Authorities this week officially confirmed for The Landmark what some of us have been hinting at for weeks now: There’s a criminal investigation going on Parkville City Hall.
The Platte County Sheriff’s Department issued an investigative subpoena to the City of Parkville several weeks ago. The city, apparently with a guilty conscience, tried to quash the subpoena, which means they attempted a legal maneuver to avoid having to comply with the subpoena. That attempt was rejected by the courts.
Parkville to this point has supplied some documents to investigators. “But I couldn’t tell you if we have everything we need,” Major Erik Holland with the sheriff’s department said this week.
Don’t get impatient waiting for more news on this. These type of investigations typically involve a lot of angles and a lot of documents to peruse. And a lot of time.
If you’re a frequent Landmark Live watcher, you may recall the episode many months ago in which I referred to Parkville City Hall as a house of cards that is eventually going to collapse.
Obviously my feelings on that have not been changed, and in fact seem to get reinforced on a weekly basis.
A funny sidenote:
Earlier this year, I was frequently mentioning the mysterious “speakeasy” (as some of the locals refer to it) in downtown Parkville and whether the operation was completely on the up and up as far as licensing and permits. Alderman Phil Wassmer got a little smart on social media and said something to the effect that a little investigative journalism would show it was properly licensed and such.
So we took his advice and issued a detailed Sunshine request to the city, and we found some interesting information. For one, we found that The Watch Club did not have a business license at the time we were running my columns about its secretive side door status.
That’s right, at the time an alderman was publicly proclaiming on Facebook that the business was properly licensed it in fact was not properly licensed. Imagine that.
The business did eventually get a city license, but not until after all the conversation about it in this newspaper and on Landmark Live. Thanks for reading, guys.
And during the course of our Sunshine requests on business licensing information, some general information about how the city keeps track of business/building owners was supplied to us by the city’s custodian of records. Interesting thing: that information did not match what a city representative appears to have provided to the court under oath in documents related to the Jason Maki vs. City of Parkville civil lawsuit over public records.
Did a particular city official knowingly tell an untruth to the court? Perjury, anyone?
Thanks to Alderman Phil Wassmer for the suggestion that we conduct a little investigative journalism at Parkville City Hall. I hope he enjoys the way that turned out.
Think of The Landmark as being like baking soda. We can do a variety of things for you.
Hope you get the chance to tune in for Landmark Live this week to see me embarrass myself with my lack of knowledge about science fiction films, Marvel movies and fantasy flicks.
Marvel movie magnate Chris Kamler and I will go head-to-head in a movie trivia challenge of sorts. It’s more an effort by my co-workers to take joy in highlighting my lack of knowledge, really. Kamler and Landmark Live producer Tech Guy Schneider are sci-fi/fantasy film/Marvel movie aficionados, so I’ll take one for the team just to humor them.
There is a positive aspect to my lack of knowledge on movies about fake stuff. For every incorrect answer, I’ll be tossing $5 into a bucket to go to one of our favorite charities. For every question I answer correctly, Kamler will be tossing $5 into that bucket.
The show airs Thursday night at 6 p.m. on our Facebook page (Platte County Landmark). The video will remain on the page for viewing at your leisure and will eventually get posted to our YouTube channel as well.
Recently I installed a wi-fi thermostat for my home heating/cooling unit. It’s the best thing since Guy Speckman told me about ice cold Bud Light.
Using my cell phone, I can adjust the temperature setting at anytime from anywhere. If I choose to, I can get it to read my location. Let’s say I’m driving home and I’m five miles away, the thermostat can read my location and can automatically adjust the temperature setting in my home before I get there.
I’ve also used it while just lying in bed. Notice the house is a little chillier than you like upon waking? Grab your phone and adjust. Feeling a little too warm after you’ve tucked yourself in for the night? Grab your phone and adjust without getting out of bed.
I’m like a kid in a candy store right now.
Make club meetings great again. Thanks to the Platte County Federated Republican Women for the invitation to speak at their upcoming gathering. The shindig is next Thursday, Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the Platte County Resource Center and I’m guessing good seats are still available.
Nancy Felix, leader of the group, says I should talk about the newspaper business and how things got started around here and such, but hey, I’ll talk about whatever’s on your mind. There’s nothing worse than going to hear a speaker and then the speaker doesn’t touch on a topic that you’re interested in. Trust me, I’ve been there. So next Thursday if you have a question about a topic of general interest feel free to throw it my way.
It’s a women’s club but I don’t think they do gender checks at the door. That would be weird. I don’t think you even necessarily have to identify as a female to get in, but I haven’t confirmed this.
Anyway, I’ll be there and that’s all I really know at this point. I will not attempt to quash my subpoena, because quashing your subpoena sounds dangerous and painful.
(Get even deeper Between the Lines at plattecountylandmark.com or on Facebook at Platte County Landmark, on Landmark Live, or by email to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)
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