COUNCIL REPRIMANDS MAYOR; RESOLUTION PASSES BY 4-3 MARGIN

By a vote of 4-3, the Cape Girardeau City Council Wednesday formally reprimanded Mayor Gene Rhodes for violating "the public's trust" by not disclosing his financial interests in an asphalt company hired to do city work.

The council took the action at a special meeting called to deal with charges that Rhodes violated the city charter's conflict of interest rules.

Council members last week criticized Rhodes for not revealing his interests in ASA Asphalt Inc. of Advance. The council awarded a contract for the city's 3-inch asphalt overlay program to the company in June.

Rhodes abstained from voting on the contract, but failed to tell council members of his interest in ASA as required by the city charter. He owns about 40 percent of the firm's stock.

Council member Mary Wulfers drafted the resolution Wednesday reprimanding Rhodes. Council members Al Spradling III, David Limbaugh and David Barklage joined Wulfers in favor of the reprimand, while Rhodes and council members Doug Richards and Hugh White voted against the measure.

Rhodes didn't comment at the meeting, but was represented by his attorney, Walter "Sam" Drusch.

Wulfers' resolution read, in part: "Whether intentional or unintentional, we believe that (Rhodes) did commit a breech of ethics and violated the public's trust regarding the three-inch asphalt overlay program by not properly disclosing his financial interests in the ASA Asphalt Inc., as required by the City Charter."

The resolution also stated that any further "breech of ethics" by Rhodes would result in the demand for the full penalty as specified in the city charter. The charter states that any city official who willfully violates the conflict of interest provisions in the charter "shall forfeit his office or position."

But Richards and White said they didn't believe that it was clear Rhodes "willfully" violated the charter.

Richards said he accepted the mayor's explanation in a statement to the press issued Monday that he made "a mistake" and assumed that everyone on the council knew of his interest in ASA Asphalt.

"At no time have I heard the word willfully addressed by this council or by the media," Richards said.

If the council determined that Rhodes intentionally violated the charter, then he should be removed from office, said Richards. But, he added, short of that determination, a reprimand is inappropriate. He said there is no provision in the charter that allows council members to reprimand each other.

White said that Rhodes's failure to state his interests in ASA Asphalt was a "clear violation" of the charter, but he said he wasn't convinced the mayor's action was intentional.

Richards also said the whole issue is just another example of continual turmoil and in-fighting on the council that he said he wanted to put to rest.

"There are other more important issues before the council," Richards said. "Let's please put the fighting behind us and get on with the more important issues."

Richards also claimed that some of the council members knew of Rhodes' interest in ASA, and he questioned why those members didn't bring the matter to the surface prior to the June vote on the paving contract.

In a statement Monday, Rhodes charged Barklage with plotting to publicly humiliate him by raising the issue in the media.

But Limbaugh defended Barklage, saying that Rhodes unfairly tried to make him a "scapegoat." He said he believed Rhodes did purposely violate the charter.

But in Rhodes's defense, Drusch chastised the council for calling the special meeting and reprimanding the mayor for allegations based on opinion, not fact. He contended that such a meeting legally can only be conducted by an impartial group.

Drusch said the council members already were biased and had made up their minds concerning the resolution. He asked that the matter be delayed to allow time for Rhodes to defend the allegations.

The attorney also challenged council members to confirm the allegations against Rhodes before bringing him to a meeting "to take a public whipping."

But Barklage questioned whether allegations directed against him in Rhodes statement Monday were confirmed by Drusch, who admitted helping Rhodes draft the statement.

Barklage said it was Wulfers who initiated the action against Rhodes.

He went on to list about 15 occasions in the past three years when Rhodes had opportunities in public meetings to state his financial interest in ASA when considering issues that pertained to the paving company.

While Rhodes has abstained from voting to award the paving contracts, council members have criticized the mayor for repeatedly failing to disclose his interests in ASA while pushing to expand the asphalt overlay program. The mayor also has voted on several measures related to the overlay program.

The councilman also revealed that on Monday an employee of ASA contacted City Manager J. Ronald Fischer to inquire about bidding on an upcoming asphalt overlay contract.

In a newspaper article Sunday, Rhodes stated that he told ASA Asphalt "weeks ago" not to bid on a group of overlay projects because he had worked to get the improvements added to the asphalt overlay program.

But Barklage said the employee, Gerald Langston, told Fischer he was never told not to bid on the projects, and also asked the city manager if he could bid the contract in his name, then subcontract the work with ASA.

Fischer confirmed the statements following Wednesday's meeting.