The Pevely Board of Aldermen recently decided to switch towing companies and begin contracting with Pippin Towing, replacing McCain’s Towing, which the city had used for years. As of Tuesday, a contract with Pippin Towing had not been officially awarded, but the board was expected to do so at its next meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 14. The meeting was rescheduled from the first Monday of the month.
The contract for towing services appears to be at the heart of a conflict between Mayor Stephanie Haas and Ward 1 Alderman Steve Markus, who is challenging her for the mayoral seat in the April 8 election. Haas and Joe McCain, owner of McCain’s towing, have been a couple for years, and the two married in November.
During a closed March 3 meeting, board members said they were worried it could be a conflict of interest to continue using McCain’s Towing since the mayor had a close connection to the company.
The closed meeting minutes indicate Ward 1 Alderman Don Menkhus made a motion to preliminarily approve contracting with Pippin Towing, and the board approved the motion by a 6-2 vote. Those who voted in favor of the motion included Markus and Menkhus; Rick Yount of Ward 2; Tyler Leeder and Steve Miles of Ward 3; and Travis Dittmann of Ward 4. Those who voted against the motion were Ryan Tucker of Ward 2 and William Brooks of Ward 4.
Haas said the vote to begin using Pippin Towing should not have taken place in a closed session.
“It should have been in open session,” she said.
Conflict of interest debate
Markus and the others who voted to switch to Pippin Towing said it became a conflict of interest for the city to use McCain Towing after he and Haas wed.
Haas said those calling the situation a conflict of interest misunderstand exceptions to state and municipal conflict of interest regulations and fail to recognize that the issue came up 10 years earlier when she first ran for mayor. At the time, she worked for McCain’s Towing, and she said in 2015 the Board of Aldermen waived a clause about the municipal conflict of interest policy involving employees of a business and agreed to use McCain’s Towing. She maintains that once a government body waives such a clause for any reason, the waiver stays in place.
Haas said Pevely’s conflict of interest policy specifically prohibits the city from conducting business with companies in four cases: if a city official owns a company involved; is married to the owner of company involved; is a dependent child of the owner of a company involved; or is an employee of a company involved.
“I was an employee (of McCain’s Towing) and they were aware of it,” Haas said. “They waived (the conflict of interest policy) and continued to use us as the towing company.”
Allison Sweeney, the city attorney, said Haas is the one who doesn’t understand the conflict of interest policy.
Sweeney issued the following written statement about the situation:
“In November 2024, the mayor and the owner of McCain’s Towing got married. That change in legal status from unmarried to married triggered nepotism laws in the state of Missouri. The law requires absolute transparency if an elected official is financially benefiting from a company that does business with the city. At the time of the marriage, the city and McCain’s Towing were engaged in a business relationship, but did not have a valid contract. The mayor has a direct financial marital interest in McCain’s Towing. Without a valid contract, the mayor could suffer negative consequences from agencies appointed to oversee matters pertaining to nepotism and conflicts of interest.
Sweeney said the contract the city had with McCain Towing expired in 2015.
“Since there was no valid contract between the city and McCain’s Towing at the time of the marriage, the city needed to publicly advertise and request vendors submit bids to the city,” Sweeney said. “Missouri law requires the city to publicly solicit bids from potential vendors to ensure that the city enters into contracts with the vendors providing the best quality of services for the best price. Contracts are necessary to memorialize the terms of the agreement; such as the price per tow and service expectations.”
History with McCain’s
City Administrator Andy Hixson said McCain’s Towing was the lone towing service provider for the city from March 2, 2015, until the board voted in December to stop using McCain’s Towing and instead use a variety of towing companies on a rotating basis.
“In December the Board of Aldermen unanimously voted for transparency. That vote required McCain’s Towing, a company the mayor has a direct financial marital interest in, to engage in exactly the same bidding process as every other vendor doing business with the city of Pevely,” Sweeney said.
Hixson said the city has paid a total of about $260,000 to McCain Towing and McCain I-55 Auto Body since March 2, 2015.
“A motion was made during the closed session on 12/2/2024 by Alderman Brooks, seconded by Alderman Menkhus and approved by all eight aldermen, that due to not having a current contract with McCain’s towing in place, to not use McCain’s in the rotation as it could be a conflict of interest,” Hixson said.
City gets bids from towing companies
He said Brooks’ motion also directed the city to seek requests for qualifications (essentially bids) for a new towing contract.
The city received responses from three companies – McCain’s Towing LLC, 888 Commercial Blvd., in Herculaneum; Pippin Towing & Recovery LLC, 1417 Hwy. 61-67, in Festus; and Miner’s Towing Co., Inc., 12960 Gravois Road, in St. Louis.
Below are some of the details from the bids:
■ Fee for towing when requested by Pevely Police, per tow: McCain’s $70; Pippin $80; Miner’s $135.
■ Fee for recovery or winching required on tow per 15 minutes: McCain’s $20; Pippin $75; Miner’s $35.
■ Fee for storage per day or any part of day: McCain’s $20; Pippin $55; Miner’s $50.
■ Fee for major accident cleanup per 15 minutes: McCain’s $15; Pippin (included in other pricing); Miner’s $25.
■ Fee for wait time for police investigations per 15 minutes: McCain’s $10; Pippin $15; Miner’s $25.
All three companies submitted the same amounts for mileage to tow a vehicle anywhere except tow lot and/or crime lab ($4 per mile).