People at the Administrative Hearing before the City Council Wednesday evening left wondering why Councilmen Kneemiller, Reese, Weller and Muench would not vote to subpoena five witnesses who failed to appear.
A total of 17 witnesses were asked to testify. Twelve agreed, four refused and one did not respond. Those who refused were considered by several Council members to be the most important witnesses. They included Sharon Sander and Sandra Modglin, account managers for Express Scripts; Pam Williams and Andrea Salvati of Marsh Advantage; and Carey Caskey former Human Resources for the City of St. Charles. Caskey resigned during the City Council’s attempt to obtain insurance bids and a new broker of record for the City.
City Clerk, Marilyn McCoy told the Council she received a voice mail from Caseky who said she would be unavailable. Councilman Hoepfner said at the Mayor’s Charity Ball he had been approached by Caskey who told him in no uncertain terms she would not appear and testify. Sources also told us that at the Mayor’s Ball, Caskey also berated Council President Rory Riddler and City Administrator Allan Williams regarding the request by the City for her testimony.
On a motion to approve the issuance of subpoenas for those who refused to attend including Caskey, Councilmen Kneemiller, Weller, Reese and Muench voted no. Council members Riddler, Greer, Gieseke, Brown, Hoepfner and Koester voted yes. Since the authority to issue subpoenas requires a two thirds vote the motion failed. A later motion made by Councilman Mark Brown to issue subpoenas for records from the insurance companies was approved. In making the motion Brown said, “I can’t fathom why the Council wouldn’t want to have all the documentation of what has taken place here. We have a very serious offense that has taken place here. We have a stake of $200,000 plus on the line. Possible criminal activity. I can’t imagine the Council would not want to see it, to clear it or to act upon it. Why would anyone not want to have the documentation?” Councilman Gieseke added, “We need to subpoena all the documents including e-mails.”
Councilman Muench and Councilman Brown pointed out the Council members first received part of the material they needed Tuesday evening and part upon their arrival at the hearing.
It was obvious Councilmen Kneemiller and Weller were attempting to derail the hearing. Weller called the hearing, “A farce”, and at one point Kneemiller said, “(The) hearing should be ended now.” Supporters of the Mayor in the audience yelled, applauded and gave catcalls. They were cautioned by Councilman President Riddler who reminded them they were not at a sporting event but at an Administrative Hearing before the City Council and needed decorum. A member of the audience remarked to the First Capitol News, “Weller and Kneemiller have ignored the representation of the residents of their wards and are attempting to seek favor from the Mayor. The residents of their wards should take note of the activities of Kneemiller and Weller and take appropriate action.”
City Administrator Allan Williams, when questioned about documents, told the Council many of the original documents were not in City Hall and could not be found. Councilman Brown remarked many documents were missing and they needed to find out what happened to the documents.
Councilman Hoepfner said, “Carey Caskey is the single most important person in this issue and we need to have her here.”
Councilman Brown said, “I think it is important to point out to the public the State of New York has a $85 million damage claim against this insurance company. The Attorney General of the State of the Missouri is pursuing this matter to see if he can recoup damages for some of the people who may have been damaged by this company. It is important a record is made and we have to have documentation before we can ask if any of our funds can be recouped. Ms. Caskey is the one who can answer the questions and give us the information we need.”
Councilman Hoepfner said, “When she left, it was alleged Ms. Caskey was going through the files and now some of the files are missing. We need to determine what happened to those files.”
Even though several Council members suggested the members who voted no reconsider their votes, none did.
Councilman Koester remarked, “Mr. Weller, it seems to be a contradiction. In one breath you say find out as much as we can and in another breath you vote against a subpoena, for Ms. Caskey especially. I’m not surprised. You have had a lot of strange votes that don’t seem to reflect any kind of benefit to the City of St. Charles. You voted against ECM (East Central Missouri Sewer, the sewer company that is hooking up the TR Homes in St. Andrews to the city sewer system). You voted against Frenchtown. You voted against New town. You voted to stymie things, so it doesn’t surprise me that once again here you have poor judgment.”
The Hearing was adjourned until such time as the requested documents are received and City Administrator Williams puts the documents into a chronological order.
“Councilman Weller told us he wanted the facts yet when it came time to get the witnesses that could give us the facts, Reese, Weller and Kneemiller decided they didn’t want to hear the facts. The Council is being forced to make the decision on this issue with one persons reputation on the line. The Mayor’s reputation is at stake and when it came time to clear her name by calling the only witness, Carrie Caskey, who could fully explain the time line and the reason why there was no record of the contract kept in City Hall the two thirds needed didn’t appear.
time to clear her name by calling the only pwerson that coul dclear her name she was denied.”
