Kansas City lawyer runs into political buzz saw

Missouri senators on Thursday said they were sending a message to Gov. Jay Nixon when they blocked Kansas City lawyer Tim Dollar’s appointment to the state Conservation Commission.

They want the governor to work with them. And to get their point across, the Republican-led Senate refused to allow Nixon to withdraw Dollar’s appointment, preventing him from ever serving on the board. Otherwise, Dollar could have been reappointed.

Dollar ran into trouble with Republicans who said Nixon broke a promise to appoint someone from northern Missouri.

“We are trying to restore power to the legislature,” said Sen. Brad Lager, a Savannah Republican. “We are sending a very clear message.”

After blocking Dollar, the Senate voted to limit some of Nixon’s powers to fill government vacancies.

Democrats and a few Republicans objected to the lifelong ban. One Democrat called Dollar a “sacrificial lamb.”

“We are blocking him for a lifetime of something that he enjoys and that I think he would do a good job on, later in life,” said Dollar’s Senate sponsor, Republican Will Kraus of Lee’s Summit.

This story was originally published February 6, 2014 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Kansas City lawyer runs into political buzz saw."