“African American Democrats will have many questions, including why is Elbert Walton and the Normandy Fire Protection District worthy of an investigation but Jackson County Legislators who violated Missouri Sunshine laws by doctoring official minutes of illegally closed meetings gets a pass?”   Missouri Political News service (12/7/07)

JEFFERSON CITY_ Jay Nixon has once again angered African Americans, this time by holding his political buddies to a different standard than black Missourians. Nixon is using the Sunshine Law to investigate the Normandy Fire Protection District while ignoring Sunshine Law violations brought by a fellow Democrat against Nixon’s political supporters in the Jackson County Legislature.

Nixon’s desegregation debacle dating back to 1998 still angers many in the African American community and his witch hunt in Normandy, documented last week by the St. Louis Post Dispatch, is certain to build on that animosity. Meanwhile, former Jackson County legislator Bob Stringfield continues to be stonewalled by Nixon over documented allegations that the Jackson County Legislature violated the Sunshine Law.

According to Jackson County sources, the Jackson County Ethics Commission held ‘closed meeting’ discussions after legislators and their attorneys filed a motion to quash the subpoenas issued. The Ethics Commission has a public hearing scheduled for today to enforce the ruling made last year against the legislators. Six current and two former members have been ordered to repay the county for the use of public funds, which were determined to have been used in the malicious prosecution case against Stringfield.

“This is a tale of two standards by Jay Nixon in which he would rather wield his Sunshine Law powers to attack members of the African American community rather than have to go after his friends in the Jackson County Legislature who clearly violated the law,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “Jay Nixon again has shown that he’ll use the Sunshine Law when it suits his political interests instead of when it serves justice.”

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