Mayor's Lawyer in Impeachment Case: Ellisville is Squandering Resources

Ellisville Mayor Adam Paul hired Attorney Chet Pleban to cover his case after a resident filed a complaint against Paul, suggesting his impeachment.

After the complaint subsided with a negative recommendation from the Charter Enforcement Commission, composed of City Council Members Dawn Anglin, Michelle Murray and Linda Reel, Murray proposed a preliminary resolution within the same week to begin a new process to remove Paul from office.

Pleban, who attended the council meeting last Wednesday when the council voted to draft the resolution, spoke during public comments requesting the council move on from the complaint filed last week. Pleban shared his response to the new resolution, suggesting Murray did not write the motion, but that it "was some of the handy work of the city attorney," Paul Martin.

"Although few if any people in the chamber that evening understood all of the particulars of the motion (the city attorney notwithstanding) that Ms. Murray was making, I suppose the gist was to direct the city attorney to prepare charges against the mayor," Pleban said in an email to Patch. "For anyone with a half of a brain, the first question about the motion would be how can the city attorney prepare charges unless the person making the motion shares with him the basis for the charges. When Mayor Paul asked that question, Ms. Murray refused to answer."

The resolution passed with a vote of 5 to 2, the nays from Paul and Reel. 

"I suppose that we are going to find out how business is done in Ellisville because that will be one of the issues that will be addressed during the litigation that will occur," Pleban added. "It is truly a shame that these five council people are willing to squander the resources of the city and thereby breach their fiduciary duty by maliciously pursuing a frivolous agenda to unseat the mayor."

Paul, who was elected last April, has made known his differences of opinion from council members regarding a tax increment financing (TIF) district for a Walmart project across from City Hall. Martin had refrained from describing any more of the details of the new resolution until the next council meeting March 6.

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