by the Evil Plant Manager that rivaled a James Bond conspiracy to take over the world.  Only in this case, it was a conspiracy to take over the personal dignity of honest, descent Power Plant Men.  Men who said their prayers each night when they went to bed.  Men who went to work each day to provide for their children.  Men who held God and country in the highest esteem.

As I mentioned above, I had seen this abuse of power before when I was in High School.  It had affected my personality in a way that I became instantly angry at the site of dishonesty.  This was something I had to learn to deal with throughout the years as I interacted with men of less than honorable dignity.  In order to understand why, I will divert into a side story:

My parents had kept their financial difficulties and other stress out of our lives while I was in Junior High and High school back in the mid ’70’s.  They didn’t tell me that my father, who was listed in the top 20 Veterinarians in the world, and among the top 5 bird specialists, was being targeted by the Dean and his minions at the University of Missouri Veterinary College.

I remember that my mother was introducing new foods to our palate, such as Lentils and other types of rice and bean dishes.  She had even gone to work as a secretary at Stephen’s College to make ends meet.  At the same time, I had traveled with my dad when I was 13 to Europe where I met Veterinarians around the world that all greeted my father as if he were some kind of king.

I remember walking down the road on the way to Liverpool from the University (a 5 mile walk) where a group of bird specialists from around the world were meeting to determine the universal Latin names of every part of the bird’s anatomy (which at that point had not been defined).  The Veterinarian walking with me from India told me after I had made some offhand comment about my father said, “You don’t realize who your dad is.  In India, your dad is the Father of Physiology!  Your dad wrote the bible of Veterinary Physiology used around the world!”I knew the book he was referring to.  He had worked for three years day and night writing this book.  Collaborating with renown Veterinarians around the world to compile a comprehensive book of Veterinary Physiology.   The first of it’s kind.  Before, you could only find the Physiology of a Pig, or the Physiology of a Dog.  My dad had created a masterpiece that included an all-encompassing Veterinary Physiology in one book.

My Dad’s book

I say this, not to lift my father on a higher pedestal than  he already is, but to put in perspective, how an important person such as James E. Breazile, DVM was treated by the “Evil Dean” of the Veterinary College at the University of Missouri in 1974 and until the day he resigned on January 16, 1978.  Actually, the day my father brought the gold bound copy of the book home and presented it to my mother, she stopped talking to him for about a month for the first time in her life (for a totally unrelated reason which I may relay in a future post).  Though the publishing company made a lot of money for years after this book was published, the total amount my dad received for his years of work totaled no more than $10,000 over a three year period.

Anyway.  To make a long story short, (because I could go on for days about this), my father was not able to get a job at any another University in the United States, because he had tried to bring the corruption of the leaders of the Veterinary School (who had been stealing money from the University through bogus expense reports) to light, only to be told by the Chancellor of the University at the time, Herbert Schooling, “Boys will be boys.”  It was just like the moment when Saruman told Gandalf, “We must join with him!”

Saruman Tells Gandalf that he must join with the forces of evil in the Lord of the Rings

It was only because my father had worked for Oklahoma State University before, when I was very young, that they didn’t need  “permission” from University of Missouri to hire him, and take the multi-million dollar contracts that he had with Purina (and other businesses that had funded their electron microscope and other expensive scientific equipment at the time) with him, that we were able to escape the firewall that had been placed around my father’s career (ok.  that sentence is long enough for an entire paragraph).

Anyway (again)…. I can’t let this story go until I give you the moment that was the “clincher” for me.  The moment that I finally believed that my mother and my father hadn’t just gone off their rocker and become extremely paranoid living in a “James Bond” world….

My father (secretly) obtained a job from the Oklahoma State University in the Veterinary College.  He was to start on January 9, 1978 with tenure (meaning that he couldn’t be fired without a really good reason).  One week before he was going to resign from the University of Missouri.   As usual, Oklahoma State University would begin classes one week before the University of Missouri after Christmas break.

During Christmas break (when I was a senior in High School), we would sneak into my father’s office at the Vet School in Columbia Missouri to remove his books and personal items from his office.  We would go to this office at 10 o’clock at night after the school was closed for the night.  At this point, I believed that both my mom and my dad had gone off their rocker and I was already planning on going through the phone book to find them a good Psychologist, or a priest to help them out.

Until Sunday morning, January 1, 1978.  New Years Day.  My mother and I were on our way to an early morning Church service at Our Lady Of Lourdes.  My mom said that she thought it would be safe to drop by the Veterinary school and pick up some of dad’s things from his office (Dad had already left for Stillwater, Oklahoma to deliver a load of books and personal belongings).

As we pulled into the parking lot at the Veterinary College, my mom told me that I couldn’t go in because that was “Brown’s” car on the parking lot.  — She had names for the different “bad guys” in the department.  The Dean was “Whitey”.  There was an older lady professor named “Brown”.  Then there was the one that I recognized the most…. “McClure”.

I told my mom… “Look.  It’s 9 am on Sunday morning.  New Year’s Day.  She was insistent that “Brown” was in the building.  Then finally she told me.  “Ok.  go downstairs (where my father’s office was) and look around.  If no one is there, then grab some of his books.”

Then one of the most bizarre moments of my life occurred.  I still remember every detail.  It was like I had gone into a dream where fantasy suddenly became reality.  I entered the dark building using my father’s key.  Immediately turned left and went down the stairs into the darkness.  I had to feel my way down the stairs, holding onto the handrail.

As I stepped into the subterranean hallway, I turned north toward my father’s office.  I immediately stopped.  About 50 yards ahead of me I could see two offices next to each other with their doors open and their lights on.  The rest of the hallway was totally dark as we were below ground.  Having been a “spelunker” in my youth, the darkness didn’t bother me, however, the the existence of lights ahead were a total surprise.

I briskly walked down the hallway past the two doors.  In the first office a lady was sitting at a desk.  In the second, a man.  I quietly walked on by.  Then I turned around and walked passed the door where the man was sitting and stopped between the two doors.  I could tell that both the man and the woman were talking on the phone.  After listening for a moment I could tell that they were talking to each other, though I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

As a seventeen year old High School student, I suddenly realized that everything my mother and father had been saying for the past 5 years had been true.  All the bugs found in my dad’s phone.  All the threatening notes.  The reason why he hadn’t received a raise in 5 years… All made sense!  These guys were crazy!

I walked south to the stairway and turned around and looked back.  “Brown” (the lady), was standing in the hallway with her hands on her hips like Professor Umbridge in Harry Potter!

Professor Umbridge Holding her wand

I stood there for a second looking at her silhouetted against the light from her office, knowing that she couldn’t tell who I was in the darkness.  then I darted up the stairs.  Ran outside to the car.  Jumped in the driver’s seat of the Pontiac Station Wagon and told my mom what I had seen.

My mom explained to me that this was “Brownie”.  They talk on the phone so that no one can say that they have been seen talking together.  You see…. they are supposed to be at a conference or some other “official” business this weekend so they can claim expenses.  That is why “Whitey” can live in a big ranch south of town on his measly salary.  This is what my father had told the Chancellor of the University who told him that “boys will be boys”.

I didn’t know whether to lean over and kiss my mom when I suddenly realized that the list of insane people didn’t include my mother and father, or to peel out of the parking lot before Professor Umbridge made it up the stairs!  Anyway.  On News Years Day 1978 I had a totally new perspective on life.  I can tell you that for certain.

To finish up with this side (non Power Plant) story…. in 1980 when Barbara Uehling became the Chancellor at the University of Missouri (from Oklahoma University, where I had attended school two years before), she began to clean house.  I remember the day I learned that she had fired “Whitey” the dean of the Veterinary school.

I woke from my sleep very early in the morning.  It was my father from Stillwater, Oklahoma.  He had received a call from Iowa State from a Veterinarian, Deiter Delman, who had told him that they had just fired Whitey the Dean of the Veterinary College at Missouri.  I told dad that was great, and I crawled back to my bed to finish my nightly ritual of sleep.

Moments later I was woken by another phone call.  One of my professors from the College of Psychology Dr. Wright had called me.  He said, “I have some news that your father will probably like to know.  It is really top secret!  I said, “Does it have to do with “Whitey” being fired?  In my head I could see Dr. Wright’s one fake eye spinning around in his head  like Professor Moody in Harry Potter (even though he hadn’t been thought of yet).

Professor Moody… Or is it Professor Wright in the MU Psychology Department?

Professor Moody… I mean Dr. Wright…. said, “What?  How do you know?  This is “Top Secret?”  the meeting was over just minutes ago?  I told him that Dr. Middleton had called Dr. Delman, who had immediately called my father, who had already called me moments ago.  — To put this in perspective…… The whole world knew within minutes.  I wrote a letter to the Chancellor Barbara Uehling explaining the events that I knew about.  She wrote back saying that the Provost would be looking into the additional names I had given her.

End of side story…..

Back to the Power Plant Snitch… (I can tell… this has already become a long post and is probably going to break my record of the longest post of all time).

In September 1984, not one year after I had joined the electric shop, Bill Bennett, our A Foreman, came down to the electric shop (which was normal.  Since he ate lunch with us every day).  This time, he locked the doors.  The door to the Turbine room, the door to the main switchgear and the front door…. — all locked.  He said,  “What is said here doesn’t go outside this shop.”

Ok…. We all went instantly into “serious” mode.  Bill explained that there was something up with the grubby looking janitor (I’m sorry… I don’t remember what name he was assuming to use at the time  — I’ll call him “Bonzo” from now on).  The janitor “Bonzo” had been neglecting his duties as a janitor, so Pat Braden (the lead janitor) had gone to Marlin McDaniel to have him fired.  Marlin McDaniel had gone to the Assistant Plant Manager, Bill Moler to start the process of firing “Bonzo”.

Marlin McDaniel (who had been my A foreman while I was a Janitor and on Labor crew after Chuck Ross had left) was told by Bill Moler that he was not going to fire “Bonzo” under any circumstance.  It didn’t matter to him that he wasn’t doing his job.  Marlin was told to forget about it and not bring it up again.

Bill Bennett told every person in the electric shop…. “Keep clear of this guy.  I don’t know what is going on, but something is definitely wrong.”  At that point everyone in the Electric shop knew that “Bonzo” was a snitch.  Don’t talk to the Snitch…. Ok… from now on I’ll refer to “Bonzo” as the “Snitch”.

I know I have bored all of you by the personal story of my father and the trials that he went through, so I’ll try to keep this short:  I knew a year and three months ago when I first started writing about the “Goodness” of the Power Plant Man that I would eventually come to this story.  I know that the Power Plant men that read this blog knew that this story had to eventually be written.  So, here it is.

Through unforeseen circumstances… and I attribute it to my Guardian Angel who has kept me out of serious trouble up to this point, I was called to Oklahoma City by my girlfriend Kelly Burgess (who ten months and 11 days later became my wife and is ’til death do us part) on February 10, 1985.  I called in to Howard Chumbley on February 11 and told him I would not be able to make it to work that day.  I would be taking my floating holiday.

The following Monday morning when I had climbed into Bill River’s Station wagon at the bowling alley where we met, with Rich Litzer and Yvonne Taylor and we were on our way to work, I learned about what had happened the Friday before.  The day that would forever be referred to at the plant as “Black Friday.”

Bill Rivers explained the entire scenario to me during the 25 minute drive to the plant.  I can’t say that I was in tears because my system had gone into shock and I was zombified by each new revelation.  If I could have cried, I would have.  My system had just gone into shock.  All emotion had shut down.

Bill explained to me that on Friday morning (February 11, 1985), a plant-wide meeting had been held.   Everyone at the plant had been informed that a drug and theft ring at the plant had been found and eliminated.  This included one lady who was a janitor.  A machinist named Dink Myers.  The Lead Janitor Pat Braden and two of the Electricians  Craig Jones and Jim Stevenson.

Drug and Theft ring?  Really?  At our Power Plant?

Except for the female janitor (I can’t even remember her name), I had a personal relationship with every other person on this list (whether they knew it or not).  I never worked directly with Craig Jones, but as an electrician, I did know that everyone held him in the highest esteem.  I later found out that Dink Myers was a distant relation of mine when two years later I attended my grandfather’s funeral.  Jim Stevenson was a close friend to the point that I used to give him Swedish Massages that would ease the pain of his rampant Eczema.  Pat Braden…. Well.  Pat Braden.. my Janitor lead.  I loved him most of all.

I invited Pat Braden to sit next to my wife and I at my wedding 10 months later, even though the Evil Assistant Plant Manager would be serving as a deacon in the wedding ceremony (he didn’t come.. I understood why). Next to Charles Foster, Pat Braden was my next dearly beloved friend.  — Other Power Plant Men, such as Mickey Postman and Ed Shiever, share in my total love for Pat Braden to this day.  — Not that I have asked them… I just know… They used to work for this saint.

Here is what had happened…..

Eldon Waugh (the evil plant manager) had heard from a study that came out early in 1984 that 10% of a typical workforce were either on drugs or were robbing their employer.  I know.  I had read the same study.  The company had hired the snitch to become a janitor at the best power plant in the country to infiltrate their troops and bring out the worst in them.

I distinctly remember the snitch walking into the electric shop once as I was walking out…. He paused… looked at me as if to say something, then went on….  (– my interpretation…. “oh… a victim….”…. Guardian angel response…. “This isn’t the droids you are looking for…”)  He went on without saying a word.

These aren’t the droids you ar looking for (Star Wars — A New Hope)

So the Snitch nailed a good friend of mine, Jim Stevenson…. I remember in January just before the verdict came down….. Leroy Godfrey had gone on a frenzied hunt for the portable electric generator.  It had turned up missing….  Everyone in the shop was sent to look for it…  After a day of searching, when it was time to go home…. I remember that as we were walking out the door to the parking lot that Jim Stevenson said, “They are never going to find the generator.”  Bill Ennis asked, “Why Not?”  Jim answered,. “Because their snitch has it.  If they are going to let a crook like that work here, they are going to have to live with the consequences.  He took the generator.”

For the next couple of weeks after “Black Friday” lawyers came from Oklahoma City and interviewed people that had worked with Jim Stevenson and Craig Jones.  I was in a quandary.  I knew if they asked me about this situation I would have to tell them what Jim Stevenson had said.  Jim had been fired for helping the snitch load the generator in the back of his truck months earlier.  The funny thing was… I was the only one in the shop that they didn’t interview.  I had never been on Jim’s crew, so I wasn’t on their list.  At that point, if they didn’t ask me, I wasn’t going to volunteer.

The thing about this whole event was that it was setup from the beginning….  The Snitch asked Jim if he would help him lift the generator into the back of his truck…. This by itself was nothing out of the ordinary, since people could “check out” the generator for their personal use.

Portable Generator

Jim had known that the Snitch had taken the portable generator and said to Bill Ennis that if they wanted to keep scum around like that, then they should incur the cost of that decision.  What Jim didn’t know was that he was being secretly taped while he was being entrapped into loading the generator into the back of the Snitch’s truck.  Jim reminded me of Dabney Coleman:

Dabney Colement reminds me of Jim Stevenson

I won’t go much into the stories of Dink Myers, who shared a joint with the Snitch in the locker room, and Craig Jones who pulled up some “hemp” on the road to the river pumps to swap for a “stolen knife set” (though he didn’t know they were stolen) since these were “no-brainer” stupid moments in the life of young Power Plant Men… but I will defend Pat Braden…. The most honest and loving of souls (and again… I apologize for the length of this post).

In previous posts I have mentioned that Pat Braden reminded me of Red Skelton.

This Picture of Red Skelton reminds me of Pat Braden

Today, when I want to reminisce about Pat Braden.  All I have to do is watch an old episode of Red Skelton.  As kind as Red Skelton was in real life… there was Pat Braden.  If you don’t know about Red Skelton… Google him….  He was a sincere soul…  He was a soul-mate to Pat Braden.

This is how Pat Braden was fired…… The snitch came to him one day and asked for the key to the closet so that he could get the VCR….. Weeks later, the VCR turned up missing and Pat was asked if he knew where the VCR went.  He didn’t know.  When I was a janitor I used to do go to Pat on a weekly basis and ask for the key to closet for the VCR.  I had to regularly move it to the control room or the Engineer’s shack for training sessions. It was just part of our regular job and Pat Braden would have not thought twice about it.

As it turned out, the snitch had taken the VCR from the closet and had brought it straight to Bill Moler, the Assistant Plant Manager and handed it to him and told him that he had stolen it  (even though technically, it hadn’t been stolen).  Then about a month later, Bill sent out the request to find the VCR.  At that point, Pat, who was the same age as my father (It’s funny, but a lot of people at the plant were the same age as my father), and on blood pressure medication that made his head swim when he stood up, didn’t remember anyone taking the VCR four weeks earlier…   So, he was included in the “Theft and Drug ring at Sooner Plant on February 11, 1985”.

The story about Jim Stevenson is almost as tragic, though he had enough money to take the Electric Company to court.  Pat’s income of $10 an hour didn’t quite leave him in a position to complain about being unjustly fired.

As the Tape recorder tapes revealed about Jim Stevenson (yeah… Like Watergate)… The evil Plant Manager, Eldon Waugh had told the Snitch to specifically target Jim Stevenson.  The way it was explained in the recording between Eldon Waugh and the Snitch (as recorded by Jack Ballard, the head of HR at the Plant at the time), if Jim Stevenson were gone, then Leroy Godfrey’s only friend would be gone… Then Leroy would have to turn to Bill Moler or Eldon for friendship…..  I want to continue printing periods as you ponder this thought…..

So…. Eldon and Bill had Jim Stevenson fired as part of a bogus “Drug and Theft” ring so that Leroy Godfrey would be their friend?…..  How bizarre is that?  You know… I can put this all in writing because it all became public knowledge when it became part of a trial between Jim Stevenson and the Electric Company a year later.  The s**t hit the fan on January 23, 1986 when Bill Moler and Eldon Waugh were attending Jack Ballard’s funeral.

Immediately after the graveside services were finished in Ponca City at the Odds Fellows Cemetery, Jim’s lawyer hit them both with a Subpoena to appear in court…  The lawyer wanted to make sure the trial took place in Kaw County. A year later, these two individuals and the company settled out of court.  Both the Plant Manager and the Assistant Plant Manager were “early retired”  which opened the door for a new era of Power Plant Management.  Jim Stevenson walked away with an undisclosed sum of money that was at least six digits.

Pat?  I found out a few years later that my wife had been working with Pat in Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Ponca City.  One day after, we had moved to Stillwater, and Kelly was talking to a friend from Ponca City, the subject of Pat Braden came up.  When she had hung up the phone, I asked her, “Pat Braden who?”  When she explained that she had worked with a security guard named Pat Braden in Ponca City, and that he was the nicest guy you would ever meet.  He cared about one thing in life and that was his daughter… I knew she was talking about our Pat Braden.

Everyone that ever met this kind soul was touched by him.  It was ironic that my wife Kelly had worked with Pat for a couple of years at the hospital and I didn’t even have a clue.  I knew that Pat must have known…. After all…. I was the only Breazile in the phone book in Ponca City at the time.  From what I understand… Pat is still around in Ponca City doing something….. Jim Stevenson still runs “Stevenson Refrigeration Services”.  Both of these are honorable men.

Note that the True Power Plant Men mourned their loss for years after this event.  A certain amount of “innocence” or “decency” had been whittled away.  That is until 1994 rolled around….. But…. That is another story for a much later time….