Heritage Residents Association To File Ethics Complaint Against Citizens For Responsible Community
By Tony Brockmeyer
The First Capitol News has learned that the Board of Directors of the Heritage Residents Association (HRA) are filing a complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission against Citizens For Responsible Community and it’s president Carl Maus. Maus is also a past president of the HRA.
This action is the result of an investigation conducted for the HRA by it’s attorney Joel D. Brett of St. Charles.
At a recent meeting the Attorney notified the board that a payment of $5,000 the HRA board made to Citizens For Responsible Community (CFRC), on behalf of a local developer, gave the appearance of an attempt to launder money. The check, originally received by the board from Steve Groeper of Western Expansion Group, was apparently a misdirection of funds to avoid the appearance of CFRC accepting money from a developer, particularly since the purpose of CFRC was to prevent another developer from purchasing the property. The attorney, advised the board in a letter dated September 28, 2004; it appears the Board had issued the check prior to a vote. Two resolutions which say essentially the same thing concerning the donation to CFRC dated February 26, 2004 and March 23, 2004, appear to him to be an effort to establish a basis for the contribution. The resolutions according to the attorney are insufficient and further his opinion that the activities of the Board in making the donation and reimbursing various Board members and Association members for their activities with Cavendish Square is improper. He wrote that the $5,000 donation should be returned to the Board by CRFC, and then perhaps returned to Western Expansion and that the source of the donation was also misrepresented by CFRC.
In the May 15, 2004 edition of the First Capitol News we reported that at the annual meeting of the Heritage Residents Association on April 26, 2004 an internal fight developed and the two candidates for election to the Board representing Citizens For Responsible Community were defeated. We also reported a fight over association funds, which resulted in $3,293.75 in legal fees for the association. It involved a $10,000 donation by Groeper to the Association and later claimed by Maus and Stone as a partial donation to “Citizens For Responsible Community.”
Frank Rosner, who was treasurer of the Heritage Residents Association (HRA) at the time and is now the president told the First Capitol News, “The check was received from Groeper in January 2004 and was made payable to the Heritage Residents Association. Later Maus who was President of the Heritage Residents Association, but was not running for reelection because he was moving into a new home being constructed in Groeper’s subdivision, told the HRA $5,000 of the money was to go to CFRC. At that time another member of the HRA told us that this was apparently an attempt to bypass campaign-reporting requirements. At a later meeting that was not attended by Rosner and several other HRA Board members a check for $5,000 was issued to CFRC.
Since their inception CFRC have become involved in St. Charles City politics even though none of them reside in St. Charles, except Maus who recently moved into an apartment in the city while his new luxury home in Groeper’s subdivision is completed. CFRC has also become involved in O’Fallon and St. Peters politics and claim to be responsible for the election of Shawn Brown as Mayor of St. Peters. They have also aligned themselves with Adolphus Busch IV and Glennon Jamboretz of the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, the group fighting a planned industrial, commercial development on 1,600 acres owned by the City of St. Peters. It has been reported that Busch, Jamboretz and other members of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance have given thousands of dollars to CFRC. It is believed that a great deal of that money was used to defeat candidates to the City Board in O’Fallon, and the Mayor of St. Peters. Attempts to defeat city council members in St. Charles were unsuccessful.
After the Mayor of St. Charles, York, denied knowing members of CFRC it was discovered that she was photographed with them at her victory party and that she later contributed more than $2,000 to their cause. She was recently photographed with them at an event in O’Fallon. Shortly after her election as Mayor she allowed them the use of her office at City Hall during City Council Meetings.
The HRA attorney also advised the Board that Maus being President of HRA at the same time he was President of CFRC was at the very least a conflict of interest and should have been disclosed to all Members of the Association (all residents) and not just the Board members. In addition, the minutes of January 27, 2004 specifically state that one half of the $10,000 paid by Steve Groeper of Western Expansion Group would be paid to CFRC because “it probably would not look good for the company to have it on the books”.
Board members and other Members of the Association were reimbursed for their “in kind” contributions to CFRC during the “Cavendish Square” dispute. The attorney reported this is also an improper use of Association assessments and funds. If it is possible to determine the amounts the members should reimburse the Association for the funds.
On March 22, 2000 the Board of Directors adopted a resolution authorizing the sale of property to B & L Real Estate Investments, L.L.C. The sale was conditioned upon the purchaser erecting residential dwellings on the property. The contract executed by the Association requires that the Association approve the plans and specifications for any buildings and structures and improvements constructed on the property and that these improvements should be residential. The contract does not provide a remedy if the purchaser does not erect these residential dwellings. The attorney for HRA questions whether the purchase price reflected the fair market value in March 2000. It is his understanding that the property was worth considerable more, but he has no documentation other than the assessor’s office valuation in the mid ‘80’s. That valuation reflects a significantly higher value. He advised the board that whenever selling or purchasing property they should obtain an appraisal for the file so that questions concerning value are not raised by future Boards.
Other recommendations he made to the board were to hire an independent accounting firm to audit the HRA books for the past 3-4 years and to take bids for services and/or materials of any significant amount.
The attorney believes that current Board members, whether involved or not on prior Boards, should attempt to recover the donation to CFRC as well as the payment to various members and Board members for the Cavendish Square dispute. He also believes that the funneling of the donation from Western Expansion Group through HRA to CFRC constitutes a violation of the Missouri Ethics statue, as well as the rules and regulations promulgated by the Missouri Ethics Commission. In closing he wrote, “I also firmly believe that the Association had no authority to make this donation. Clearly, Mr. Maus’ dual roles and the commingling of funds for attorney’s fees and contributions, at the very least, gives the appearance of impropriety, and in my opinion was improper and illegal.
Another source also told the FCN that the board was talking to several accounting firms and that plans were being formulated for a complete audit of the HRA funds.
