Ethics complaint filed against mayor, Columbia City Council members

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An election violation complaint has been filed against multiple Columbia City Council members and Mayor Barbara Buffaloe after comments that were made during a Jan. 16 council meeting. 

Anthony Willroth, of Hold Como Accountable, said he has filed complaints to the Missouri Attorney General and Ethics Commission over comments made by Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, Ward 2 Councilwoman Rachel Proffitt, Ward 4 Councilman Nick Foster, Ward 5 Councilman Donald Waterman and Ward 6 Councilwoman Betsy Peters during a vote to put the recall election of Ward 1 Councilman Nick Knoth on the April 2 ballot. 

Willroth argues that the council was "campaigning from the dais” as they voiced their support for Knoth during public comments, which would violate Missouri Law. The law in question is RSMo 115.646 which reads: 

"No contribution or expenditure of public funds shall be made directly by any officer, employee or agent of any political subdivision, including school districts and charter schools, to advocate, support, or oppose the passage or defeat of any ballot measure or the nomination or election of any candidate for public office..."

“It concerns me, campaigning from the dais either way because council members have a bully pulpit,” Willroth told ABC 17 News. “They have perceived power and even if they think that they were only giving their personal opinions, it is not unreasonable that an observer might be swayed more than the average person.”

A petition was submitted by First Ward residents to recall Knoth after accepted a position as the Director of Government Affairs & Regional Advocacy with the Missouri Association of REALTORS in October. The group of residents claimed Knoth’s lobbyist position was a conflict of interest. Knoth has maintained his new position will not pose a conflict of interest.

The recall petition was submitted to the city on Dec. 15, putting the city up against the clock to get the recall vote on the April election. Usually, the item would first appear on the consent agenda which does not allow for public comments. However, the city voted to do a special procedure that allowed for a first and second reading in the same council meeting. 

Willroth said he attends nearly every council meeting, and the ones he can’t attend he tries to view from home. He was listening to the Jan. 16 meeting when the council’s comments about the vote caught his attention. 

“In this instance, I was viewing from home so I watched them as they happened and it immediately struck me as strange. So, I was curious if there were any Missouri statues that could cover campaigning from the dais,” Willroth said. 

Willroth sent an email to the council outlining his complaints on Tuesday which reads: 

Dear council members and mayor,

I am writing to inform you of my intentions to file an election violation complaint with the Missouri attorney general's office and Missouri Ethics Commission alleging violations of RSMo 115.646 by Mayor Buffaloe and council members Don Waterman, Betsy Peters, Rachel Proffitt and Nick Foster at the January 16, 2024 council meeting.  I will forward you the complaints as soon as they are filed. My allegations are as follows:

RSMo 115.646 disallows using public funds to advocate for an election or ballot issue. I allege that many comments were made by these council members in an attempt to influence the outcome of Nick Knoth's recall election and that city council meetings necessarily use public funds to conduct.  

The offending comments are as follows (parenthesis are my interpretations) :

Betsy Peters: "We'll see what folks say in April, although I hope they retain you for another couple of years at least"

Don Waterman: "I disagree with the recall..."

"I fully expect and anticipate that your position on the council will be affirmed."

Nick Foster: "I'll vote for this because I have to" (certifying the call for election)

"In fact, to be blunt, I don't see that you can." (Reach the conclusion that the recall petitioners have)

"I regret seeing this happen." (The recall petition)

Rachel Proffitt: "I also will...begrudgingly vote yes" (on certifying the call for recall election)

Barbara Buffaloe: "this (certifying the call for election) is our opportunity to respond back (to questions about the recall."

I intend to file today. Please forward to Nancy Thompson, I could not find a publicly available email address for her.

Regards,

Anthony Willroth

An email Anthony Willroth sent to the City Council

ABC 17 News reached out to Peters, Waterman, Foster, Profitt and Buffaloe for comment.

"Mr. Wilroth emailed the council that he had filed a complaint. As a citizen, he has the right to do so," Peters said in an email to ABC 17 News. "However, filing a complaint does not make it true."

Waterman said he was aware a complaint was filed, but declined to comment. Foster, Profitt and Buffaloe have yet to respond.

Willroth was part of the Knoth recall effort, however, he says he acted alone on filing the complaints. 

“I didn’t seek any legal advice, but I did go over it with a fine-tooth comb and read a whole lot about this statute, including when it went to the Missouri Supreme Court when Maryland Heights challenged it,” Willroth said. “They were saying it infringed on their council member's free speech rights and the Missouri Supreme Court ruled it does not infringe on their free speech rights because it’s governing the use of public funds to make that speech, not the speech itself.” 

The city responded in an email to ABC 17 News which said: 

The City is aware of the complaint. 

Council meetings are public forums in which members of the public as well as individual Council members have the opportunity to make public comments in support or opposition of a proposed ordinance. Additionally, there was no expenditure of public funds made directly to oppose the ballot measure.

City of Columbia statment to ABC 17 News