Facing potential recall vote, Frank White wants county legislator investigated
Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr. has asked authorities to investigate a county legislator who wants White removed from office. He claims Sean Smith engaged in illegal behavior in support of the recall.
White, a Democrat, issued a news release Monday accusing Smith, a Republican who represents the 6th District, of misusing public resources to promote the recall. He urged County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson and Sheriff Darryl Forte, both of whom are Democrats, to launch an investigation.
“Central to the referral is a video presentation that was created and distributed using county resources and originally included statements advocating for the recall effort,” White said.
“The video is now hosted on Legislator Smith’s campaign website, where campaign branding and imagery have been added. After being informed that his conduct violated state law, Legislator Smith edited the video to remove the advocacy content. The revised version now ends abruptly and omits its original conclusion.”
Smith denied the accusation on his Facebook page, He said he created the video about the county’s controversial reassessment process on his personal electronic device while he was out of town visiting family.
“I will say, unequivocally that I did not use county resources to record the video in question,” Smith wrote.
“The video sought to explain the quagmire created by two years of abuse on Residential Property Tax owners by the County Executive and his staff. Separating those Issues from the leader of the County Government Is not possible.”
Smith went onto accuse White of using county resources in his attempt to stop the recall by paying for data from the Jackson County and Kansas City election boards.
“It’s time for this embattled executive to resign before he does further damage to our home owners, business owners and associates,” Smith said.
In his referral, White submitted multiple documents to the prosecutor’s office and to the sheriff, he said. He said more material would be forthcoming and recommended that a special prosecutor be appointed to conduct the inquiry to ensure the independence of the investigation.
Smith has influence over the operations of both offices as a member of the legislature’s budget committee, White said.
On Monday, the Jackson County Election Board said the minimum number of signatures required for a recall vote have been turned in. Before a vote is held, the signatures must be validated.
Smith was a key leader in the recall effort, and he was aware that he needed to separate his public duties as a legislator from his political interests, according to an email exchange that The Star obtained through an open records request.
When a constituent wrote him at his county email address on Dec. 19 to ask where she might sign the White recall petition, Smith sent his legislative aide a copy and instructed her not to respond through official channels.
“As we get these can you forward them to Sean@Seansmithformmo.com Then, reply from there with the following: Hi, I’m replying to your inquiry about the recall.
“I need to avoid using my County email for these messages,” he said.
