Press 1 for snow removal: Is this mayoral candidate serving the public or seeking your vote?

Kansas City mayoral hopeful Scott Wagner is inching awfully close to crossing an important line between being a candidate for office and being a public servant.

Wagner’s campaign recently paid for an automated phone call to residents that should raise questions with voters. In the robocall, Wagner first identifies himself as a member of the City Council and a candidate for mayor.

Then he says he wants to make sure that neighborhoods are safe after the last snow.

“If we have not come through enough, and there is still ice and snow on your street, I hope you’ll let us know,” he says. “If you can, press ‘1’ now to let us know if your street or neighborhood still needs some assistance.

“And let us know where, and whether or not you would like for us to call you back, to make sure that we’ve gotten the message.”

Wagner’s concern about snow removal is admirable and common among City Council members. But asking residents to register complaints through a political commercial seems really confusing.

Is Wagner calling as a city councilman or as a mayoral candidate?

“To me, it’s actually both,” he told us. “It is me doing what I can to be of assistance to them. But I don’t make any bones that I’m running for mayor. I don’t evade that at all,” he said.

Wagner says any snow or ice complaints he receives are sent to the city’s 311 service center, where they are routed to the city department that can help.

The rules surrounding political communications by public officials are murky. It is clearly illegal to use public resources for a campaign, but doing the reverse — using campaign resources for quasi-official public outreach — may be a different story.

An official at the Missouri Ethics Commission referred calls about the issue to the Missouri Attorney General’s office. The attorney general did not immediately provide guidance.

The robocall does reflect poor judgment on Wagner’s part because at best, it’s misleading.

When Wagner says “we” and “us” in the phone call, he isn’t referring to the campaign or his campaign staff. He’s referring to City Hall and city employees who are paid with public dollars. Connecting their work with his campaign, even indirectly, improperly links his council responsibilities with his candidacy.

Wagner doesn’t agree. “I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder,” he said. “If one wants to make the claim that in the course of doing my campaigning that I should not help people, then one can make that argument, and I’ll take that.”

Candidates are free to help people, of course, within limits. But Kansas City residents should understand: When you’re on the receiving end of Wagner’s robocall, he isn’t just asking if you need help removing ice and snow on your street.

He’s really asking for your vote.

This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 2:11 PM.