Somewhere, John Knobloch is laughing, or at least shaking his head. Maybe both. Possibly, in a more sentimental moment, a tear may slip out.
Pevely, the town he presided over for 21 years as mayor, has turned into a money-burning, lawsuit-happy den of revenge in the last couple of years. Its former city clerk, Stephanie Haas, was fired from that job in 2014 and later sued the city, claiming she was improperly canned.
Haas ran for mayor in 2015 and was elected, and filed her lawsuit two months later. A month ago, the city agreed to a settlement with her that cost $85,000, including attorney’s fees.
While that drama was playing out, Haas and the Board of Aldermen pursued the impeachment of Alderman Dave Bewig, an outspoken critic of Haas who had voted to fire her in 2014.
Payback? No, said the mayor. Bewig was accused of harassing citizens, board members and city employees and interfering with city business.
After reading a 24-page list of complaints against Bewig, the board held a four-hour public hearing Dec. 7, then voted 4 to 2 to impeach him.
The impeachment cost the city $28,460 in legal fees and court costs.
But wait, there’s more!
Last June, when he was still an alderman, Bewig was given a citation for allegedly smoking in a no-smoking zone outside of City Hall. He fought the charge, which ordinarily would have been handled in municipal court, and took it to a bench trial at associate circuit court. In January, the case was scheduled to be heard but a computer malfunction closed court that day.
Bewig was offered the chance to make an Alford plea, which means he wouldn’t admit guilt but would acknowledge that he thought the prosecution could prove the charge against him. Bewig took the deal, saying he didn’t think Pevely could prove the charge but stating he didn’t want to cost the city any more money.
The judge fined him $25 and court costs. The city’s expenses are unknown.
And there’s still more!
Even though Bewig had been banished from the board, aldermen apparently wanted to make sure he didn’t come back. A week after they impeached him, and just hours before filings opened for the April municipal elections, they passed an ordinance Dec. 14 that said anyone who had been impeached from the board was no longer eligible to run.
Bewig filed for a Ward 2 aldermanic election in April anyway. He filed on Jan. 19, the state’s filing deadline for April 5 candidates.
Haas, without a vote of the board, directed the city attorney to file suit against Bewig and County Clerk Wes Wagner for accepting the filing.
Bewig, who is a landscaper, not a lawyer, represented himself in court. Circuit Judge Nathan Stewart ruled Bewig had not presented evidence to deny the city’s request for a declaratory judgment to remove him from the ballot.
The city, of course, had real lawyers citing real case law. They won.
The cost of this one to the city is not yet known.
To sum this up, the city has paid $113,460 in settlements and court costs so far in this young year, with unpaid bills pending for the Bewig smoking caper and the lawsuit to kick him off the ballot.
By contrast, Knobloch was drawn and quartered in 2013 and 2014 when it was discovered he had added his wife’s cell phone to a city-paid plan for his phone. Over a 12-year period, at $10 per month plus taxes, Knobloch acknowledged owing the city about $2,000, which he repaid.
Knobloch resigned in July 2014, citing health reasons.
Some of his critics, bent on saving that 10 bucks a months and punishing the mayor for his transgression, are now members of Team Haas, spending money like they have it on settlements and lawsuits, with a six-figure tab and counting. Wheeeee!
If Haas was fired improperly (three months after Knobloch resigned), it was her right to sue for either her job back or damages or both. That’s one thing.
Running for mayor, then filing suit after she was elected, was another. At the minimum, it was an embarrassing conflict of interest for a financially strapped city that didn’t need any more embarrassment, or expense.
From what I can tell, Dave Bewig is an insistent, tireless, borderline-obnoxious scold. I can see why he aggravates people. On the other hand, he did win election in 2014 with 173 votes from people who wanted him to be their alderman for two years.
Those people’s wishes were undone by the four aldermen who voted to impeach him. In addition, voters are now barred from re-electing him.
The final cherry on top is the expense that aldermen chose to incur in the impeachment when Bewig had only four months to serve on his term. They could have just frozen him out, like other boards do with mavericks who get too wild. But aldermen chose not to freeze him out, but to take him out, at taxpayer expense.
Was it worth it? We’ll find out if the voters think so at the next aldermanic elections in April.
