I can't report an answer on that. Law enforcement agencies don't tend to talk about ongoing investigations before they've made an arrest.
In a public statement in November, Dennis Mertz said he'd been told back in August that there was a criminal investigation into possible policy violations by city staff. There's more about that here: http://www.basehorinfo.com/news/2011/...
Well, this recall is not part of the criminal system. The recall election was prompted because a group of Basehor residents circulated a petition, which listed reasons they believed the mayor should be recalled. The county attorney approved those reasons as valid. There is no criminal investigation involved.
LTDC: Sorry to butt in, but thats not exactly correct. The judge's decision this morning was not in the mayor's favor, and he ordered for the election to proceed unless the Kansas Court of Appeals says otherwise, but the judge did not say anything about anyone committing a criminal act.
politico_guardian, I can answer that. The judge did not rule that the mayor and administrator altered the contract, because the judge's ruling did not concern whether or not any of the alleged actions on the recall petition actually occurred. The judge is not looking into that at all.
The judge did rule earlier this month that the allegation regarding Mark Loughry's contract, as given on the recall petition, was sufficient to prompt a recall election. At today's hearing, the judge added that he was mistaken when he said in his earlier ruling that there was no such state statute as 21-5920, so he reinserted a citation of that statute into the grounds for recall to be posted at polling sites. That's the "tampering with a public record" statute you referred to.
I can answer that for you, jgreen1515. The total cost of the project won't be known for sure until everything is bid out, but the city estimated the total cost to be about $1.26 million. If that's the case, the city will be on the hook for about $260,000, and the $1 million KDOT grant will pay for the rest.
A quick correction: Dysart actually voted against accepting the $1 million KDOT grant to extend Wolf Creek Parkway and said she opposed the project. Fred Box also voted against accepting the grant, and Mertz, David Breuer and Travis Miles voted to accept it.
A quick note, kbrown, which will hopefully be good news if you live in the sewer district: The Basehor connection fee is actually included in the assessment. If this proposal were to pass, you would not have to pay the $19,700 PLUS the $4425 connection fee; the connection fee makes up part of that assessment amount. If Basehor decreases the fee, it will result in a lower assessment over 20 years.
Basehor council paves way for state loan refinancing
Hi politico_guardian,
To keep from being deleted, you just have to follow the terms of our user agreement:
http://www.basehorinfo.com/about/use_...
We've had to remove several comments recently because they included links to outside websites, which are not permitted according to that agreement.
Thanks,
Matt Erickson
Sentinel staff writer
May 8, 2012 at 12:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
No decision made on airport studies as county waits for cities to agree on site
Commissioner Flower,
Thanks for pointing out that error. You're quite right that the absence of that word changed the meaning entirely. We've corrected it now.
Matt Erickson
Sentinel staff writer
February 28, 2012 at 1:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Judge denies Basehor mayor's request to put recall election on hold
I can't report an answer on that. Law enforcement agencies don't tend to talk about ongoing investigations before they've made an arrest.
In a public statement in November, Dennis Mertz said he'd been told back in August that there was a criminal investigation into possible policy violations by city staff. There's more about that here:
http://www.basehorinfo.com/news/2011/...
Matt Erickson
Sentinel staff writer
January 26, 2012 at 5:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Judge denies Basehor mayor's request to put recall election on hold
Well, this recall is not part of the criminal system. The recall election was prompted because a group of Basehor residents circulated a petition, which listed reasons they believed the mayor should be recalled. The county attorney approved those reasons as valid. There is no criminal investigation involved.
Matt Erickson
Sentinel staff writer
January 26, 2012 at 5:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Former Basehor administrator Loughry suing city for more than $500,000
LTDC: Sorry to butt in, but thats not exactly correct. The judge's decision this morning was not in the mayor's favor, and he ordered for the election to proceed unless the Kansas Court of Appeals says otherwise, but the judge did not say anything about anyone committing a criminal act.
Matt Erickson
Sentinel staff writer
January 26, 2012 at 5:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Judge denies Basehor mayor's request to put recall election on hold
politico_guardian, I can answer that. The judge did not rule that the mayor and administrator altered the contract, because the judge's ruling did not concern whether or not any of the alleged actions on the recall petition actually occurred. The judge is not looking into that at all.
The judge did rule earlier this month that the allegation regarding Mark Loughry's contract, as given on the recall petition, was sufficient to prompt a recall election. At today's hearing, the judge added that he was mistaken when he said in his earlier ruling that there was no such state statute as 21-5920, so he reinserted a citation of that statute into the grounds for recall to be posted at polling sites. That's the "tampering with a public record" statute you referred to.
Matt Erickson
Sentinel staff writer
January 26, 2012 at 5:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Council to pay Loughry $34,000 in severance
I can answer that for you, jgreen1515. The total cost of the project won't be known for sure until everything is bid out, but the city estimated the total cost to be about $1.26 million. If that's the case, the city will be on the hook for about $260,000, and the $1 million KDOT grant will pay for the rest.
See this story for more: http://www.basehorinfo.com/news/2011/...
Matt Erickson
Sentinel staff writer
November 23, 2011 at 11:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
New recall petition targets Basehor mayor; group alleges misuse of public funds
jgreen1515,
A quick correction: Dysart actually voted against accepting the $1 million KDOT grant to extend Wolf Creek Parkway and said she opposed the project. Fred Box also voted against accepting the grant, and Mertz, David Breuer and Travis Miles voted to accept it.
Story here from June: http://www.basehorinfo.com/news/2011/...
Matt Erickson
Sentinel staff writer
November 16, 2011 at 12:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Mertz, Dysart deny recall group's accusations
basehordream, thanks for pointing out that we had not updated the web story to reflect that fact yet. Sorry about that oversight.
Matt Erickson
Sentinel staff writer
November 4, 2011 at 10:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
County proposal would stick sewer district with bill of $1.93 million
A quick note, kbrown, which will hopefully be good news if you live in the sewer district: The Basehor connection fee is actually included in the assessment. If this proposal were to pass, you would not have to pay the $19,700 PLUS the $4425 connection fee; the connection fee makes up part of that assessment amount. If Basehor decreases the fee, it will result in a lower assessment over 20 years.
Matt Erickson
Sentinel staff writer
October 13, 2011 at 12:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )