The simmering pot of controversy in Parkville is rising to a boil again. Another ethics violation has been filed against Parkville mayor Nan Johnston. Additionally, outspoken Parkville critic Jason Maki has threatened another lawsuit.
Maki told the Citizen he made three Sunshine requests last week to the Parkville Economic Development Council, citing what he says are “concerns that recent activities in Parkville have been orchestrated behind closed doors and out of the view of the public.” He contends that the EDC operates as a quasi-public governmental body and is funded by tax dollars, thus its activities should be open to the public. City officials disagree.
Maki said attorneys for the Economic Development Council said they would not comply with the requests, to which Maki responded the council must comply or he will “seek enforcement of my requests through the courts.”
In a letter to the EDC’s attorney dated Monday, Oct. 4, Maki also asked for the preservation of information containing records relevant to his Sunshine requests.
The EDC was created in 2011 as a result of the Parkville Plan for Progress, approved in 2010 as part of a strategic plan for economic development. One of the findings of the Parkville Plan for Progress committee at the time was the need for creation of an economic development council.
In that plan, the recommended structure of the Parkville EDC was organization as a 501(c)6 non-profit with a public/private funding structure. Public funds would be provided via annual contracts with the city, and members and investors provide private funding.
According to the Internal Revenue Service, the 501(c)6 designation applies to business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade and professional football leagues.
Last month, members of the Board of Aldermen questioned the fee charged to the Parkville Economic Development Council, which leases space in Parkville City hall. They said the approximately $435 annual fee was well below market rate and since the city maintains the EDC is not a quasi-governmental entity that fee should be reevaluated.
ETHICS VIOLATION
In a notice filed by the Missouri Ethics Commission late last month, Johnston and the Committee to Elect Nan Johnston was found in violation of campaign finance law. A complaint was filed in December 2020 and the commission determined there were grounds to believe violations of law occurred due to incorrectly filed campaign finance reports. In part, this was due to legal fees involving another complaint filed, and the incorrect reporting of legal fees associated with the previous violation.
Johnston and the committee were found in violation in early 2020 and fined $5,000 due to five violations of state campaign finance law in her 2019 re-election campaign.
In the consent order filed Friday, Sept. 24, Johnson and the committee were fined $1,000. If $100 of the fee is paid within 45 days, the remainder will be stayed, subject to provisions, including further violations.
Johnston and the committee were found to be in violation of RSMO 130.041.1(4)(d).
“The full name and mailing address of each person to whom an expenditure of money or any other thing of value in the amount of more than one hundred dollars has been made, contracted for or incurred, together with the date, amount and purpose of each expenditure. Expenditures of one hundred dollars or less may be grouped and listed by categories of expenditure showing the total dollar amount of expenditures in each category, except that the report shall contain an itemized listing of each payment made to campaign workers by name, address, date, amount and purpose of each payment and the aggregate amount paid to each such worker.”