Brentwood mayor Pat Kelly and aldermen Andy Leahy, Tom Kramer and Keith Robertson will soon be investigated by the Missouri Ethics Commission for allegations of accepting health insurance benefits from the city of Brentwood identified by the state auditor as illegal because the benefit was not established by city ordinance. That’s according to an email to 40 South News from a source that wants to remain anonymous.
The ethics commission could give no details, per Missouri law requiring confidentiality, according to the director. He said information gained from any other source is free to be reported.
Robertson said he was told on Dec. 30 that alderwoman Maureen Saunders had filed the complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission, but he hadn’t seen it.
He said on Tuesday that the benefits were not illegal, and for him, not free.
“I paid for my insurance,” he said. “The city invoiced me and I paid every single month. I didn’t accept it—I paid for it.”
Leahy, reached by phone on Wednesday, had no comment.
Kramer contacted 40 South News by email on Thursday to say he had been out of town and had no information to comment on. He said if it comes up again he will be happy to comment at the conclusion of the discussion.
Kelly, so far, has not responded to requests for comment.
Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich found the health insurance benefit to be illegal in his May 2013 report of his audit of the city, and also noted that the board of aldermen had reevaluated and terminated the benefit in August 2012.
When the investigation is complete the results will be made public on the Missouri Ethics Commission website.
Jim – The state audit was for 2011 only. Before I left office, 2012, many changes had already been implimented. Since then even more have been put in place. The state auditor even stated, and I quote “There was tangible progress in almost every area that we looked into, and you should be happy about that,” Schweich said in the meeting. “I do think that the city is committed to improvement.” This is a person that has seen everything to do with Brentwoods finances, you and I haven’t So, my question is, how can you say that there haven’t been changes? I believe this board (the entire board) has the cities best intrests in mind. I know from experience that there are facts that the public isnt privy to. I believe that is unfortunate, but because of our legal system it is necessary to protect the city from law suits. Thanks for posting with your real name. Mike
Justin, if Chris Seemayer was the cause of these problems, the city should file on his bond. The only purpose of the bond IS TO PROTECT THE CITIZENS, not city officials or former city officials.
Seemayer could not have created all of these problems without the mayor’s knowledge. City ordinances were violated regarding the medical benefits and it is the mayor’s responsibility to enforce city codes and ordinances. Bernie Madoff fooled a lot of smart people but he also needed others to allow his crime to go on for so long. File on Seemayer’s bond and we’ll find out who else knew about these practices and had silently approved them. The state requires these bonds for the benefit of the citizens, as a deterrent for exactly what has happened in Brentwood, violation of rules and laws costing the city.
You speak of best practices that have been implemented at city hall, provide some examples of what best practices have been implemented at city hall.
Regarding Ald. Saunders requests, provide examples of “her often abusive and rude calls, emails and research requests.” The rude emails should be available to post. Let’s see if the documents she has requested are documents that should be available as normal city reports.
Justin – one more thing, for that city person that says Alderperson Saunders is rude and abusive taking up 50% of their time, give us examples. That is a flat out lie.
Again, listen when you are at the meeting as she states what she in fact has requested and how she is unable to get it.
For example, why can’t she see the bill for the attorney fees we pay? isn’t that her job? Yet, she is denied that request and is expected to just vote okay because that is what the mayor wants.
Seriously Justin, take a dollar and buy a clue.
Saunders is not the problem, she is the only one asking questions.
All of the folks there at the last meeting were willing to pass a bill for Hanley industrial to do upgrades. The Hanley business group promised to put in monies yet no one had anything in writing to hold them legally to their promise. Still our alderman were ready to pass the bill.
If she had not brought this up we the taxpayers again would have lost.
Justin, not sure who you are, just very sure from ready your posts that you really have no interest in honest government.
Chris
justin – hard to disagree with you more. Have you been really paying attention? Did you see the city’s audit after the state audit, nothing has changed. Our mayor picks and chooses what he deems are best practices. He and the alderman have decided that they are smarter than everyone else and employ suggested best practices when it works for them and they ignore them if it opposes what they want.
There does come a time when burning down the house is the best solution. Brentwood has reached that point with the group currently in charge. Too many people are justifying that breaking the law is okay. Amazing to us average citizens who are not allowed the same courtesy. There comes a time when power so corrupts that those wielding that power not longer have the ability to see the truth. Our city has reached that breaking point. The leaders have no reality of what it right and wrong. To watch all of this is actually very sad.
thanks for the dialogue – Chirs
Without a doubt in recent years Brentwood has endured major set-backs: the former city administrator’s embezzling, the over-time pay with firefighters, the appalling shenanigans perpetrated on candidates in previous elections and the dismal report by the Missouri State Auditor. There’s no question the City was ruled by a “good ol’ boys” network, a network largely overseen by Chris Seemayor and tacitly accepted by the part-time mayor and various council members who not only, mistakenly, trusted Mr Seemayor, but clearly did not have a firm hand on the helm. But let’s face it some very smart people trusted Bernie Madoff, too.
I am not condoning Mr Seemayor’s behavior, however, let’s not lose sight of how this incident opened the way for necessary reforms, reforms the new staff, especially under the leadership of Bola Akande, have put in motion, which were sighted and praised by the State Auditor in his follow-up visit in April. Ms Akande and her team have, probably for the first time in the City of Brentwood’s history, implemented desperately needed “best practices.”
There are several posters here who believe without Ms Saunder’s doggedness nothing would have changed: Are we to believe she, and only she–not any of her elected colleagues, the new city administrator or finance director, as well as seasoned professional staff, volunteers and informed citizens—many of whom have been deeply scrutinized by Ms Saunders–had any knowledge of how, much less will or desire of their own, to heal their beloved community? Really?
It’s been three years since Mr Seemayor left, and two years since Ms Saunders was elected on a platform to ferret out corruption in Brentwood: but she has yet to find the smoking gun. She continues to impede the day-to-day functions of the City, so much so that one staff member confessed they spend nearly 50% of their workday fielding her often abusive and rude calls, emails and research requests.
Sadly, by continually to focus on all that’s wrong with Brentwood, its future and all that’s right with the City is ignored—and there’s a lot that’s very, very right and good and kind in Brentwood. Great schools, concerned educated and involved citizens. A healthy economic future, low crime. It is, in many respects an ideal place to live.
Ms Saunders appears to have cobbled not only the mayor, but now she’s (allegedly) descending upon her elected colleagues. (If the State Auditor didn’t find a legal issue with the insurance benefits distributed without the necessary ordinance, doesn’t it seem likely the Ethics Committee will agree, too, there was a “violation” but not a criminal act?) I’m sure we’re all looking forward to the next City council meeting, if nothing else for the sheer entertainment of it all. What a sad state of affairs and if nothing’s done, we’ll have two more years of the same charades.
One has to ask Ms Saunder’s to what end? Though there were clearly wrongs the City desperately needed to address and now that many have (mostly through the policies and procedures implemented by Ms Akande), Ms Saunders continues to lay siege to her own city, without so much as a passing glance towards it’s future or reputation. It’s one thing to clean house but quite another to burn it down.
Justin, you said: “she has yet to find the smoking gun” regarding alderwoman Saunders.
Are you kidding me? Recent developments with the ethics commission investigation of the past election clearly prove that Kelly thinks he can’t win an election in Brentwood on issues so he stoops to a campaign designed to destroy and embarrass anyone who dares run against him or his entitled few. There’s your smoking gun. What else do you need to know about him? Makes one wonder; what wouldn’t he do to win?
You can’t take a mayor of a rinky-dinky town of 8035 people seriously who employs a washed up advertising guy to secretly attack and harass a woman who is running for office. And look at what they thought would be an effective plan of attack. Lizzie Borden cartoons sent out to women voters? Marbles and jam? Yea that was a great call. Kinda interesting that in the past decade any woman who has challenged the ole boys club has been the victim of such vicious and disrespectful campaign tactics. Way to treat your women Brentwood! Time to wake up!.
If Alderperson Saunders did indeed file a complaint with the Ethics Commission, I am sure it is out of frustration. I know that I am frustrated. And the State auditor’s comments were confusing to me. In several places he commented that an activity was “against state statute” but then said there was no “criminal activity”. I am thinking he did not interpret any of the actions of the City as “purposeful intent”….but it still means that the law was broken. So whoever filed the complaint, I am wondering why they took it to the Ethics Commission instead of to the prosecuting attorney’s office.
Brentwood needs to correct its operations and oversight. Whenever I share information regarding Brentwood activities with others outside of Brentwood – whether it be friends, other council people, lawyers – they have a similar response: Brentwood seems to feel that they don’t have to follow the same rules and laws that other do. In the past, the Brentwood community seemed to have tolerated this type of behavior. When the type of behavior that has occurred in Brentwood occurred in other communities, those communities responded very differently: they elected new people, filed against the city bond to recover expenses. For some reason, that isn’t the case in Brentwood. I am hopeful that in the future, this will change. I didn’t grow up in Brentwood. I moved here in 1990 because I felt it was a good community and because of what it had to offer. Over time, I lost this belief… but am hopeful for the future. There is a lot of good in Brentwood…but what happens at City Hall needs to change.
is threatened. I imagine it will be even harder for residents to have access to information.
Mike – I ran in the 2004/2005 election, and the nasty campaign pieces were one sided. Katy and I did not run together…but we did specifically talk about how to respond to the disgraceful and nasty campaign pieces that were being distributed against us. I felt strongly that we needed to take the high road…which we did.
Also, when I ran, several people in my Ward told me that they wanted to support me but felt that they could not because they would not get good police and fire protection if they supported candidates that were not aligned with the mayor. It didn’t make sense to me at the time…but after the recent comments by Mr. Jamboretz, it is much clearer to me now. I think that all Brentwood residents should have the right to feel safe and not feel threatened. The BOA keeps telling us that everything is corrected and that we need to move forward…but it is evident to me that we still have a lot to correct. The BOA says that it is transparent, yet in a recent draft of a code of conduct, the right to information of individual alderman
Mike – I appreciate your point of view and having met some of them at community fuctions they are all very nice people.
Here is what I do not understand. We broke state laws with the bonuses, our city law requires an audit of inventory every year, and then there are the benefits which they took illegally. What I am surprised by is the auditor told us all the laws that were broken and there is absolutely no action the auditor’s office can take.
Something is very wrong at city hall. Shouldn’t all of our elected officials know the laws? Where is our city attorney weighing in on all of this? Is he so intimidated by the Mayor that his only real function is to hang on to the city paycheck.
I just do not understand how we can say that it is okay that they did not know the rules. That is their job and what they are elected to do. If they are not going to know the law of our city and state that they are to follow, I do not think they should be in office. They have failed the people. The audit alone tells us how badly they failed the people. Yes, they are all nice people. Their character is not what is being measured, it is their performance when it comes to performing their duties as Alderman, what they swore to do. This is what I am speaking about, performance, and they have failed us.
Thanks for listening – Chris
Chris Jenkins – The following statement from the MO State Auditor was in the Post Dispatch on May 8, 2013:
“At the same time, he stressed, the audit revealed “no criminal content” on the part of employees or elected officials.”
The state auditor stated that procedures were not followed; because of that changes were made, many before the audit was completed. Chris, I would like you to show me the criminal charges that were filed against these elected officials (Pat, Andy, Tom, and Keith). Surly since they broke the law they had to have been arrested, gone to court, and served time for their crimes. Before you start calling people criminals/lawbreakers maybe you should get the facts yourself and not just make assumptions based on comments from people who have their own agendas. These men have chosen Brentwood as their home, raised families, and some even work here in town. Please, all I ask is that you comment with facts. Thanks for posting with your real name.
Mr. Pozzo, I don’t condone the garbage that was distributed to the residents in the form of letters slandering candidates during the 2003 and 2005 elections, or the most resent election. But let’s be fair, it came from all sides in the 2003 and 2005 election cycle.
Well said Mike. I do not agree with evertying Pat and the board of alderman have done in the past. Alot of negative things have happened in the past years but that does not make them criminal and I do not condone those actions. Chris If someone breaks the law the police should make an arrest and hold them accountable and I have not seen any charges being filed. Jim for us to move on as a community there has to be and end to all this infighting, backstabing and mud slinging by all our elected officials and the only way I see that happening is at election time. I just do not know who would want go into public office in Brentwood given the mistrust in our community right now.
john and mike – I appreciate these are nice people. When is it okay to break the law? If I steal from your home, show up at court with people who say I am a nice guy, will you drop the charges?
I honestly cannot understand how you can post comments telling the average citizen that you know the person, so it is okay that they break laws.
As a public official when elected you are held to a higher standard, not lower. I just shake my head and wonder how your can sit and justify breaking the law.
Jim,I question at times the city of warmth. For the most part, I like living here. But now and then I get so mad at our so called leaders. But I sure as hack do not want to be one of them. Though I think now and then of getting out of here. But all places are probably the same. My house is paid off so I guess I will stay.
The reason people don’t put their names for Brentwood posts is because of what happens to those who question the mayor. Before being elected alderman, Saunders had questioned city officials for ignoring annual audit recommendations and other basic accounting business practices that were not being done at city hall. When Saunders decided to run for office, the Jamboretz program was implemented: anonymous packages sent to her and her supporters, anonymous mailings sent to her supporters and some women voters, dead possum(with live babies) that looked like it had been poisoned left on Saunders back steps. This type of activity has happened before in Brentwood, around 2003 and again in 2005 when other candidates questioned the city’s operations. So, for at least 10 years the city of warmth has been terrorizing unfriendly candidates. When I told Assistant US Attorney Hal Goldsmith about the packages and mailings, he asked to see them. He was definitely instrumental in obtaining the source of the mailings.
I am not a Brentwood residence and thus have no dog in this fight, but I object to the notion that only those who write under their full, recognizable name should be allowed to post here or anywhere else. There’s a long tradition of using pseudonyms, one that stretches way before the advent of social media. The fact that some people abuse this to post rude or troll-like comments does not mean that we should abandon the practice altogether. Disregard the rude comments, but don’t call out someone for being a coward just because they don’t feel comfortable using their real or full name. People are petty and vindictive. Plus, these days, your online comments can be used against you by an employer. In my mind, it’s foolish to post under your full name, especially if you have something critical to say. And how very conspiratorial to claim that all the posters are one in the same. I highly doubt one person is taking the time to create all these duplicate 40 South News account under different e-mail accounts. The more probable explanation is that there are numerous discontented individuals in your community.
Somebody explain how the elected officials came to get these benefits. The state law and city ordinances are pretty clear. And the aldermen voted to stop the illegal benefits? Seems like you would not need a vote to stop something that was never legally approved in the first place.
John and Frank, don’t you think that the money should be recovered, the state audit put the cost in 2011 at $28,000, five years would be $140,000? If your credit card or bank account was hit with mysterious charges of $2,000 that you did not approve, would you just forget it or would you want to find the source and recover your losses?
The state audit pointed out that city officials have been:
Violating 4 city ordinances,
Violating 7 state statutes,
Violating 1 state constitutional article and
Violating 2 instances of the Fair Labor Standard Act of 1938.
All of these laws are to protect the city’s finances and property. The annual impact to the city’s finances for some of these items and the golf tournament funds was $80,000 to $100,000. These are laws that you would expect the city to follow. And what is really telling is that the state auditor suggested it would be the best use of city funds to go out for bids for legal(professional) services, the city’s response was “according to state law we do not have to get bids,” sure looks like city officials are looking out for the citizens’ best interest.
Anonymous postings, or those with “Is”, “AG”, “Mr. Completely” or for cryin out loud ‘Mother Hen”, are likely the same person or a continous and small line of cowards. Such a shame. Step up to the plate my sons. Let the light shine on you! I, for one, have no problem with my elected representatuve getting health benefits. After all, we don’t pay the taxes. The folks who go into Target do…
I will tell you all this. If you do not like the way our city is run, the run for mayor or alderman and change it. My friend Maureen did, so did Keith and everyone else. Quit your anonymous griping and do something for our great city. I may not agree with everything done, but I will tell Pat and Keith and Andy directly and not be a background pain in the you know what.
A bigger importance to the city is that the city is about to replace it’s dispatch center by outsourcing to Richmond Heights, who has a history of delaying all calls by three to five minutes. People who have a history of heart problems need to take heed of this because it could delay the fire and police response to your location.
Why is the city keeping this decision under wraps and not requesting public input? Discussion of this contract is ongoing and will be behind closed doors at Monday’s board of aldermen meeting. Is anyone concerned?
It is not under wraps it is just a closed session meeting that was posted on the web site at 6pm before the 7 pm regular meeting. Why does everything have to be a conspiracy. I do not get it. I’m sure it is a matter of scuntiy of the budget which I applaud the BOA for doing. Having a full service dispacher to me seems like a waste of money for our small community. Just because they are close does not mean better pr faster service
.
The same fool is at the helm of the ship in Brentwood and therefore nothing has been resolved. None of the people at the center of the B.S. at city hall have come forward and volunteered anything. This city has rotted from the top down for 15 years and its only been uncovered because of the hard work of people who really are honest and who really do care about Brentwood, they stood up asked questions and refused to go away until they had the truth and its not over. Unless and until a new mayor is elected there is no reason to forgive and forget or imply that there has been a turn of the page. You can’t expect anything different from city hall until new leadership takes shape. We need a new mayor.
Thanks Mike Marshall for your past years of service on of the Board of Alerman and I agree totally with your comments. Keith Robertson is also a friend of mine and my ward 3 Alderman and he has alot to benefit this community that everyone takes for granted. I believe alot of good people that may have eleceted public service will not becuase of the disfuctional way our city is being run by the board of alderman. It has been overy 2 years since the new group of alderman came in. When are we going to see some positive things happening again instead of all the negaivity. We all know bad things were done but when does it end, I guess the audit did not go enough. Does anyone not see how this makes our city look to the outside public? My understanting was that everyone knew the benefits were avalialbe to City employess and no one hid that fact. If you go to work for a city and it offered to you and you need it (especatilly if you pay for it) how would that be illegal and consdered stealing. When it was uncovered that there was no city ordinace allowing the benefit the practice was discontinued. I knew this and thought it was common knowlege.
As far as anoyous posting I contend those should not be allowed on this site. It is a cowardly way to address any issue. If you are afriad to use your name don’t make statements or accusations defaming someones character that cannot be backed up with facts or you would not be afriad to say to them in person.
John Nuernberger
I find it amusing that the people who step up to do the business of the people, do so in the public light. Those who choose to complain because they don’t get their way always seem to do so anonymously. I worked with these 4 men for many years, we may not have always agreed with each other, but all are honest to the core!! Keith Robertson is one of my best friends. He is honest and has always worked hard for the citizens of Brentwood.
Mike Marshall
I really don’t care who leaked what, it is not over until the people who stole the public’s trust and monies are removed from office. It is a fact that our leaders broke state laws, did not follow the statutes of the city, took benefits illegally, and paid benefits to employees against state law. Anyone that performed in this manner at a company outside of government would have been fired long ago. For those of you who still support people who have stolen your trust, I just do not understand how you can allow someone to fool you and it be okay.
The Mayor and Alderman took benefits illegally, ignorance of the law is never an excuse. As a citizen I do not believe these folks should be allowed to stay in office. They were put into a position of leadership and they did not follow the laws of the city and state. They are either lying to us, incompetent or should be removed because their laziness led them to not do their jobs as they were sworn to do. Their is so much uncovered dirt in our city that it is scary.
Willing to bet a lot of money that this “anonymous” source is Alderman Saunders. Why dig this up again and create a big stink. This constant need for conflict is what is wrong with Brentwood!
Is this just old news that keeps being resurfaced. I am sick of hearing about the same issues. This was resolved 2 years ago when the practice was discontinued. The The Citizens of the city of Brentwood need to put its past behind it and move on for the future and if the voters are unhappy vote everyone out and start over.