Overland Park officials seek councilman’s removal, call for investigation
The Overland Park City Council on Monday night requested an investigation into whether Councilman Scott Hamblin could be removed from office, following his arrest last month.
Council members voted 9-2 to ask the Kansas attorney general and the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office to look into Hamblin’s arrest on a domestic battery charge, and if warranted, proceed with ousting him from the council.
Hamblin, 42 and a first-term councilman, was arrested July 21, after the Overland Park Police Department was called to his residence in the 17700 block of Garnett Street. He was charged with one count of domestic battery with no priors, a class B misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of up to six months in jail or $500 in fines.
He is accused of “physical contact with a person, in a rude, insulting, or angry manner,” according to the criminal complaint. No injuries were reported. A court hearing was set for Sept. 16.
Several of the City Council’s 12 members have called for Hamblin to step down, worried that his alleged behavior was damaging the board’s reputation and integrity. In a letter, a group of six former Overland Park council members also demanded Hamblin’s resignation.
Earlier this month, Mayor Carl Gerlach removed Hamblin from the city’s public safety committee, which oversees police department policies.
Hamblin has refused to resign from the City Council, arguing that his fellow council members are making allegations without allowing him due process. Because he will not step down, the City Council on Monday night agreed to seek an alternative route for his removal.
The City Council does not have the authority to remove a member. Tammy Owens, city attorney, said the council can ask the state attorney general or district attorney to investigate the incident, which would be a civil matter separate from the ongoing criminal court proceedings.
Whether to suspend or oust Hamblin from office would fall under the discretion of those authorities, she said.
Under Kansas law, public officials could forfeit their office if they willfully engage in misconduct, willfully neglect to perform their duties, demonstrate mental impairment showing the person lacks the capacity to hold the office, or commit any act which would be a crime of “moral turpitude.”
In a letter, Hamblin’s wife, Curstin Hamblin, said the City Council and mayor were turning the criminal charge into a political issue.
“I don’t know how many times I need to focus my energy on defending a private family matter in public because of the misguided political intentions of some of the council members,” she wrote. “Again, I am asking the mayor and council to let the judicial system do their job and quit putting our personal matter in the forefront of city business — where it does not belong.”
Councilmen Faris Farassati and Tom Carignan voted against moving forward with the investigation. Hamblin abstained.
Both Farassati and Hamblin often fight against the status quo on the council, challenging developers and speaking against tax incentives for most private development. Farassati has opposed the council’s calls for Hamblin’s removal, saying the matter should be dealt with in court.
He continued to express that opinion Monday night, saying that proceeding with an investigation, “could be done with a level of privacy.”
