Clay County Commission’s Monday business meeting ended abruptly at 10:52 a.m., before several printed agenda items, including comments by individual commissioners, the county administrator and approval of previous minutes, could be completed.
The ending wasn’t the result of a fire drill or other emergency, but the result of political wrangling by board members.
“In election years, political things tend to happen at meetings,” said Eastern Commissioner Luann Ridgeway, who, like Western Commissioner Gene Owen, voted for the quick exit. “I’m doing everything I can to make sure we’re focused on the people’s business.”
Ridgeway represents the Excelsior Springs area on the commission.
In a conversation with reporters after Monday’s meeting, she said the tactic of early adjournment was intended to keep Presiding Commissioner Jerry Nolte from using commissioners’ comments to discuss issues she believes to be inappropriate, out of keeping with tradition and potentially in violation of the state Sunshine Law.
“Whenever I’ve talked to people who’ve been involved in the commission, they’ve said that commissioners’ comments have been used for positive reasons,” Ridgeway said. “Issues discussed now have moved away from that tradition. If the process is going to be corrupted, then I think the rules need to be adjusted to prevent that.”
Before any rule changes are proposed, Ridgeway said she plans to research what other commissions have used the comments portion of the agenda to discuss.
In previous meetings, Nolte began to use the comments section to discuss issues that Ridgeway, a Republican, and Owen, a Democrat, have blocked from being placed or kept on the agenda.
At the heart of the dispute is Nolte’s working relationship with Dean Brookshier, the county administrator, and a power struggle among Nolte, Ridgeway and, more recently, Owen.
In effect, Brookshier works at the commission’s will – though in some cases for two-thirds of the commission.
Areas of contention have included Nolte’s request to discuss the renewal of Brookshier’s contract, as well as several Nolte requests for routine scheduling information from Brookshier’s office.
The past two meetings, Nolte proposed discussing the manager’s contract before the end of this month, when, if notice of a review isn’t provided to Brookshier, his contract automatically renews for two years.
Nolte has also requested information on deadlines involved in the county’s external-audit process and for advance notice about when county contracts are due to expire. Aside from Sunshine requests undertaken by the presiding commissioner, the requests have been procedurally blocked by Ridgeway and Owen or ignored administratively by Brookshier’s office.
Ridgeway said that Nolte had politicized the process with what she perceives as trying to circumvent the other commissioners.
“Our presiding commissioner seems to have a beef with our staff and is going around this commission,” she said.
To read the rest of this story, please see the Friday, April 29 issue of The Excelsior Springs Standard