Politics Can’t Be Ruled Out in Mahn Case

As you may have read in the Leader on March 10, the lawsuit against former county circuit clerk Howard Wagner and others alleging a politically motivated firing was dismissed by a US District Court judge in early March. Let me summarize the case, and show that the dismissal does not necessarily mean that politics were not involved.

The case by former circuit clerk employee Jamie Mahn centers around three questions:

1. Did county clerk Wes Wagner tell Howard (his dad) how Mahn voted (it is known that she voted GOP and that the Wagners are Democrats)?
2. Was party affiliation or loyalty a motivating factor in Mahn’s dismissal?
3. Was Mahn fired for reasons other than politics?

For the first question, the court ruled that no concrete evidence was presented that Wes Wagner told Howard how Mahn voted, just speculation, and his portion of the case was dismissed. For the third question, the judge ruled that sufficient performance issues related to Mahn’s work existed to justify termination. Based on the answers to these questions, the judge declared there was no basis for the suit, and thus dismissed it.

However, on question two, the judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence to litigate this issue. Four circuit clerk employees (aside from Mahn) testified that Howard Wagner made various comments about voting. Alleged statements include:

• “I don’t see the ballots, but I know how you vote.”
• “This is a Democrat world, people are Democrat there, and we should support the Democrats.”
• Three employees testified that they felt pressured to vote Democrat and/or pretend they were Democrats.

Wagner testified that trying to influence Mahn’s vote in a primary election in which the Democrat candidate to replace him, Jeannette McKee, was unopposed, would make no sense, but what makes no sense is to assume that any pressure or intimidation would have no effect on employees’ votes in the general election three months later, in which McKee was opposed. The judge also did not seem to understand this point.

The court found that “Mahn has submitted sufficient evidence [to go forward with trial] that political affiliation or loyalty was a motivating factor in her dismissal.” But this was not enough to counteract the other two questions stated above.

So while Wagner won this suit, let’s not come away from this lawsuit with the impression that politics were not played in the JeffCo circuit clerk’s office.

Another lawsuit by Mahn, alleging she was discriminated against for using sick leave during an illness, is still ongoing.

JeffCo Primary Results

Here are tonight’s primary voting results from Jefferson County. The results at the link are divided by Congressional districts, and JeffCo is divvied up amongst the 2nd, 3rd, and 8th districts.

GOP

• Donald Trump: 48.5%
• Ted Cruz: 37.8%
• John Kasich: 6.1%
• Marco Rubio: 5.5%

36,698 total GOP votes

Democrat

• Bernie Sanders: 54.3%
• Hillary Clinton: 44.2%

21,798 total Democrat votes

For comparison, here are results from the past two presidential primaries:

February 2012

The Democrats had the unopposed incumbent president, and the Republican primary was non-binding (delegates were selected via caucus; there were some shenanigans at the JeffCo caucus).

Democrats: 2,650 total votes

• Barack Obama: 81%

Republicans: 8,296 total votes

• Rick Santorum: 57%
• Mitt Romney: 21%
• Ron Paul: 15%

February 2008

Democrats: 31,107 total votes

• Hillary Clinton: 61%
• Barack Obama: 35%

Republicans: 18,958 total votes

• John McCain: 34%
• Mitt Romney: 30.4%
• Mike Huckabee: 30.2%

 

A Look at the County Primary Ballot

Lets take a look at some of the candidates that have signed up to run for county elected office on the August 2 primary ballot (found here).

• As has been previously reported, former state rep Jeff Roorda (Democrat) is running for county council in District 4. He lost a state senate race to Paul Wieland in 2014. He may face off against incumbent Republican George Engelbach, who defeated another former state rep, Tim Meadows, to win the seat in 2012.
• Engelbach, however will have to defeat a man named Flat Top (aka Tom Rorabacher) in the primary to advance to the general election:

• TJ McKenna, latest in a line of local McKenna Democratic politicos, is making another run for office, this time as public administrator. He served a term as a state representative from 2012-14 until he was ousted by Becky Ruth.
• He will be running against former local tea party leader Steve Farmer, who unseated incumbent Bruce King for the job four years ago.
• Two non-establishment Republicans will be facing off in the primary for treasurer. Ken Horton, another former tea party leader who defeated the wife of county executive Ken Waller in the primary for treasurer four years ago before losing the general election by less that 2,000 votes, will face libertarian Mark Paul, who challenged Waller unsuccessfully in the county executive primary in 2014. It is unfortunate that these two have to run against each other instead of coming to some agreement to seek different offices.
• Another candidate in the GOP primary for treasurer is Paula Wagner, who is current chief deputy in the treasurer’s office. On the Democrat side, Dorothy Stafford, who was unseated from her position as county auditor in 2014 in an upset by Richard Carter, is seeking the treasurer’s job.
• JeffCo will have a new sheriff for the first time in many years as Glenn Boyer is stepping aside. Four candidates have signed up to run for his spot, and three of them currently work for the department: Democrat and current 2nd in command Steve Meinberg and Republicans Dave Marshak and Ron Arnhart. The other candidate is Sean Cooper, who lives in the county but is currently 2nd in command in the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Will voters want an insider or an outsider as the next sheriff?

Pevely Moves to Boot Bewig from Ballot

On December 7, the Pevely board of alderman impeached one of its own, Dave Bewig, for a variety of offenses. At the time, there was nothing preventing an impeached official from running for office again. So, one week later, the board passed a long revision of its impeachment ordinance (old version here) that included a provision that an elected officeholder that is impeached will never be eligible to hold, regain, or serve in elected office in Pevely.

However, Bewig went ahead and filed to run for the board of alderman for ward 2 in the April election. Three days ago, the city filed a lawsuit in the 23rd circuit court to have Bewig removed from the ballot (the case is City of Pevely vs. Wes Wagner, et al).

It seems that Bewig’s hopes center on the idea that he was impeached before the ordinance was passed, so it does not apply to him. However, they did pass the ordinance before the election filing period began, so I am thinking Pevely will win this, but we will see.

If Bewig is removed from the ballot, there will still be plenty of candidates. Incumbent Ed Walters, Linda Hahn, and Dan Hall are all registered to run for the ward 2 seat.

Brazeal Airs Arnold Grievances

John Brazeal, CFO of the Fox C-6 school district, is running for city council in Arnold ward 2. He has taken to Facebook several times since declaring to air his grievances against Arnold government in true Festivus fashion. This harkens back to his first broadside against the city, when he ripped the can plant deal with Anheuser-Busch. I thought I would go ahead and reprint his latest statement here:

Anyone else annoyed by these unholy deals orchestrated by Mayor Counts’ administration in Arnold, Missouri?

On the November 3, 2015 ballot, the City of Arnold sought voter approval for a new half-cent sales tax in Arnold. That measure failed.

By the way, my opponent in the April 2016 city council race (incumbent Brian McArthur) voted in favor of seeking voter approval for increasing sales tax rates on Arnold residents. But I digress.

Leading up to the election, a slick advertising campaign supporting the city’s sales tax proposal was organized by the Mayor and members of his administrative team. That campaign, financed through a political action committee known as Building a Better Arnold, spent nearly $40,000 attempting to sway public opinion in favor of higher sales taxes. Who contributed to the $40,000 attempt to sway voters, and why?

Anheuser-Busch contributed $15,000 just a few days after the Arnold City Council wiped out approximately $20M of future property taxes due over the next 20 years for the $150M Metal Container can plant expansion owned by Anheuser-Busch. Arnold forgives $20,000,000 of taxes due from Anheuser-Busch, and then Anheuser-Busch reciprocates by contributing $15,000 per the request of Mayor Counts to the campaign to increase city sales taxes.

It is patently offensive that Anheuser-Busch seeks to escape property taxes for itself, but funds an advertising campaign attempting to convince Arnold voters to impose higher sales taxes upon themselves. All orchestrated by the Mayor with the cooperation of the City Council.

Missouri American Water contributed $10,000 to the sales tax campaign. Earlier in the year, the City sold its profitable sewer system to Missouri American Water. Since that sale, the cost of sewer service in Arnold has been on the rise. First a utility tax was added to sewer bills, thereby increasing our cost of sewer services. This increase to the cost of living in Arnold was not disclosed to voters before the Mayor and City Council sought voter approval to sell the sewer system. Now, Missouri American Water has filed a request with the Missouri Public Service Commission to increase sewer rates about 20% higher than current rates.

It is patently offensive that Missouri American Water, after purchasing the profitable cash machine of a sewer system from the City, and knowing they would be seeking to raise sewer rates with no objections coming from the Mayor and City Council, would also fund ballot initiatives seeking to increase sales tax rates upon Arnold residents. This too orchestrated by the Mayor with the cooperation of the City Council.

By the way, Missouri American Water purchases sewer pipes and related appurtenances and equipment needed for the sewer system from vendors outside the City of Arnold, thereby avoiding payment of Arnold sales taxes on its purchases.

Yes, I’m annoyed by these city hall deals pinned on Arnold residents. Better decisions could have been made. Which is why I am running for a seat on the city council.

I would like to add that an employee of the law firm of Arnold city attorney Bob Sweeney serves as deputy treasurer of Building a Better Arnold. As I posted yesterday, another city council candidate, Vern Sullivan, serves as treasurer.

Finally, it is worth remembering that American Water poured $244,000 into the campaign to persuade voters to approve the sewer sale.

What You Need to Know About Arnold Council Candidate Vern Sullivan

Vernon Sullivan is running for Arnold city council in ward 3. He is currently on the Fox C-6 school board.

Sullivan serves as treasurer for Building a Better Arnold. This is a political action committee that led the failed charge to raise the sales tax in Arnold in November 2015. This was the city’s attempt to blackmail city residents suffering from recurring stormwater problems into supporting the tax before they could get some long-awaited help from the city, despite the fact that the city just earned $9 million by selling the sewer system to American Water.

The campaign to pass this tax was funded by several groups. One was Anheuser-Busch, who gave $15,000 after getting a $20 million tax abatement from the city. The Missouri American Water Employees PAC gave $10,000, after the aforementioned sewer sale, the campaign for which was boosted by the city council’s pre-election threat to jack up sewer rates by 75%. Arnold construction company Kozeny-Wagner gave $5,000, likely with an eye on future construction contracts funded by the tax hike.

If he was such a big backer of this tax hike, how will he vote on future tax hikes if elected? His selection for this treasurer job also suggests a certain coziness with the current regime, which is not what we need.

Fox Issues

Sullivan was head of the Fox C-6 Scholarship Golf Tourney from 1999 until it was discontinued in 2014. Money from this tournament was used by disgraced former Fox superintendent Dianne Critchlow as part of her scholarship slush fund, through which she funneled scholarships to the children of her cronies (and to her own kids). If Sullivan didn’t know that Critchlow’s kids were receiving golf scholarships, he probably should have.

Sullivan was elected to the Fox board in 2014, about two months before the (first) Critchlow scandal broke. Here are some decisions he has contributed to since then:

• Allowing Critchlow to retire without being fired
• In the wake of the scandal, he voted to appoint Tim Crutchley, whose hands are of questionable cleanliness in all this, as interim superintendent.
• He voted to hire the daughter of board member Cheryl Hermann.
• Awarding fired nutrition director Kelly Nash, a nepotism hire, a $20,000 settlement after likely failing to get her required certification.

All told, Sullivan seems like an establishment, status quo candidate when that’s precisely what Arnold does not need.

Vote No on Arnold Prop C

While Arnold residents are focused on Cardinal baseball or potentially the 2016 race for president, city officials have their eyes on the November 3, 2015 election. On that date, voters in the city will be asked to approve a half-cent sales tax increase which will fund stormwater and infrastructure improvements. I recommend that voters show up and say no to this tax hike.

Since nothing else will be on the ballot, Arnold will probably have to spend $30,000 or more to hold the election, instead of just waiting until the council election in April. But the city probably figures it can get a better (read:lower) turnout in November. In Arnold’s ideal world, there will be 30 voters in November, and they will all vote yes while you pesky opponents will stay home.

As Mayor Ron Counts admitted in the August 27 Leader, “The biggest problem in the city, the thing people come up to the mic about (at Arnold City Council meetings) is stormwater problems.” But despite that, what has the city done for these residents? Precious little. Meanwhile, the council has passed pet program after pet program: subdivision beautification, streetlight subsidies, a co-working facility, and a farmers market. Yes, these projects are relatively inexpensive, but they show us what council priorities are. The council has also engaged in major giveaways to developers and big business, most recently with the Arnold can plant. And don’t forget the hemorrhaging rec center and golf course.

I feel like the stormwater-afflicted homeowners of Arnold are being held hostage. If council members want to do something, they take from city revenues. But if these homeowners want relief? Sorry, you’re gonna need a tax increase before we can help you.

Recall that the city just sold its sewer system to American Water, which netted the city $9 million. What about this money? Yes, the city is about ready to proceed with stormwater projects on Melody Lane and Farmcrest Drive, but what about the rest of the money? We know from the 2016 budget that $108,500 of the money is to be transferred to the rec center and $14,000 will go to the golf course. Another $170,000 goes to the stormwater fund. Here’s what Counts said about the money in May:

However, Counts said, much of the $9.2 million will be left after these project are complete.

We need to be very careful in spending this money,” he said. “This is a one-time thing. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

“As conservative as I am, I will really be recommending that we invest the money that is left over. This is something we can use for the future.”

Is it conservative to put that money away and then raise taxes? I don’t think so. Do we trust this council to not come up with new pet projects for the money? I don’t.

Campaign Underway

Just like American Water heavily funded the campaign, in the face of little opposition, to pass the vote on the sewer sale, a group has been formed to promote this sales tax. It is called Building a Better Arnold. The campaign committee treasurer is Fox School Board member Vern Sullivan (practicing for a future Fox tax hike, perhaps?), and the deputy treasurer is some Hillsboroan named Lisa French who is or was a legal assistant at the law firm of Arnold city attorney Bob Sweeney, according to the BBB website. Her phone number is also the listed number for the committee. I’m sure her work for the committee is entirely voluntary, done on her own time, and in no way constitutes an in-kind donation from Sweeney’s law firm to the campaign. Why wouldn’t a Hillsboro resident have a strong interest in Arnold tax rates?

Sweeney has donated $100 to the committee, but given the massive income he earns from Arnold (over $150,000 last year), they should expect him to pony up more than that.

Other donors are Warren Sign Company and Kozeny-Wagner, both of Arnold, who have both given $5,000. Kozeny-Wagner undoubtedly stands to win some of the contracts for construction projects that will take place if the tax hike passes.

High Taxes Already

As I noted here, Arnold’s current sales tax rates (page 8) range from a base of 8.35% to 9.35% at Arnold Commons to 10.35% in the Ridgecrest TDD. Add 0.5% to these numbers if this tax is approved. This is in addition to the sneaky 5% tax on sewer bills that the council passed in May.

Shaul a Convert on Right to Work

Last week at the veto override session of the Missouri Legislature, the right to work (RTW) bill came up for a vote. It passed both houses during the regular session, but was vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon. Representative Rob Vescovo from Arnold (R-112th district) was the only JeffCo rep to vote for the bill that time around.

RTW failed to get the necessary 109 votes for an override; it got 96. But four Republicans switched from ‘no’ votes during the regular session to ‘yes’ votes on the override. One of them was Dan Shaul from Imperial (R-113).

When Vescovo cast his pro-RTW vote in February, I noted that this would give us a test of whether an elected official who supports RTW can win in purportedly pro-union Jefferson County. Now we will have two tests. The unions will probably go after these two representatives pretty hard (the man Vescovo defeated in 2014 has already announced that he will run again), but I suspect that, in a presidential election year, that the unions will be unable to unseat these two.

It is interesting to ponder whether any other JeffCo reps would have switched votes if the 109-vote tally had been more within reach. This tantalizing tweet came out in early September:

MoSpkr Richardson alleged proposing deal with JeffCo lawmakers in exchange for pro-rt-to-wrk votes. Officials from Mich, Ind. may be helping

— Jo Mannies (@jmannies) September 3, 2015

Rep. John McCaherty of High Ridge (R-97th) denied that he would be flipping:

@J_Hancock @Rep_TRichardson @jmannies I am not flipping…. And I am sure the other feel the same.

— John McCaherty (@JMcCaherty) September 3, 2015

The state Senate did not vote on the override, since it did not pass the House, but:

Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, R-Joplin, contended that he had the necessary 23 votes in the Senate for an override, if the measure had gotten through the House.

The Senate version of the bill got 21 votes in May, two short of the 23 needed to override. Four Senate Republicans voted no on the bill including Paul Wieland (R-22nd) and Gary Romine (R-3rd) who represent parts of JeffCo. Were they potential flippers? Wieland has been critical lately on social media of labor’s links to Planned Parenthood:

More Labor leaders jump 2 defend Planned Parenthood. Makes one wonder is this smart with RTW issue pending? #Moleg http://t.co/wdJR2Kxkow

— Paul Wieland (@WielandNow) August 6, 2015

Other Bills

Bills sponsored by local legislators that received successful override votes include:

• Shaul’s ban on plastic bag bans, which was lumped in with a ban on local minimum wage increases.
• Romine’s bill to require the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to prepare an implementation impact report before mandates are passed down by the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Romine’s bill requiring a student to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident in order to be eligible to receive scholarships from the A+ Schools Program.

Return of Roorda

After he was defeated 54%-46% by Paul Wieland in the 2014 state senate race, one might have thought that former Democrat representative Jeff Roorda would go away from politics. After all, as business manager of the St. Louis police union, he has carved out a niche as the go-to guy when the cable news networks want someone to come on and defend police, no matter how egregious their conduct.

But no, he is back. He has announced he will be running for County Council district 4 in 2016. That is the seat currently held by Republican George Engelbach. Here is Roorda’s press release. Let’s break it down.

First of all, his official announcement will be at Detours Restaurant in Imperial on August 18 if anyone (including Ferguson-related protestors) want to attend.

As you can see, he is going to lean heavily on his public safety record in his campaign, with his work as a cop and his stints on local fire and ambulance boards and on a related House committee. He also calls himself a “nationally recognized police spokesman” who “sets the record straight” on issues like Ferguson and Baltimore. Of course, his police-related record can be used against him, jujitsu-style. Recall that he was fired from the Arnold PD. Note also that he was replaced as lead spokesperson against a St. Louis civilian review board proposal due to his incendiary conduct. He also had to delete his Twitter account after gaining national notoriety for his ‘police are never wrong’ stances on the news shows.

He then rips on the current council:

“I strongly supported the county charter and the creation of the county council, but by-and-large, the folks that have served on the council have been overly concerned with petty squabbles and advancing the narrow self interests of a small handful of supporters,” he said. “They’ve done nothing to bring jobs to Jefferson County or to improve our local schools or to make Jefferson County a safer place to live. In fact, they’ve taken the county in the opposite direction on these critical issues.”

First of all, what does the county council have to do with schools? Learn the duties of the job you are seeking, Jeff. Second, the main impediment to job development in JeffCo, I would say, is overly onerous planning, zoning, and permitting. We have seen several potential businesses shot down because they could not get clearance from the council (due to Democrats, wishy-washy councilman Jim Terry, and absences of potential ‘yes’ votes from meetings). Will Roorda help alleviate that? I am skeptical.

Let’s talk about safety in JeffCo. We currently have a sheriff, Glenn Boyer, who thinks he is beyond reproach and oversight. He will be retiring in 2016, but if he gets his way, his #2 man, Steve Meinberg, will take his place. This presents an opportunity to deflate the department’s balloon. A civilian review board with teeth would be nice. But a councilman Roorda would only push to give the sheriff’s office more money, more power (to do things like non-DWI compliance checkpoints), and less oversight.

Of course, no Roorda statement can be complete without an attack. He says that Engelbach, who has not said if he’s running again or not, is from Hillsboro, which is “at the southern tip of the district far removed from the population centers of the district in Barnhart and Imperial.” Do we really think the issues in Hillsboro are so different from those in Barnhart? It’s not like this is Chicago vs. downstate Illinois here. Plus, Hillsboro (which is smaller) grew 68% from 2000 to 2010, while Barnhart shrank and Imperial only grew slightly.

Roorda goes on to say that “Engelbach became the subject of national attention when he defended then Congressman Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comments in 2012.” You may recall that Roorda ridiculously tried to tie Wieland to Akin as well. The “national attention” Roorda speaks of was limited to far-left sites, as opposed to Roorda’s own brand of national attention, which was much more widespread. Also, here’s a quote from Engelbach:

[Akin] had a statement that he made, and I’m not defending that. I’m saying I forgive him.

So that’s not quite in line with what Roorda claims. But that is typical of Roorda’s attacks.

Recall that Engelbach has already defeated one former legislator. In 2012, he beat Democratic Rep. Tim Meadows 51%-49% to win his current seat.

McKee Circuit Clerk Ragequit

The Leader on July 16 at long last corroborates what I reported back in May, that JeffCo 23rd Circuit Clerk employee and failed Democratic candidate for clerk Jeanette McKee was fired from the office in April. However, the Leader provides more info: that McKee appealed her firing and was reinstated in mid-May (it is hard to fire government employees, after all). But this victory was short-lived, as McKee resigned at the end of June. And she went out in a fit of pique, going to the Leader to air her alleged grievances towards her new/old boss.

There was bound to be tension in the circuit clerk’s office when new clerk Mike Reuter (Republican) took over. There was no way he would retain McKee as deputy clerk, and no reason to expect that he should; he is entitled choose someone he can trust. It is hard when an office is operated for decades under the principles of patronage, only to have the head patron replaced with someone of the opposite party. “Anyone who supported me or was hired by [previous clerk] Howard Wagner he has something against,” McKee claims. Of course, when it was the whims of Wagner, a Democrat, that ruled, she did not object.

McKee claims there was a “strained working relationship” and said Reuter “was never going to let up.” Reuter is unable to defend himself in a personnel situation such as this, so McKee is free to fire away unanswered. McKee would not sign a legal release, as requested by Reuter’s attorneys.

McKee says she took a three-week Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) absence because Reuter was “demeaning” her in front of others. Now, I’m not a human resources guy, but I think it is quite likely that this particular excuse is not covered under FMLA, which is intended for actual medical conditions. This is consistent with McKee’s past liberal use of leave. She took a month off in October to campaign for the clerk’s job.

McKee also says Reuter moved her from a “semi-private office to a cubicle outside his office door and then, after her leave, to a downstairs file room to do microfilming.” One has to wonder if Reuter also gave her a can of pesticide and asked her to take care of the cockroaches down there. Hopefully she got to keep her red stapler.

McKee also accused Reuter of not knowing the job and of relying too much on legal advice. She said Wagner did his own human resources work, to which Reuter attorney Stan Schnaare replied:

“I have no doubt that Howard Wagner did the bulk of his human resources work,” he said “I would say that perhaps in the past, the employees were not getting the same due process as they should have in the past – at least that’s my observation.”

We can see the fruits of Wagner’s HR work in the lawsuits filed by former clerk’s office employee Jamie Mahn.

One has to wonder what McKee’s new employers at the US Court of Appeals in St. Louis think of McKee’s parting shots. What will she have to say about them some day? Also, while it is clear that McKee is trying to cause political damage to Reuter, does she have her eyes on trying to run for the clerk seat again in 2018?