Thursday, March 28, 2013
The federal lawsuit claims that City Attorney Bob Sweeney and City Clerk Diane Waller illegally removed Missey's name from the April 2 ballot for political reasons.
Shaun Missey is suing Arnold and two of its employees/representatives for disqualifying him from running for the Ward 1 seat in the April 2 election. Chet Pleban, Missey's attorney, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday claiming that City Attorney Bob Sweeney and City Clerk Diane Waller illegally removed Missey's name from the April 2 ballot for political reasons. The petition states, "...Sweeney is a political ally of Mayor Ron Counts and has a financial interest in Counts and his political allies maintaining a majority on the council so that Sweeney is not replaced as the city attorney as he was in December 2009." It continues, "The defendants Sweeney and Waller removed Missey from the ballot for a pretexual reason to ensure that Counts'/…
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Arnold councilmen need to decide how to use $1.25 million bond reserves, $200,000 annual savings in debt payments.
The City of Arnold has a difficult but pleasant decision to make in this bond market. The city could save about $200,000 yearly, until they year 2027, if councilmen decided to refinance Arnold’s municipal bonds issued in 2003. The 2003 bonds were used to build the Arnold Recreation Center at 1695 Missouri State Road. ________ Poll: How should the city use the money saved? Let us know in your vote at the end of the article. ________ “We are at historic, historic low interest rates,” said Carl Ramey, the Stifel Nicolaus public finance advisor for Arnold. Refinancing would have city issue new bonds, this year, that have a lower interest rate to essentially replace the bonds issued nearly 10 years ago. Refinancing would also free $1.25 million…
38.423362
-90.375209
Arnold-City Clerk-Collector
2101 Jeffco Blvd, Arnold, MO
/articles/arnold-likely-to-refinance-municipal-bonds
1712466
/locations/6522875
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Administrator Matt Unrein said the St. Louis law is isolated.
Arnold City Administrator Matt Unrein said today that red-light camera laws in St. Louis City are not relevant to Arnold. St. Louis City will continue to use its red-light cameras, despite Circuit Court Judge Mark Neill’s ruling, on Feb. 17, that upheld a partial judgment he made last May, that found the city improperly enacted its red-light camera ordinance. As reported in STLtoday, the judge said the law is unconstitutional because it offers little way for someone to contest the violation. Unrein said the St. Louis law has no relevance to the Arnold ordinance. “From my understanding of the case, all it did was throw out that individual’s ticket that was issued,” Unrein said. “It didn’t do anything as far as what effect it is has on …
Monday, January 9, 2012
Arnold City Attorney Bob Sweeney attended the Creve Coeur red-light camera case to prepare for the class-action lawsuit against Missouri cities using red-light cameras.
Arnold Ward 1 Councilman Doris Borgelt criticized City Attorney Bob Sweeney’s billing and legal strategies in an email to constituents sent in December. Specifically, Borgelt said Arnold tax payers were paying for Sweeney to attend Missouri Court of Appeals case regarding the use of American Traffic Solutions’ red-light traffic cameras in the City of Creve Coeur. St. Louis County resident Mary Nottebrok appealed a court decision regarding Creve Coeur’s red-light policy to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Riverfront Times reported. The case began Oct. 5, 2011. Nottebrok’s attorney argued to the appellate court that the red-light cameras violated a person’s right to due process. “We are paying for our attorney to attend and sit in the audience…
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Change would eliminate minimum 1-acre lot required for churches in Arnold.
On Thursday, Arnold City Council members will consider changing the 1-acre lot requirement for churches within the city boundaries. Shiloh World Outreach Center at 1556 Jeffco Blvd. asked for a variance to the current requirement because its building remained unused. Arnold Community Development Director Mary Holden said research found the minimum 1-acre requirement contrasted to Missouri Supreme Court rulings on zoning codes related to churches. The court has limited those codes to safety issues. Holden said the city planning commission on June 14 recommended changing the city’s zoning code to eliminate the minimum lot size for churches in the R-2 through R-6 residential Zones, mobile home district zones and C-2 and C-3 commercial zone …
Friday, June 3, 2011
City officials say council members and the public have a right to speak out, but should do so respectfully.
Arnold City Administrator Matt Unrein places a premium on civility. That’s why he invited Kirkwood's city clerk to speak to city council members about security and constituent interaction at a recent work session. Kirkwood was the scene of a shooting rampage that left six people, including the gunman, dead on Feb. 7, 2008. Two police officers, two city council members and the city public works director were killed. Kirkwood Mayor Mike Swoboda was critically injured and died seven months later of complications from his injuries. Authorities said the gunman, Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton, apparently targeted public officials he had sparred with in the past. In Arnold, the city has posted on its website a white paper from the Institute for …
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
City Attorney Bob Sweeney said no legal conflict of interest exists. Armstrong Teasdale is a large firm and different attorneys will work on the separate lawsuits.
Mayor Ron Counts cast the tie-breaking vote allowing the law firm Armstrong Teasdale, which works for city of Arnold, to defend former Ward 2 Councilman Jerel Poor in a separate lawsuit. Counts vote, during a city council meeting on April 26, avoided a possible legal conflict of interest for the 241-lawyer firm with offices in St. Louis, Kansas City and Jefferson City. City Attorney Bob Sweeney said the firm works with him to defend Arnold in a lawsuit against Poor. Poor’s complaint is that a storm water charge imposed all property within city boundaries is unconstitutional, reported Missouri Lawyers Media, a trade publication. The water charge is a tax issued without the voters’ approval, the magazine reported. During the city council …
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Each resident must ask for the longer term payments, City Attorney Sweeney said.
Ozark Drive residents who must pay a total of $343,000 for a new bridge can request up to 20 years to pay for the project. Without the request, they would have to pay for the project in 10 years. Arnold City Clerk Diane Waller asked City Attorney Bob Sweeney and the newly installed City Council about the matter during the April 21 council meeting at City Hall, 2101 Jeffco Blvd. Council members approved the bridge’s cost in a 6-2 vote during the April 7 council meeting. Then-councilmen Bob Lindsley and Jason Connell voted against the proposal, because they wanted to hear from all eight Ozark Drive residents who would be billed for the project. Ozark Hills Park Properties would pay about $266,000 of the bridge’s cost, because it owned the …
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Property owners to owe $335,000 when law passes, first payment due with regular tax bill at year's end.
Arnold City Council members voted 8-0 to postpone two ordinance bills concerning the Ozark Drive Neighborhood Bridge. Council members had scheduled to vote on March 24 during a council meeting at City Hall on Bill No. 2460, which determined the project’s final cost at about $335,000, and Bill No. 2461, which allows the City to use the bridge and related land as public roads. Ward 1 Councilman Randy Crisler wanted the City to correct a related property issue prior to voting on the bills. Arnold resident Bennie Rose owns a 5-foot section of property near the bridge and is included in the bridge's cost assessment, Crisler said. Crisler wanted Rose's property assessment corrected prior to voting on the ordinances. City Administrator Matt …
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The Missouri Department of Revenue, in a document, said it lacks a points assessment program on Arnold's red-light camera system.
No red-light camera violations are reviewed by the Missouri Department of Revenue for points assessment, according to documents provided by Arnold City Administrator Matt Unrein and City Attorney Bob Sweeney. Red-light camera systems operate at four Arnold intersections and record drivers who enter an intersection after a light is red. Photos and video recordings capture the cars’ movement and location for the duration of the red light. The Department of Revenue, by state law, assesses points to drivers with moving violations. The department’s website has a list of driving violations and the points assessed on Form 899. Red-light camera violations are assessed no points, the document stated. The statement appears, in bold font, at the …
MotleySTL
9:22 am on Saturday, March 30, 2013
I am thinking that Arnold is not a nice place to be, Incumbents and challengers have a bad vibe. Who would want someone in a leadership position that did not show integrity above the call? This tax thing is ridiculous, he did not pay and he was supposed to. That's all. Period. As a citizen he is supposed to pay, he knows that even if he doesn't get a paper bill. Why is this even a question? Are … more ›