Hang in there, guys. I know Tax Day is next week, but on the bright side the outdoor concert season is coming soon. I’m ready.
It’s been a while since we’ve talked City of Platte City drama in this column. Ok, not that long, but long enough that we need to get back to it because some important things have taken place. Not kidding, I could write about City of Platte City stuff from now till next Thursday and still not be caught up.
I mean, a lot has happened. Between the goings-on during the Marji Gehr rein of terror–which was like watching a Shakespearean tragedy– and what is happening now that Marji’s last defender is out of office. Adults are back in charge and clean-ups are underway in several aisles of the store.
Tony Paolillo read kind of a bizarre and lengthy statement at a board meeting in late March in which he accused aldermen of violating the Sunshine Law. Paolillo closed his letter by announcing his resignation one week before his name would still be on the ballot against a challenge from alderman Steve Hoeger. At the end of his uncomfortable reading, he gathered his things and walked out of City Hall, leaving a surprised John Higgins, president of the board of aldermen and mayor pro-tem, to run the rest of the meeting. No one on the board had any advance notice of Paolillo’s resignation, it appeared.
Then, at the municipal election on Tuesday of last week, Hoeger defeated Paolillo, the candidate who had resigned as mayor but was still on the ballot (kind of a convenient excuse that he could use to explain an anticipated unsuccessful showing at the polls ) 60 percent to 40 percent.
Meanwhile, the return of DJ Gehrt occurred effective April 1. He is now the interim city administrator, leading the city while a search for a permanent city administrator is ongoing. That search, in fact, could in large part be led by Gehrt, which is a good thing. Gehrt retired as city administrator last July and was replaced by Marji, who put the city through eight months of drama by, at least in the eyes of the public, perhaps mixing personal with professional, among other things.
DJ Gehrt had been a trusted servant who accomplished things in a major project sort of way during his 12 years as city administrator. But his return as interim was met with some opposition from two members of the board of aldermen, Debbie Kirkpatrick and Vickie Atkins, who seem to feel that Gehrt did not properly massage the egos of some employees while he was city administrator.
You’re pretty much up to date.
Nah, just kidding. There’s plenty more.
This week, the aldermen had a work session taking place Monday night as I was putting this column together. Items on the work session agenda included future committees and committee assignments for aldermen (I’m assuming that means after new mayor Steve Hoeger takes the oath of office later this month), the future of work sessions and board/employee events, city administrator recruitment, the possible appointment of an assistant city administrator, what can be done to save the in-jeopardy Hwy. 92 improvement project east of I-29 and so on.
Much more to come in future editions of your Landmark.
Let’s get some perspective from Guy Speckman, Landmark columnist on page 3. It’s always good to hear from Speckman on municipal topics. The man is a former city administrator at Plattsburg, so he knows a thing or two about these type of things.
Here’s what Speck wrote last week about Paolillo’s Sunshine accusations and the drama that went on while Marji Gehr was serving as city administrator. In short, he points out that City Hall should have come clean about the Mexican restaurant assault, when Marji Gehr and then public works director Brad Wallace were at a table having dinner with a few other people, including the then-finance director for the city. As you know by now, Wallace assaulted a guy sitting at the same table during that social outing. Here’s what Speck wrote:
“All the smokescreen stuff that has been thrown out about the Sunshine Law could have been avoided if they had simply followed the spirit of the law in the very beginning of this ordeal. When the city administrator was out on the town with the public works director and the public works director punched some dude on camera, they could have simply put them both on leave and told the public what they knew as truth at that point.
“There is nothing in personnel law or Sunshine Law that precludes the government from telling you the truth as they know it, but that didn’t happen and the thing spiraled into months of mess, with everyone hiding behind trumped up empathy, laws, lawyers, and everything but transparency.”
Bingo.
Bottom line? A cover-up is often worse than the initial crime. These things never seem to end well. This one didn’t. It’s likely Marji Gehr was distracted during many of her eight months as administrator covering all the tracks associated with that incident, and that’s why there are so many messes, in-jeopardy projects, internal tension, and half-finished projects facing the haz mat team right now.
An attempted cover-up definitely occurred in this case. Remember, there were folks at City Hall telling us that Marji Gehr was not there when the assault went down, saying that Marji was only called up there after the fact. Total BS. The restaurant’s video, which was used in the court case against Wallace and a copy of which is now in The Landmark’s possession, clearly shows Gehr was at the same party table with Wallace when the assault occurred and she had been there for quite some time.
It’s very clear video, by the way. Looks like high definition.
A couple of you have asked to come in to view the evidentiary film, which is about 25 minutes long. A couple of you have already come in for a matinee showing. Call me if you’re interested in a viewing and we’ll set up a time.
If you’ve been following the weekly adventures of this column, you already know this. Was there ever a doubt? Two years in a row Foley hits an NCAA basketball championship future. UConn won the title Monday night, cashing an 11-1 futures bet I made on the Huskies back on Jan. 19. Three in a row next year?
(One skin cancer procedure done, one to go. Foley’s right eye looks like he just had dinner with the public works director. Find him with an ice pack and a band-aid)
