Kansas City landfill developer faced ethics complaint. Why did MO agency take no action?

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The Missouri Ethics Commission said it could not take action on an ethics complaint filed against the developer of a now-shelved landfill proposal in south Kansas City as the agency remains unable to investigate complaints.

The Star obtained a copy of the previously unreported complaint, which was filed in March. It alleged that Jennifer Monheiser, the developer of the project, effectively acted as an unregistered lobbyist, meeting with state lawmakers to persuade them to vote against legislation that would halt the landfill.

The commission, in a letter on June 24, wrote that it was unable to take action on the complaint because there weren’t enough members available to investigate. The complaint is one of more than 20 cases the commission has effectively dropped since April because the investigatory agency is not able to form a quorum.

“Because there were not four Commissioners able to consider the investigation within the statutory timeframe, the Commission could take no action on this complaint,” the commission wrote in the letter.

Rick Meyers, a Kansas City resident who filed the complaint, said in an interview that he was “very disappointed.”

“That was disappointing to know that our government can’t even function in such a way that they take complaints seriously,” he said.

Joni Wickham, a spokesperson for Monheiser, said in an email to The Star that the complaint “had no merit.”

“Jenny is an honest and hardworking business woman and community member,” she said. “She’s looking forward (to) seeing what the future brings and is content to have the south Kansas City landfill chapter behind her.”

The complaint centered on Monheiser’s proposed landfill near the high-end Creekmoor golf course community in south Kansas City. The proposal roiled the Missouri Capitol for nearly two years as nearby residents pushed for lawmakers to pass legislation blocking the project.

The issue is effectively dead after lawmakers passed legislation to block the project. Gov. Mike Parson signed the bill in May after the city of Raymore struck a deal to send $3 million to the developers to kill the landfill.

The complaint raises questions about the behind-the-scenes lobbying effort behind the project, which ground the Missouri Senate to a halt on multiple occasions over the past two years.

Meyers, who had long fought against the landfill, filed the complaint against Monheiser in late March. It takes issue with Monheiser’s frequent visits to Jefferson City during the past two sessions, alleging that she met with lawmakers to persuade them to vote against the legislation that Parson later signed.

The complaint does not include specific details about lawmakers, meetings or the dollar amounts Monheiser allegedly spent.

“This session, it appears Ms. Monheiser spends several days each week in Jefferson City,” Meyers wrote in the complaint.

“While she is there, she meets with individual State Representatives and State Senators, as well as their staff members. These meetings have occurred in the State Capitol Building, and at local restaurants and other establishments for meals and beverages.”

The complaint alleged that Monheiser’s efforts, and the money she spent meeting with lawmakers, should have made her subject to state laws regarding lobbyists, including registration requirements and expenditure reports.

“As a Missouri taxpayer and a property owner that would be impacted by her proposed landfill, I am very concerned about whether Ms. Monheiser’s lobbying activities comply with Missouri statutes concerning lobbyists,” Meyers wrote in the complaint.

Wickham, Monheiser’s spokesperson, pushed back in an email, saying that the complaint was “baseless.”

“Business owners often meet with policymakers to educate them on issues, but that does not mean they are lobbyists,” she said.

When informed about the complaint, John Hancock, a former registered lobbyist in Missouri, said that the fact that Monheiser’s company hired lobbyists would likely mitigate any concerns alleged in the complaint.

“It would be no different than any taxpayer showing up in Jeff City and sitting down with lawmakers and saying, you know, here’s my issue,” said Hancock, who is also a former executive director of the Missouri Republican Party.

The landfill dispute resulted in an intense lobbying effort in the Missouri Capitol between two warring sides: Those who supported the landfill and those who vehemently opposed it. Others felt the state should have stayed out of the dispute entirely.

Monheiser’s KC Recycle & Waste Solutions had hired 19 lobbyists to encourage lawmakers to oppose the legislation.

The opponents of the landfill created a political action committee called “Kill the Fill,” which hired seven lobbyists to support the legislation, including Steve Tilley, a former Republican House speaker who has become a powerful lobbyist.

Ethics agency hobbled

Missouri law requires the six-member commission to complete an investigation within 90 days after receiving a complaint. At least four members are required to investigate and vote on any action related to the complaint.

The commission serves as a key watchdog, tasked with making sure that officials are accountable for violations of state campaign finance and ethics laws.

However, the commission has been hobbled in its ability to handle complaints at a crucial time just before the August primaries. The commission had lacked a quorum from March until early June. It faced similar problems in 2022 and 2018.

The commission finally reached a quorum in early June when Parson appointed Republican Whitney Smith of Des Peres near St. Louis — filling the fourth of six commission spots. However, one member, Republican Kathie Conway, has been unable to attend meetings, which means that the commission remains one person short of being able to take action on complaints.

Conway did not immediately return a call for comment on Tuesday.

Julie Allen, a former executive director of the commission, said in an interview that the current situation with the commission is worse than when Missouri did not have limits on campaign contributions and lobbyist gifts, a period she referred to as the “Wild West.”

“This is really worse than that,” she said. “There’s no ability for any regular person to make a complaint and have any surety that it’s going to be investigated and be handled.”

Allen painted the commission’s inability to take action on complaints as “pretty serious,” saying that ethics laws are in place to provide transparency and openness in government.

“It makes a playing field where there really aren’t any rules at this point,” she said. “Even though the laws do exist on the books, in practicality, they can’t be enforced.”