WHO PAID FOR IT?
Recently, St. Joseph’s Mayor Kenny placed an insert in the St. Joseph News Press to “clarify” his defense of frivolous spending on two downtown projects. The merits of the projects, the effectiveness of his defense, and the clarity of the insert piece can be debated. What can’t be debated is that this is a violation of Missouri Ethics laws.
If the advertisement was paid for by the City of St. Joseph, Mayor Kenny needs to fully reimburse the city for the expense of advertising his business. This is a gross misappropriation of funds and severe lapse in judgment by the Mayor and the city staff.
If this piece was paid for by Mayor Kenny’s campaign committee, it needs to state so on the document. Failure to state who paid for a political piece is a blatant violation of Missouri Ethics laws.
If this was paid for by Mayor Kenny from his own pocket, it is misleading and illegal. This is a political piece to defend his position on funding for city projects and therefore should be under the jurisdiction of the Missouri Ethic Commission.
We hope Mayor Kenny will clarify who actually paid for this advertisement in the coming days. We would hate for the MEC to have to clarify things for him.