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A couple of things could happen to the Rev. Kyev Tatum this week. The civil rights advocate might be forgiven for thousands of dollars in child support debt and no longer have to look over his shoulder.

Or he might go to jail.

He could find out as early as Thursday. That’s when he’s due to appear in a Tarrant County family court in connection with unpaid child support (“Debt or Payback?” March 5, 2014). Tatum is a vocal critic of the Fort Worth Police Department, as well as city, county, and school officials. He says his activism has upset local people with political connections and they’ve conspired to put him in the crosshairs of the Texas attorney general’s office, which is demanding more than $20,000 in back payments.

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Tatum doesn’t believe he owes any money. His ex-wife, Martha Castex, signed an affidavit in 2008 waiving further child support. She receives no public assistance. “Our son is financially adequately provided for, and I do not wish or need to receive child support from Mr. Tatum,” she wrote at the time.

She signed a similar affidavit this month. But the attorney general keeps pressing Tatum for the money.

“They will go to any lengths to shut me up,” he said.

Static asked attorney general spokeswoman Janece Rolfe if that office was reacting to political influence to harass Tatum in retribution for his activism.

“The Office of the Attorney General is complying with its legal duty to enforce the child support obligation,” she said.

Uh, OK, but that doesn’t answer the question, Static said.

“The accusation is ridiculous,” she replied.

Rolfe was limited in what she could say about Tatum’s case since it’s still being litigated. However, she said that an affidavit such as the one signed by Castex doesn’t automatically end a child-support obligation.

“The court would want to be comfortable that the custodial parent was not making the request as a result of undue pressure,” she said.

Is it common for a former spouse to sign such an affadavit? And, if so, is it common for the attorney general to continue to press for child-support payments even when the former spouse is not seeking public assistance?

“This is somewhat unusual, but the court has the ultimate decision on whether or not to grant the request,” she said.

23 COMMENTS

  1. well if he gets reprieve and it’s true that he is being targeted the he needs to explain why he is not testifying at the palazzolo trial and being told by Dansby that he will get a 100,000 grant if he doesn’t testify.
    So the district is trying to buy some of the people involved like Carlos Vasquez who will not get out of his house to get served to testify. Apparently Dansby promised hiim a principal job if he does not testify. So dirty keeps on going.. the verdict will definitely help those that have been marginalized by the cronies in the district.. needham, jackson, moss, sims.. take a look at evidence that was provided to OPS regarding AHHS issues.. sickening how they allowed all of this to happen.. no one would report on it.

    • Very interesting. That reporter generally does good work. He’s native of this area and been working here a long time, which makes him very knowledgeable about local people and processes that allow him to dig into some good stories. That and being the big dog at the Weekly can bring out some negative pride in a person and some people have picked up on that attitude of “I wield the power of pen” and of “Don’t try to tell me stuff cause I’ve live here and been doing this a long time, it ain’t my first rodeo.” So once in while that attitude shows up in a story, like the one from last month about the Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace election that could have affected the final outcome. You should check it out.

  2. type tiny.cc then slash then ahhsscandal
    this will give you statements that were given and then they hid the evidence and tormented many people.

  3. Tatum, is like a high priced call girl; he will do just about ANYTHING for the right price! Oh boo, he feels like he’s being attacked for his so called “political voice”! Well, if anyone knows about retaliation it should be him, considering he has been involved with FWISD to set-up Palazzolo the past 4 yrs! Nice made-up job at Trimble Tech you got there,Tatum, all courtesy of Dansby, in exchange for your loyalty to FWISD and a guarantee that you would not advocate for truth and justice! You DISGUST ME! You are a lying Judas and certainly no man of the cloth in my opinion. You are nothing more than an opportunist waiting for the next pieces of silver! How do you sleep at night? Didn’t you offer to “go to the other side”, but feared retaliation by the district? And haven’t you repeatedly voiced your discontent about Dansby that you were willing to throw him under the bus…for the right price??? You are a sad and pathetic shell of a person, to think that you have any business being a “voice” for anything, except for the convicts you will be singing with in the shower in prison! The AG is relentless; I call this Karma, and you deserve every inch of it! Now you know what Palazzolo has felt like in the past 4 yrs being scrutinized over and over again! The only difference between the two of you, is that Palazzolo is a man, who has been fighting his own battle, no thanks to people like you! You, of course, are NOT a man, because you hide behind your collar and falsely represent yourself as someone, who believes in God’s principles, all the while, your antics mirror a familiar mindset of “robbing from Peter to pay Paul”. With all of your supposed connections, you would think your 20K debt would be gone by now! It’s not a surprise people won’t help you out, because they know you are truly a deadbeat! Where’s your buddy Dansby now? Oh that’s right, as “Truth” put it; Dansby is throwing $ into your program at Tech, so you won’t come forward and testify in the Palazzolo trial! Your Karma payback is just getting bigger by the minute, so don’t go around crying, when it finds you and takes a big bite outta your “reverent” ass! And hopefully Vasquez will be in the vicinity, because Karma will deliver his just reward too! if it is true that Dansby is promising him a principal job not to testify; let’s just say that Karma Armageddon will surely ensue between the two of you! FYI Vasquez: You can run (not very fast of course), but you CAN’T HIDE forever! There are a couple more lawsuits coming down the pike, so dodge now, but there will be more opportunities to get you on the stand!!! .

  4. I think FWW is hurting for newsworthy material. A search within FWW shows Tatum appeared in the following articles per year: 2006–2; 2007–5; 2009–9; 2010–13; 2011–16; 2012–9; 2013–6; 2014–5. In most, Tatum accuses somebody of something, often racism. Now he accuses the Texas Attorney General of engaging in a vendetta against him, and he accuses the Tarrant County Jail of trying to poison him. (See 3/5/2014 article).

    Either the guy’s got a red phone connection to FWW or he sends a lot of press releases. Liberals have a tendency to come running whenever there’s a claim of racism; but for FWW to go all-out in defense of an alleged child support deadbeat is a real head-scratcher.

    • Yea, it appears that like most small towns (in mentality, anyway) FW and its newspapers do favors for certain individuals and groups they have connections with. Unlike the daily outlet, the Weekly has a small staff and budget so it’s kinda understandable that going with stories or sources multiple times is easier and cheaper, with exceptions of course, like when it’s ace veteran reporter drove to far west Texas not too long ago to do some hard hitting journalistic work on the small town and sheriff department that make national news by regularly busting well known musicians for drug possession as they travel through there. The reporter even slyly wrote about how relieved he was that he was able to cover up the odor, wink wink, in his truck before taking the sheriff on a driving tour. High-hilarious.

    • This is what happens in fort worth. Racist police especially. The Sargent? Racist school system. Immoral leaders. I’m talking about the school board. The people behind the poo that comes out. Everything. You see is a diversion.

  5. Hey “Truth’, I just accessed the links you posted. All I have to say is WOW and OMG! I cannot believe the transcript of the audio tape was posted! I listened to the original audio from the FWISD website and obviously had poor volume control. I am floored to now read what they were all saying! I feel sorry for Palazzolo, for having to listen to those idiots ranting and raving about what they were going to do and how to word it as such, etc. Brandt and the other idiot, Carillo should be disbarred when this thing is all over! And Jason Smith is the absolute worst, in terms of lying and cheating his own client. Mr. Palazzolo, I know these last 4 yrs have been about trying to get your job back. However, after reading about the audio, I think your lawsuits are now going to be more about vindication! I say invest some of the $ you are getting and start YOUR OWN charter school!!! I wouldn’t want to work around this godforsaken district, unless the entire board, sans Ramos and Paz, are fired or asked to resign! The second option is you are given a principal’s position and work on your Superintendents certificate! I hear it took our Super three times to finally pass it with tutoring on taxpayer dime, but you would ace it the first time, I am sure! Godspeed Mr. Palazzolo. Go get ’em!

  6. Oh btw, “Truth”, are you sure that the “unknown” person heard in the background wasn’t “Bro Tatum”? “Things that make you go…hmmmm!”

    • purveyor:
      anything can happen at FWISD. The trial just ended today and hopefully we have a positive verdict for all because this would change the way things are done or for the most part expose the killing of our educational system.
      This shows what they will do to silence people and hide. But most of us know better and we will keep at it until change happens. Don’t forget elections next year. I know I am getting involved and go door to door to tell the truth about candidates like Jackson. Get involved and help others who want to fire everyone.
      Word out is that needham and clan won’t renew Danbsby’s contract. They are not telling Moss and Sims because it’s their baby.. but we shall she when his contract renewal arrives to see how much truth there is.
      stay tuned for the next episode of: FWISD

  7. Surprise, surprise!!! What do you know!? Open the link below to the recent story about Tatum getting a reprieve! Is this a coincidence that one day Tatum refused to testify at Palazzolo’s case (for fear of retaliation…or so he says) and the next day, his child support case just happens to go away! I’m thinking that FWISD had your back on this one…again, Tatum! We all know that this district has unimaginable power to squash just about anything…or anyone! Actually, who cares anymore about you anymore, b/c your reputation (and your paranoia of all “injection” things) has killed your credibility. You have no one to blame but yourself, for making deals with the Devil! You have made your bed…! Anything else that happens from this point on is your own bad Karma, for all the calculating, dishonest and self-serving things you have done to others. You better get right with your God, because He, doesn’t work for FWISD!

    http://blogs.star-telegram.com/crime_time/2014/03/rev-kyev-tatum-discharged-from-community-supervision-in-child-support-case.html

  8. Time to start thinking about FWISD School Board elections next year. Jackson and Moss must go! Too bad Weekly is not covering the Palazzolo trial. Say what you will but Ann Sutherland stood tall before the Judge and Jury and told the truth. Check out this website and tell your friends and neighbors. Time to take back FWISD. https://www.facebook.com/1voicevoz

  9. Check out the gang of three: Walter Dansby, Kyev Tatum & Mario Perez. Dansby sure knows how to steer fat contract to his friends. Tatum is no civil rights leader. He’s a liar and cheat. I know this man and that’s my opinion.

    • People like this racist Tatum creature fit the job description of overseer. His wealth relies on the oppression of the people he represents.

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