Johnson County mayor promised investigation into corruption claims. But is it real?
When allegations of corruption ignited a firestorm in Spring Hill, the mayor of the small Johnson County town promised a special investigation to quell suspicions.
Residents accused city officials of impropriety and collusion during their efforts to bring broadband internet to town, leading the mayor to call for an external review of the city’s actions. Last month, Mayor Steven Ellis told residents that the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office had accepted the case to investigate whether officials acted improperly.
But District Attorney Steve Howe said on Friday that his office has received no information from Spring Hill about the issue.
“I can say two things: I have not made those statements to anyone about this particular issue. And I have not received any documents associated with the mayor’s complaint,” Howe told The Star.
That directly contradicts the message Ellis told residents at a City Council meeting on Feb. 27.
“The District Attorney’s Office has assigned their top investigator. District Attorney Howe has committed that this investigation is a top priority for his office,” Ellis said at the meeting.
Now the mayor’s claim is igniting more controversy as residents wonder whether an investigation will happen at all — and underscores their growing distrust in city government.
Investigation up in the air
Ellis called for the investigation in January, one day after the City Council voted to begin negotiating a contract with broadband provider Allo Communications.
Allo was one of 12 companies that submitted a proposal to build a fiber network between city buildings. Spring Hill continues to struggle with sluggish, unreliable internet, and the city has been working to attract a broadband provider since 2017.
The City Council’s vote to move forward with Allo came as a surprise to many residents, who were not able to review companies’ proposals before the vote. Bids remained secret because the city required each company to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
Before the vote, Councilwoman Andrea Hughes — who served as the City Council’s liaison to the city broadband task force — urged residents on social media to attend the meeting and push the council to accept Allo’s proposal. Her lobbying for a preferred vendor led many residents to further question city motives.
The bids have now been made public, after The Star and several concerned residents requested them. But many are angry the process was shrouded in secrecy. They continue to question why the city has moved forward with one internet provider, when local and current providers also submitted plans — some for a similar or even lower cost to taxpayers.
When Ellis called for an investigation of the city’s actions, he assured staff members he had full confidence in them, according to an email obtained by The Star. But he felt it was necessary to look into “accusations of criminal behavior.”
“This should not be taken as an erosion of that confidence; rather, an action taken to ensure that those with concerns of illegal activity know they are being heard and that their concerns will be investigated by an independent body,” Ellis wrote.
In an earlier interview, Ellis told The Star he does not believe staff acted inappropriately. But by calling for an investigation, he hoped to ensure constituents had faith in their local government.
“A failure to take action such as this will only cause further decay in the relationship between the people and their government, and that must be avoided at all costs,” he wrote in the email.
He hired special counsel, and at the City Council meeting on Feb. 27 said multiple times that an investigation by the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office was well underway. But it’s unclear whether the district attorney will launch its own investigation. And the mayor’s comments may have sowed more discontent.
Contacted by The Star, Ellis initially stood by his comment that the DA had agreed to take on the investigation. But on Tuesday, he clarified that his promise of an investigation was based upon conversations the city’s special counsel reported having with Howe. He said those conversations led him to believe the case was a priority of the DA.
“I certainly accept the gaffe regarding priority — in the interest of getting information to the public as quickly as possible (I had only received that information about 10 minutes before our meeting started), I misinterpreted the feeling that this was a top priority as though those words were actually used,” Ellis said in an email to The Star.
Contacted again on Tuesday, Howe stuck with his earlier position that no information had been received from the city.
“I have no further comment,” the district attorney said.
Ellis said attorneys plan to send related city records to the DA this week.
Attorneys with the Kansas City, Kansas, law firm McAnany Van Cleave & Phillips, hired as the city’s special counsel, did not respond to a request for comment. City Attorney Frank Jenkins declined to comment.
The contradicting information from the mayor and district attorney has sparked even more questions and calls for transparency. Some residents have called the district attorney’s office themselves, and many continue to dig through city documents or submit records requests.
On a local Facebook group that has been consumed by the contentious debate, many residents are questioning whether they can believe city officials or the district attorney — and whether calls for an investigation were simply a show.
“This raises so many more questions than before,” one resident commented.
Demands grow louder
While the city’s efforts to improve broadband service are tangled in controversy, residents continue to face consistent internet outages.
At the Feb. 27 meeting, several residents and business owners begged city leaders to find a solution — and fast.
Cheryl Findley, owner of Hometown Liquor, held up a notebook and a calculator as she walked to the podium to stand in front of the City Council.
“This is my credit card (system), my POS system and my cash register during an internet outage at my business. Technology has progressed, the internet at Spring Hill has not,” Findley said.
Within the last two weeks of February, she experienced four internet outages at her business, she said.
“Every day we go to work and we don’t know what’s going to happen. That is what’s so frustrating,” she said. “Whether it’s orders we have to do, whether it’s customers we’re trying to serve, every day we’re on egg shells.”
Residents continue to plead for a permanent solution. And now they worry that the mayor’s call for an investigation — whether it happens or not — will only prolong the city’s efforts to bring more reliable internet.
“The introduction of the mayor’s investigation leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth,” resident Roger Welsh told the City Council. “It creates a ton of questions.”
The mayor said the city continues talks with Allo about its project proposal, although council members would not take formal action on a contract until after the investigation is complete.
Welsh and others are pushing for the city to be more transparent.
“I’m not accusing anyone of any wrongdoing. We only know what we’ve been shown. We don’t know what’s happened. We don’t know what’s promised or not promised,” he said. “All we see is roadblocks that slow progress. I just want the same thing the rest of the town wants: To have better access to internet to run our businesses, jobs and homes.”
This story has been updated to reflect that an email from the mayor obtained by The Star was directed at city staff involved with the broadband bidding process.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
