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Resident urges council pledge against post‑office developer work; mayor and council reject accusations
Summary
A resident asked three officials to pledge they would not accept business benefits from developers after leaving office. Mayor Baird denied wrongdoing at length and council members reiterated they do not plan to conduct city business while serving.
A Lee's Summit resident told the City Council she wanted a public pledge from three named officials that they would not accept personal or business benefits from developers after they leave office, saying such a commitment would "provide real peace of mind" to residents.
"I'm asking all 3 of you to go on the record tonight with a clear commitment ... that you will not accept any personal or business benefit from the developers or the projects that you help subsidize with our taxpayer dollars," the commenter said during the public‑comment period.
Mayor Baird responded with a lengthy denial, saying he has disclosed his personal financials and that "everything's legally compliant and always has been." He called the accusations "slander" and said he has "not taken any illegal or unethical monies," adding he has recused himself "maybe on 3 topics in 8 years." The mayor also defended the city's use of incentives to finance infrastructure tied to development, saying the city has "built nearly $5,000,000,000 in new construction assets" and arguing incentives brought jobs and public infrastructure.
Councilmember Funk, who was recognized afterward, said for the record he has "never recused" himself because of business ties and explained that much of his firm's business is out of state and not with contractors who do work for the city. Representative Lopez told the council the public commenter was "100% mistaken" about his future career plans and stated he has not conducted business in Lee's Summit while serving as an elected official.
No formal ethics investigation, policy change or pledge was adopted during the meeting. The exchanges occurred during the public‑comment portion of the session; council members used their subsequent comments to rebut the allegations and describe their business practices and recusals.
