Missouri’s Clay County doesn’t need big-city government imposed by Proposition C

Regardless of any plausible merits behind Proposition C, which will be decided in Clay County’s June 2 municipal election, the process of how it even got on the ballot in the first place gives me reason enough to vote no. That’s because the current lame duck commission majority, not the people, simply voted to do so.

If Proposition C passes, Missouri’s 7th Judicial District Court would appoint a 14-member Clay County Commission made up of seven Democrats and seven Republicans. It would be a fundamental change in how the county is governed.

Bear in mind that the commissioners who put the issue on the ballot are the cause of our problems. They indebted the county by $52 million with no vote of the people. They cut the sheriff’s budget to run the jail, and did so in retaliation to his investigation of their administration. They are suing the state auditor to hold up the citizen-petitioned audit of the county. They stripped away the role of custodian of records from the county clerk, again in retaliation, resulting in numerous Sunshine Law issues. They show up to work only twice a month, unlike most county commissioners in the state — and these are only a few of many other examples.

An unelected circuit court should not name an unelected committee to create a brand-new county constitution to govern Clay County. The role of the judicial branch in a purely legislative function concerns me regarding the appropriate separation of powers. While the judges are of high integrity, I question the existence of any possible insider interests between the current commission majority and potential committee members.

Moving on to the actual substance of the new county constitution and its merits — or rather, the lack thereof — there are more concerns. First, the preliminary advisory committee formed to discuss Proposition C hired so-called “professionals” in place of elected officeholders — just as when previous versions of this plan have been proposed in the past. Given the aforementioned problems with the current commission majority’s administration, that seems to be going in the exact wrong direction.

It would be better for us to simply adhere to existing state law and its checks and balances. Elected officials should answer directly to the people. They should therefore be budget conscious, and should be held accountable for their decisions. Those you elect at the county level serve in positions wholly unlike those in cities. That’s because the two entities are entirely different, despite the wishes of those who want to make Clay County into a city-type government. The county oversees unincorporated areas, but it is also a financial clearinghouse for property taxes. We further have a circuit court, prosecutor and sheriff for county-wide crime fighting and emergency management. So these offices hold as much worth as the county commission, I would contend.

We elect a treasurer, auditor, attorney general and secretary of state at the state level — but some of the state auditor’s findings could become moot with Proposition C. The auditor’s first mandated report on Clay County after the citizen petition was about the county clerk, a position likely to be eliminated by Proposition C.

Change is guaranteed in 2021 with a new commission. That change started with the 2018 elections as a more informed electorate pushed back on the current commission majority. That was all thanks to attention brought on the county by the state audit petitioners, social media and the press.

An uninformed electorate poses problems at all levels of government. Some 110 of Missouri’s 114 counties don’t have an arrangement like the one proposed in Proposition C, which tends to be limited to big counties and cities. While Clay County is growing, we don’t need that kind of big government. County government is deliberately limited in our founding Missouri Constitution, and rightly so. Please vote no on Proposition C.