Kansas City suburb mayor penalized for another campaign finance violation
Parkville Mayor Nan Johnston has been fined a second time for violating campaign finance law.
In a consent order filed late last month, the Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC) found probable cause to believe Johnston and the Committee to Elect Nan Johnston failed to report an incurred expenditure in a timely manner.
This is not the first time Johnston and her campaign finance committee were reprimanded by the MEC.
In March 2020, the MEC found that Johnston’s campaign reports contained inaccuracies and belatedly disclosed expenditures and contributions, including a $5,000 check from a developer.
As a result of the violations, the MEC issued Johnston and her campaign finance committee a $5,242 fee as a sanction. She was allowed to pay $524 within 45 days to avoid paying the full amount.
After that case was resolved, Johnston and her campaign finance committee in March 2020 received an invoice which showed the amount they owed in legal fees from the original case, according to the September order.
A complaint was filed to MEC staff in December 2020 after Johnston didn’t include legal fees on a report, the most recent order says. After investigating the complaint, the commission found that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that violations of law had occurred due to incorrectly filed campaign finance reports,” according to the order.
Initially, the MEC found Johnston’s campaign finance committee failed to report the legal fees on a campaign finance disclosure report, according to the order. Later, the outstanding debt of $7,500 was paid ahead of an April 2021 quarterly report.
“I engaged a firm specializing in campaign finance to handle the filing of my campaign financial disclosures,” Johnston said when reached for comment Wednesday. “And that is why the report was filed because they filed it in error.”
Johnston and her campaign finance committee face a fee of $1,000 as a result, with a condition that if they paid $100 within the first 45 days, the remainder of the fee would be stayed.
Other legal matters
Earlier this year, in February, Johnston pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, Platte County court records show.
Johnston was pulled over shortly after 1:15 a.m. on Sept. 26, 2020, while traveling south on Missouri 9 Highway near Eastside Drive, the Platte County Sheriff’s Office said.
Johnston was taken into custody and administered a breathalyzer test which read 0.098, Maj. Erik Holland said in the days after her arrest. Missouri’s legal limit is 0.08. Johnston posted a $1,000 bond and was released from the jail a short time later.
She later received a suspended sentence, which places her on probation for two years, court records show. She was also instructed to complete 40 hours of community service.
