TKC SUNDAY SPECIAL!!! KANSAS CITY CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT SEYZ: COUNCIL LADY JOLIE JUSTUS MUST GO AMID NEW AIRPORT CONFLICTS!!!

A bold call to action from this group of local tax fighters. Check their statement released far and wide this afternoon . . .

CFRG: Jolie Justus must go! One way or the other!

There are eight attorneys on our City Council. Jolie Justus is one of those attorneys. They all have sworn oaths to uphold the laws of the United States, The State of Missouri and the laws and Charter of the City of Kansas City. With the latter comes the responsibility to be good stewards of the Courts and represent the voters of KCMO, not special interests.

Jolie Justus has violated the trust the voters of KCMO have placed in her. She agreed to chair the Airport Committee and more importantly the Bid Selection Committee while the law firm where she is employed has business with one of the bidders and that bidder does extensive business with the airport and the city, millions of dollars every year!. She should have recused herself from day one!

However, this is just part of the problem. She has taken substantial campaign contributions from this bidder (which is not illegal but it is questionable) and she has gone around town pushing the single terminal plan proposed by this bidder. These are conflicts of interest and should require her to recuse herself from further participation in this process. In fact, she should have never engaged in any of these discussions let alone chair the committee where her vote could select the bidder ( a client of her law firm) to build a new airport. We believe this is malfeasance in office.

Check out these links to the City’c Code of Ethics:
• Sec. 2-2020. - Conflict of interest.
• Sec. 2-2021. - Disclosure of conflicts and withdrawal.

These links leave no doubt that Councilwoman Justus had a conflict of interest she should have disclosed and recused herself from the beginning. She should not vote on selection committee or when the council makes a selection. She should be removed immediately from the Airport Committee, The Airport Selection Committee and the City Council!

Now comes word this bidder has been allowed to alter their bid perhaps as many as three times and has not complied with the guidelines set forth in the process. In addition, this bidder has received "special consideration” by her selection committee and should be eliminated immediately from competing for the bid at the same time Justus recuses herself!

The Ethics committee at the Law Firm which she works for should have caught this and told her early on she shouldn’t participate. More importantly, the ethics officer on our City Council, Dan Fowler, should act immediately in recusing her from further proceedings. Other City Council Members (remember seven others are lawyers) who are party to this malfeasance expose themselves to potential litigation stemming from this process. They all know the law and have sworn to up hold it!

It is time for the voting public to step up. If the Mayor and the City Council won’t police themselves, then we must.

Call to action: Don’t wait for your neighbor or friend to do this. Step UP!

1.) Call and Email Councilman Dan Fowler’s office (ph: 816-513-6509 .. Email: Dan.Fowler@kcmo.org) Tell him you’re fed up and demand he remove Jolie Justus from the Airport committee and the Airport Selection committee. Then further suggest to Councilman Fowler, Councilwoman Justus be removed from the City Council. We need to pay close attention which members of the Council ask for or support her removal or resignation. Whoever doesn’t is complicit. The only way to stop this criminality at City Hall is to take action NOW! Send a message that conflicts of interest and lying to the voters will not be tolerated.

2.) Sit down and file complaints with The Missouri Ethics Commission: http://www.mec.mo.gov/WebDocs/PDF/Fillable/Complaint/Complaint.pdf
and the City’s Ethic Commission: http://kcmo.gov/ethicscommission/complaint-form/ The forms are there and you can do it on line. Do not wait, this must be done now!

We will never have openness and honesty in our city government if we don’t stop this type of activity. We believe the Mayor is complicit in all of this as he was well aware of the conflicts of interests and the ethics violations. He should have acted weeks ago.

Councilman Fowler needs to hold a press conference tomorrow, MONDAY to tell the voters what he is going to do! Demand he do so...
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