OPINION: Some rules important to Baird now that he’s mayor, not so much before

MoM’s thoughts on tomorrow’s special meeting to appoint new aldermen

Updated at 4:03 pm — Meeting start time changed to 6 pm

In Willard, there are vacant Board of Aldermen seats in Ward 1 and Ward 2 due to the resignation of Alderman Corey Hendrickson and the appointment of Alderman Sam Baird to the office of mayor. Mayor Baird has called a special meeting—per state statute—to fill those vacant seats as soon as possible.

The meeting will be held November 2, 2023, at 7 pm [it’s since been changed to 6 pm] and was announced Wednesday morning in a post in the Facebook group Willard MO - City News & Issues:

Posted to Willard MO - City News & Issues

The Board is required to have six aldermen—two from each of Willard’s three wards.

If you’ve been paying attention to the Board of Aldermen for the past year and a half, you may have noticed how quickly these vacant ward seats are being filled versus the last ward vacancy that occurred in June 2022. 

A vacancy that was never filled. 

Again, state statute requires a special meeting be held as soon as possible to fill vacancies in any elected office. The purpose of that immediacy is to prevent residents of a ward from being denied full representation in Board decisions related to city business and making law.

In interviews, Mr. Baird has spoken of breaking “logjams.” That is, being able to move the city forward now that former mayor Sam Snider has resigned, and now that he himself is mayor.

Yet he, along with former mayor Snider, is responsible for those logjams. As an example, let’s look at the June 2022 board vacancy that occurred as the result of the resignation of Ward 1 alderman Tyler Kelly.

Former mayor Snider brought forward only one candidate to fill that vacancy, Karie Johnson-Phillips. Ms. Johnson-Phillips stood before the Board for consideration, yet she wasn’t asked by the aldermen even a single question pertinent to being appointed an alderwoman. Instead, the Board—including Mr. Baird—allowed her candidacy to die for lack of a motion. Why? Because the Board had repeatedly insisted—both before and after her proposed appointment—on only one candidate to fill that vacancy, former alderwoman Donna Stewart (Willard’s newly-appointed interim city administrator).

You can read more about the deadlock that surrounded the June 2022 vacancy at the links below:

https://www.manofmissouri.com/p/blocked-aldermen-staff-resignations

https://www.manofmissouri.com/p/nothing-new-under-the-sun

Additionally, then-mayor Snider never called for a special meeting as is required by state statute, nor did the Board hold him accountable for not calling a special meeting. Why? Because what would have been the point? Mayor Snider made it abundantly clear that he would not appoint Stewart, and the Board—particularly Mr. Baird—made it abundantly clear that the only candidate they were willing to accept was Stewart.

At any time, the board could have reconsidered the mayor’s candidate, Karie Johnson-Phillips, to fill the open alderman seat. Conversely, former mayor Snider could have reconsidered the candidate the Board repeatedly insisted on, that is, Donna Stewart.

Neither did so. As a result, both men are responsible for leaving Ward 1 residents without adequate representation for nearly a year. A “logjam,” in other words.

During that time, Ward 1 residents did at least have partial representation—Alderman Corey Hendrickson.

Or did they?

I suppose that would be true had Mr. Hendrickson been living in the ward to which he was elected, at either the time of his election or afterward. But—based on the available evidence—it appears that he did not. It also appears that no one affiliated with the City of Willard ever bothered to verify where Alderman Hendrickson actually lived. 

In January 2023, I notified the aldermen that Mr. Hendrickson was under investigation for embezzlement (read here) and did not appear to be living in his ward. That notification also included two phone calls with Mr. Baird. During those conversations, Mr. Baird seemed much more concerned about his friend’s reputation than he did with investigating whether or not the allegations I made were true.

But now that Mr. Hendrickson may be going to prison, and Mr. Baird is mayor, the requirement that aldermen reside in the ward they represent seems to have become important again.

And that’s as it should be.

The post on Willard MO - City News & Issues seeking candidates for the vacant seats states: 

“It is particularly important to have a full board…” and “The candidate must live in the ward which they desire to represent…”

I guess those requirements matter now. 

Even if they don’t appear to have mattered back then.