Petition against Columbia Councilman Nick Knoth gains enough signatures for recall vote

COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)

A petition submitted by First Ward residents to recall Columbia City Councilman Nick Knoth was determined to have enough signatures for a vote on a ballot, according to an email from city spokeswoman Sydney Olsen.

Olsen said the petition was submitted to the city on Dec. 15, and said she did not know which election the recall question will appear. Elections take place in 2024 in April, August and November.

According to Article XVII, Section 136 of the city charter a recall petition must have a number of signatures that equals at least 30% of the number of votes cast for the First Ward election. There were 1,120 votes cast which means the petition needed 336 signatures. 

The city charter also states, "When a sufficient recall petition has been filed, the city clerk shall submit the same to the council without delay, and the council shall call an election on said recall at the next election provided for by state law which is consistent with applicable notice provisions and available for municipal elections purposes."

Columbia's next City Council meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 16. The deadline for a measure to get on the April 2 ballot is Jan. 23.

Knoth responded to news about the petition in a text to ABC 17 News:

I understand that there are concerns surrounding the continuation of my professional career outside of my volunteer capacity as a councilman. It's important to reiterate that my new employment does not pose any conflict of interest with my responsibilities as a councilman, this has been confirmed by both the City's Legal Counsel as well as the Missouri Ethics Commission, and it does not affect my ability or my commitment to serving the First Ward.
I value and respect the rights of my constituents to voice their concerns on any subject, including this. I want to make it clear that this recall effort is not rooted in any actions or decisions I have made in my capacity as a councilman, but rather focused on what I do in my personal time to provide for my family. I have always worked diligently to represent the interests of my ward to the best of my ability.
I am committed to serving the First Ward and our community with integrity and transparency, and I will continue to do so.

Despite the city's legal team and Missouri Ethics Commission ruling that it is not a conflict of interest Pam Cooper, who was involved in the petition drive to recall former First Ward Councilwoman Ginny Chadwick says there is a difference between a legal conflict of interest and an ethical conflict of interest 

“By some estimates 50 percent of what our city council deals with is real estate based so it really calls into question every time he takes a vote,” Cooper said. “Is he voting in his constituent's best interest or is he voting because he feels that’s what the people who give him his paycheck want him to vote.”

Residents in Columbia’s first ward started collecting signatures for the petition in October after concerns were brought up after Knoth accepted a position as the Director of Government Affairs & Regional Advocacy with the Missouri Association of REALTORS. The group of residents previously claimed Knoth’s lobbyist position is a conflict of interest.

Knoth registered as a lobbyist on Nov. 1 for the Missouri Association of REALTORS, according to the Missouri Ethics Commission. He was previously registered as a lobbyist in 2021 for the Columbia Chamber of Commerce.

Organizers say they do not have a plan for who should replace Knoth if their campaign is successful.

"We have no idea or no preference of who is going to run we just know that Nick Knoth can't reasonably represent the first ward," First ward business owner Anthony Willroth said.

When asked Thursday if Knoth expected to receive any backlash over his decision to accept the position he told ABC 17 News in a text, "I believed there would be backlash from those who were already critical of me, and that has mostly been true in terms of those pushing the recall. Before I was even elected, opponents had already declared they would recall me at their first opportunity."

"In full transparency, I was highly critical of Nick Knoth during his campaign and I have been pushing him to do a good job as a council person since he came on but I absolutely did not intend to recall him until he took this lobbyist position," Willroth told ABC 17 News in response to Knoth's comments. "I only collected 13 signatures. I was one small part of a group that collected these signatures. For Nick Knoth to try to make this about people who are out to get him is simply untrue." 

A Facebook page called Recall Nick Knoth wrote in a Saturday post that the City Clerk informed them on Dec. 21 that their petition to recall the councilman had sufficient valid signatures to have a recall question placed on the April 2 ballot. 

The group said in the post that it accumulated 421 signatures, however only 370 were determined to be people registered to vote in the First Ward. 

"On December 21, the City Clerk informed us that the petition to Recall Nick Knoth had sufficient valid signatures, meaning that that the recall question *will* be placed on the April 2, 2024 municipal ballot," the post reads.

The petition, according to an October email from one of the group's organizers, Becca Ray, reads: 

"We, the undersigned registered and qualified voters of the 1st Ward of the City of Columbia (in the county of Boone and state of Missouri) request that Nick Knoth, the Council Member representing the 1st Ward, be recalled due to his acceptance of a lobbyist position which creates a professional conflict of interest and leaves Knoth unable to reasonably represent his constituents."

Knoth also told ABC 17 News that he is disappointed that the recall effort against him has gained traction "but not surprised."

"The bar is set low. In a ward of 20,000 people, they needed about 330 signatures. I imagine it wasn't hard to collect those signatures when they're telling people I have a conflict of interest- something that has been declared objectively false," Knoth wrote in a text message.

“Nick can think what he wants about who gathered the signatures but at the end of the day we turned in I believe it was 370 verified signatures of first-ward residents and we could have gathered a lot more than that we just needed to get it turned in," Willroth said. "So unless he has an idea that all 370 of those people were out to recall him from the beginning I don’t think that holds much weight.” 

Knoth has remained adamant that his lobbyist job is not a conflict of interest in a previous email to ABC 17 News earlier this month as well as a Facebook post from October.

Knoth also told ABC 17 News in October that he has engaged with every member of the City Council and that they are all “unanimously in support” of his position.

Knoth’s current term is set to expire in April 2026.

Check back for updates.