Clay County sheriff accused of ethics violation over letter on proposed constitution
A Clay County Democratic Party official has filed an ethics complaint against the Clay County Sheriff, a Republican, for allegedly using the trappings of his office to influence an upcoming vote on a new form of county government.
Chris Gahagan, the chairman of the Clay County Democratic Central Committee, filed a complaint to the Missouri Ethics Commission last week after Sheriff Paul Vescovo sent a letter on official sheriff letterhead to county Republicans earlier in October to voice his opinions about a proposed new constitution.
The letter, written by Vescovo on Oct. 8 to the Clay County Republican Central Committee, said the sheriff could neither support nor endorse the proposed constitution and advised the committee “to move cautiously” before deciding to support the proposal.
“Sheriff Vescovo presented this letter at a meeting of the Clay County Republican Central Committee in an attempt to prevent the committee from endorsing the proposed constitution,” Gahagan’s complaint said.
In Missouri, public officials are generally prohibited from using public resources for political purposes.
Vescovo said he has turned Gahagan’s complaint over to his attorney and declined to discuss it before issuing a formal response to the ethics commission.
“He was pretty adamant: Just don’t talk about it,” Vescovo said Monday.
Vescovo is not running for another term as sheriff in this year’s election.
Clay County voters are being asked in the Nov. 3 election to approve a new constitution that would overhaul the county’s government. The features of the constitution include expanding the three-member county commission to seven members, converting five currently elected officials to appointed positions as well as making elected offices nonpartisan.
Vescovo’s letter said he had a number of issues with the proposal, including what he called a rush to put the matter on the general election ballot, vague ballot language and changing these positions from being elected to appointed: collector, recorder of deeds, county clerk, public administrator and treasurer.
Vescovo’s letter also brought up allegations of violations of the Missouri Sunshine Law by the Clay County Constitution Committee. Those allegations involved a complaint filed against the committee by Jim Oldebeken, a Gladstone resident. The Missouri Attorney General would neither confirm nor deny to The Star the existence of an investigation.
“It’s just evidence of more of the same shenanigans by entrenched Clay County politicians who are trying to protect their fiefdoms,” said Gahagan, who was among a 14-member committee in charge of writing a new constitution. “Sending that letter on sheriff’s letterhead to influence a ballot initiative I think is wrong.”
The Clay County Republican Central Committee declined to endorse the county constitution.
November’s vote is the fourth time since 2000 that Clay County voters have been asked to change county government, which for years has been a fractious body.
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 11:31 AM.
