By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
August 3, 2011

Kansas City’s Municipal Officials and Officers Ethics Commission have wiped their hands clean of Michael Fletcher.

Fletcher’s fate now lies in the hands of the city prosecutor’s office. If found guilty of violating City Ordinance 2-53, Fletcher could face a fine of up to $500 and/or up to six months in jail.

In January, the ethics commission questioned two campaign contributions for 3rd District City Council candidate Fletcher. Fletcher’s campaign accepted a contribution of $5,000 from Geoffrey Garth of Long Beach, Calif., and a $2,000 contribution from Michael Yonke of Kansas City, Mo, on July 14, 2010.

City Ordinance 2-53 stipulates an in-district city council candidate can only receive $1,500 per contributor for primary and general elections. It further states a violation has occurred if the candidate, committee or committee treasurer knowingly accepts a contribution in excess of the allowed amount and that a violation has occurred if the contributor knowingly contributes more than the allowed amount. The excess amount must be returned to the contributor within 30 days of receipt.

City of Kansas City Council members passed the ordinance March 7, 2010, after Fletcher began his campaign. When Fletcher’s campaign treasurer, Charles Menifee, contacted the city and the Missouri Ethics Commission in January of 2010 about campaign contribution limits, he was told there were none.

Menifee pleaded ignorance to the ordinance during a previous meeting and Fletcher argued via email that the city’s ordinance is unlawful. Since the State of Missouri does not set campaign contribution limits in municipal elections, state law trumps the city ordinance, he said.

During the July 27 ethics commission meeting, Assistant City Attorney William Geary picked apart those arguments and ones made by Fletcher during the June investigation hearing.

“In Missouri, there’s a very clear rule and sometimes it doesn’t sound fair, but it is legal. The rule is we are presumed to know what the law is,” Geary told the commission. “If my wife (for example) does not bother to read the statutes that went into effect Aug. 28 and she does something in violation, she’s still guilty.”

However, he said, the fact that Fletcher’s campaign attempted to check on campaign finance regulations could serve as a matter of mitigation for the city prosecutor.

Does state law trump the city ordinance? Geary says, “No.” Geary reviewed a 12-page packet explaining why the city’s original ordinance regarding campaign contributions was repealed, the lengthy process of the Missouri General Assembly setting campaign contribution limits and later repealing the decision and other legalities.

“The state regulations do not in any form prohibit local regulation,” Geary wrote in the packet.

Cities with a population of more than 400,000 are allowed to regulate their own elections, he said.

Geary cited the Indoor Missouri Clean Air Act, which regulates smoking in places of work. A bar and tavern aren’t included in that definition, so the act doesn’t regulate smoking in bars or taverns, he said. However, Kansas City adopted an ordinance regulating smoking in bars and taverns.

The act doesn’t specifically say a city can’t regulate smoking in bars and taverns; it leaves the subject alone, Geary said. The same concept applies to City Ordinance 2-53, he said. Regulating smoking in bars and taverns and setting campaign contribution limits doesn’t conflict with state law because the state law “doesn’t address that,” he said.

During the June hearing, Fletcher made several allegations ranging from not receiving a notice of complaint to bias board members. Geary found holes in all the arguments.

The ethics commission mailed Fletcher a notice of complaint to the address listed in the Missouri Ethics Commission campaign file and sent the notice via email. Although Fletcher admitted to receiving the email, he said he failed to open the attachment with the complaint and said the commission mailed it to the wrong residence.

“A person has no right to shut his eyes or ears to avoid information and then say he has no notice,” Geary said. “If you refuse the notice, it’s notice. If you don’t read it, it’s a notice.”

After further discussion, the commission wrapped up their investigation of the Fletcher campaign.

Commissioners finalized their findings of fact and concluded they could not prove Garth knowingly contributed beyond the allowed amount. Yonke already received his refund check and said he was unaware of the ordinance. For both Fletcher and Menifee, however, the commission concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe a violation had occurred. The city attorney’s office will review the findings of fact and decide whether or not to pursue the matter further.