Council keeps Brant as Scott City mayor; he held tie-breaking vote

Norman Brant will continue to serve as Scott City mayor until April after the City Council narrowly agreed to it Wednesday, with Brant having the power to vote for himself twice and break a tie.

Brant said under state law, he was allowed to vote as a councilman and then vote as the mayor to break a 4-4 tie. The decision was made informally, as no roll-call vote was taken after it was clear Brant had the votes to stay on as mayor.

Brant and council members Matt Koehler, Bill Schwartz and Pat Brazel favored keeping the status quo. But Councilman Gary Spinks voiced support for electing Councilman Randy Morse to serve as mayor until the April election.

Morse said he wanted to serve as mayor.

"I want things out in the open," he said, adding he expects "honesty" in Scott City's government.

"I want to make sure everything is upfront. I don't want our department heads targeted anymore," Morse said.

But Koehler said he saw no reason to make any leadership change for now.

"I would rather leave it up to the people (in the April election)," he said.

As a longtime council member, Brant has the experience to serve as mayor, Schwartz said.

Morse later left his seat and went over and hugged Brant.

"It's time to move forward," Morse said.

Brant took over as mayor Aug. 14 after the resignation of Ron Cummins, who resigned amid state Rep. Holly Rehder's call for an investigation into allegations he abused his position.

Brant urged council members to work in harmony for the good of the community.

"This is not a civil war," he said. "This is a community of brothers."

He said, "I want the council to agree on things. I want us to forget about what happened last week."

Speaking to the council and residents at the meeting, Brant said, "Let's work together as a community."

Since taking over as mayor, Brant said he has reached out to local businesses in an effort to move the city forward.

"I think the healing has started," Brant said.

"The way to solve a problem is to get together and talk about it," he said.

About 30 residents attended the meeting. Several residents spoke up, urging the council members to get along.

But Morse said what the public views as disharmony on the part of the council sometimes "is just good old-fashioned discussion."

Morse added, "It didn't go my way this time, but that's what we call democracy."

Former mayor Tim Porch told the council, "You guys have a hard job before you."

He added, "There have been a lot of mistakes made."

Porch suggested the city needs to request an investigation by the state auditor to determine whether there was past financial wrongdoing in city operations.

Cummins, who was elected mayor in April 2016, said earlier he wanted to fix the city's credit-card protocols and curb improper use of city funds.

Forensic auditors from an Arnold, Missouri-based firm are conducting an independent audit of Scott City records.

City administrator Ron Eskew resigned in March. In May, he subsequently filed a legal complaint, alleging he had been forced to resign.

But Eskew told the council Wednesday he has asked his attorney to seek to reach a settlement. He said he wants to put an end to the "ordeal."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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