Parkville man settles for $195K after challenging city on Missouri open records law
Jason Maki, a Platte County man, is getting a $195,000 settlement from the city of Parkville after spending roughly two years wrapped up in a legal fight over public records — sans attorney.
“I did it on my own,” Maki told The Star on Wednesday. “I stood in front of the judge and I successfully argued my case to the point at which the city did feel compelled to settle.”
Maki doesn’t have a law license.
His lawsuit, filed in Platte County Circuit Court, alleged that Parkville committed at least 59 violations of Missouri’s Sunshine Law. Those violations included charges for research and review of public records, unreasonable delays for the production of records and improperly denying public information under the law.
Maki started requesting public records from the city in September 2018 related to a series of proposed commercial developments near his home. He later broadened his inquiry to communications of Parkville’s elected officials concerning local business and development.
According to the suit, Maki wound up paying the city thousands of dollars for the records he wanted. He initially sought a civil penalty of $5,000 for each alleged violation of the law.
In a statement Wednesday, the city of Parkville admitted to no wrongdoing or violations of Missouri’s Sunshine Law. The city said the settlement was reached to avoid a lengthier legal battle and meet the best interests of its residents “both financially and operationally.”
“The litigation could have lasted several years with continued disruptions negatively impacting the City’s officials and staff’s work in providing the highest level of public services,” the city said. “For these reasons, the City believes it makes economic sense to move on for the benefit of the City taxpayers.
Mark Pedroli, a Missouri lawyer and government accountability watchdog who co-founded the Sunshine and Government Accountability Project, called the outcome “extraordinary.”
Other cases involving Missouri’s Sunshine Law have returned higher settlements at trail, he said. But he could not recall a payout as high as Parkville’s before a case was tried.
“It is extraordinary for a pro se plaintiff, an average person, to file a lawsuit and then take it down the road as he did for two years and to achieve the result he did,” Pedrioli said. “I think that’s unprecedented.”
In describing his decision to settle, Maki said Parkville looked ready to “go down in a flame of glory” in court. For the sake of the taxpayers, Maki wanted to reach a solution that would bring the contentious battle to a close.
Still, he said, the city “has to be accountable for its elected officials’ actions.”
“I actually offered to settle for a lesser amount,” Maki added. “But in order to settle for a lesser amount, the city of Parkville needs to agree to discontinue the practice of using private emails to conduct public business.”
Maki has proposed that the city enact an ordinance to do just that. He says that idea has been rejected.
