The City of Parkville’s attempt to revise its ethics code to bring it in line with state requirements, essentially dissolving the city’s existing ethics commission in the process, died after a split vote last week.
The board voted Tuesday, July 18 with two aldermen – Doug Wylie and Brian Whitley – voting no. With two aldermen absent, there were not enough yes votes to move forward with the proposed changes.
The board of aldermen has held contentious and continuing discussions over the past two months involving the proposed change, which would direct communications or complaints to the board of aldermen, or directly to the Missouri Ethics Commission.
The city has a sitting ethics commission, which came under fire in recent years as it took what some considered too long to address ethics complains involving the former mayor. The new ethics code would make the existing commission essentially obsolete.
Members of that commission spoke at the Tuesday, June 20 meeting of the board of aldermen, outlining the challenges those commissioners faced during the very public and heated ethics complaints filed against the mayor. While the members present expressed willingness to continue to serve, they were also understanding of the city’s position to change the code to allow the board and state to handle such complaints.
Resident Elaine Kellerman, who brought the complaints against former mayor Nan Johnston, said the city needed to be more clear about its intention to potentially dissolve the ethics commission.
Additionally, Kellerman said she had appealed to the board to act regarding the former mayor’s DUI arrest and they had failed to do so, so she was opposed to the dissolution of the ethics commission.
At the July 18 meeting of the board, she said she had sent letters to aldermen who were not on the board at the time of her complaints, urging them to watch videos of the meetings of the ethics commission.
She also questioned alderman Phil Wassmer’s comments made during the former mayor’s ethics complaint process, as he had questioned who was potentially next to be accused of ethics violations. Kellerman asked Wassmer if he had something to hide. Wassmer replied his wording at the time was probably not the best, but he was concerned about spurious complaints being filed against elected officials.
Several residents spoke out at the meetings, voicing their opposition to the dissolution of the city’s ethics commission. City officials pointed out that most cities of Parkville’s size did not have an ethics commission at all, and this change would bring the city more in line with its sister cities, where ethics complaints are handled by the board or by state officials.
Residents have also questioned why the city does not have a process to recall elected officials, and mayor Dean Katerndahl said it was due to Parkville’s status in state statute as a fourth-class city. Fourth class cities have no option for recall elections. Only charter cities have that option.
City attorney John Mautino said there was one process for removal of elected officials, essentially impeachment, which would go through the board of aldermen, requiring a trial setting ending with a vote to either remove or not remove an elected official.
Also at recent meetings:
The decision was made for the diversity and inclusion committee to be expanded from five to seven members, to be more inclusive, and due to the number of people interested in serving on this new commission. A non-voting position was also created to be filled by a student from Park University.
A Parkville use tax measure will be placed on the Nov. 7 general election ballot, creating a 2.5 percent use tax and funneling those use tax proceeds to infrastructure and capital projects.
The city approved ballot language for the Nov. 7 general election ballot to ask to impose a three percent sales tax on sales of recreational marijuana.
A preliminary development plan was approved for a subdivision located off Bell Road at the new Northwest 57th Terrace. Called Taliesan, the development will consist of 10 single-family homes on about 13 acres.