The Arnold City Council has refused to pay for an independent investigation from a company it hired to investigate an employee's complaint about a hostile work environment.
. Boone says the harassment began after Moss' sister was fired from the Parks Department in 2010.
At the council's last meeting, Ward 1 Councilwoman Doris Borgelt made a motion to remove the $6,800 payment to Protective & Investigative Services from the city's regular payment of bills. She called the report an "inferior product."
The council voted 5-to-3 in favor of the motion. Ward 2 Councilman Bill Moritz and Ward 3 Councilmen Phil Amato and Paul Freese voted against the motion.
Moss, Borgelt, Ward 4 Councilwoman Sandra Kownacki, Ward 2 Councilwoman Michelle Hohmeier and Ward 1 Councilwomen Cricky Lang voted in favor of the move.
Moritz asked City Attorney Bob Sweeney for his take on the matter.
"I think it looks like retaliation, but you've already done it," Sweeney said. "I would sue you."
In an interview after the meeting, Police Chief/Acting City Administrator Robert Shockey said the city attorney was probably right. "We'll get sued," he said.
Kevin Garrison of Protective and Investigative Services told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch there would be further action on the council's decision, but declined to elaborate.
The motion Borgelt made also included removing payment to Columbia Tree Service. Borgelt said the company, which was also hired by the city, did not have an Arnold business license.
Moritz said the tree service company, which has been used in the past, did the work it was asked to do and should be paid.
"If someone made a mistake, it was the city," he said. "They did the service, pay the people, and then get the business license sorted out."
See previous articles:
- Cricky Lang: 'We Just Need to Get Past This'
- Ken Moss: 'I Didn't Do Anything'
- Moss Says He Was Asked to Resign in September
- Arnold Park Director's Lawyer Files Second Complaint With State
- Arnold Councilman to Call for Impeachment of Ken Moss?
- Arnold Council Votes Down Acceptance of Harassment Investigation
- Arnold Employee Files Harassment Complaint Against Councilman
If you are concerned about lawsuits and their associated costs, you need to be concerned about the Federal one Pleban is laying the groundwork to tee up as a result of those "politicians" which you support. Counts already, in his comments to the Patch, has essentially admitted to the essential elements of blackmail, in his own admission, with regard to his statement about how "he reminded Kenny he was a Young guy with a business and that he did not want to see his business be hurt," thus implying, that should he resign, information which Counts believes to be damaging to Kenny and his business would then be withheld by Counts from the public as a result. Slam Dunk. A suit for an investigation, whose expenditure was not authorized by Council as required by Chapter 71 RSMo and was beyond a complete steaming pile, is the least of the legal issues at play here. It is comical to watch folks ignore the Elephant in the room as they opine on the location of fence posts
Also, our ordinances state you must have a license to do business in the city, the tree service did not have one, nor did the investigator at the time of service. We can avoid this problem in the future if businesses slated to perform a service fill out a verification form before actual work begins. Why are we hiring a tree service from Columbia, IL when we have three or four perfectly good tree services located right here in Arnold?
Ken Moss: Well, he obviously wouldn't like the investigation, would he? Michelle Hohmeier: Totally against government paying anything for anything despite participating it it herself. Sandra Kownacki: Mad 'cause the investigation calls her out for terrible remarks she may have made about Susie Boone. Cricky Lang: Who knows? But I'll tell you what - if you did work and billed for it and didn't get paid, you'd be wanting your money, too.
I don't believe anyone with common sense in this town wants her to be Mayor.