Commissioners refuse to pay for newspaper advert

Cole County commissioners approved an $800 payment to the Jefferson City News Tribune for advertisements ordered by county assessor Chris Estes.

That amount represents the entirety of the county assessor’s annual advertisement budget and one-third of the total price of the $2,400 ad campaign Estes commissioned in March 2016.

Presiding Cole County Commissioner Sam Bushman said Estes did not receive prior approval for the extra money.

Commissioners also accused Estes of using the ads for political purposes.

Aside from being printed in more editions of the paper, the 2016 ads featured a three-column layout with colored text and a photograph of Estes.

“I’ve been in the retail business for 43 years and I advertise in newspapers a lot,” said Bushman. “To me, those are political ads.”

Estes is an unchallenged incumbent in the 2016 general election but he did oust a primary opponent by a wide margin.

In March 2016, Estes defended the ads saying they were not meant to be political and that they lead to significantly more filings than previous years.

Estes will meet with the commission again Nov. 8.