Boonville school superintendent Mark Ficken has resigned as President of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association. His lawyer says he has stepped down because the association is still letting the clown from Saturday night’s rodeo to remain a member.
Lawyer Albert Watkins says Ficken resigned after a tough day of criticism and personal attacks that left him shaken. He says Ficken felt he was in the “cross hairs of virtually everybody for something he was not responsible for.” He says the day’s experience left him badly shaken. “He was, in fact, shaking like a small dog passing razor blades,” he says.
Watkins says many people who circulated erroenous information about the incident on the internet apologized last night when they learned the truth that the person who made disparaging remarks about President Obama was not Ficken.
The clown, Tuffy Gessling, wrote on the internet, “I am sorry. I never meant to offend anyone. I meant no disrespect to anyone for the joke or jokes I may have said at the rodeo. Once again I never ment [sic] to offend or hurt anyone’s feelings.” Watkins says, “That takes lot of the sting out of it for my client.”
He says Ficken is now focusing on his school district work. School starts tomorrow. The school board is meeting this evening to discuss the situation. Ficken met with district teachers yesterday. Watkins says the teachers gave him a unanimous show of support.
AUDIO: Watkins interview 11:03
