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   The City of Ellisville is still without a mayor after the City Council vote to reinstate ousted Mayor Adam Paul ended in a 3-3 tie Wednesday night.  

   The result surprised many residents and Paul supporters.  That's because one of three new council members who took offices after Paul was impeached voted not to reinstate him.  Many had believed that council member Cindy Pool had been a Paul supporter.  

 Paul says he was disappointed with Pool's vote.  He says she isn't listening to her constituents and that's going to be costly.  "You know, it's going to cost the city probably a quarter-million dollars now," he said.  "It's just more of the same we had with our last council."

  Paul's attorney says he'll ask a judge next week to reinstate Paul while he awaits a ruling on his appeal.  The court date for that appeal hasn't been set.  

   The Council did agree to hold a special election for Mayor in November.

 
Published in Local News

   It was another raucous night in Ellisville Wednesday as supporters of the impeached mayor, Adam Paul, tried to get him reinstated.  

   But the city council didn't get to vote on the issue because City Manager, Kevin Bookout, pulled the item from the agenda saying he wanted to get a legal opinion on it first.  

   Newly elected council member Mick Cahill told Fox 2 news that Paul's supporters plan to put the reinstatement question back on the council agenda.  "We'll have to do it in a different way, putting it in as an amendment.  And then once we do that, we'll be able to take that and hopefully be able to vote on it," he said.

   City residents expressed outrage at a packed council meeting last night.  One recurring issue: the amount the impeachment battle is costing taxpayers, including an eight-thousand dollar bill for emergency PR services to handle the impeachment fallout.  

   Paul's attorney, Chet Pleban, told the council that the impeachment costs are going to continue to climb, because "Adam Paul's not going away." He added, "This 84,418 bucks is the beginning of your legal fees, not the end of your legal fees."

   Mayor Pro Tem, Matt Pirrello met with residents for more than an hour after the meeting.  He told them the matter is now in the hands of the courts, but vowed to resign on the spot, if a judge reinstated Paul.
Published in Local News

   Ellisville's ousted mayor is making good on his promise to appeal his impeachment in court.  Former Mayor Adam Paul filed an appeal in St. Louis County Circuit Court Wednesday asking a judge to overturn his April 8th impeachment.  

   But he didn't stop there.  

   Paul also filed a defamation lawsuit against his accusers.  The suit claims City Attorney Paul Martin, Council Member Matt Pirrello, City Manager Kevin Bookout and resident Katie James harmed his reputation by making unsubstantiated allegations against him.  

   Paul hand delivered a copy of the lawsuit to the city council at last night's council meeting.  

   The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the new city council, which took office Wednesday night, has decided not to appoint an interim mayor to take Paul's place.  The council plans to proceed with a special election, but the details have not yet been determined.

Published in Local News
Tuesday, 09 April 2013 01:50

Ellisville council impeaches mayor

The city of Ellisville is without a mayor.  That's because the city council voted 5-to-1 to impeach Adam Paul Monday evening.  

Mayor Paul and his attorney Chet Pleban left before the final vote. They have maintained for weeks that the impeachment hearings and deliberation were just for show -- that the council's decision was a foregone conclusion based on Paul's opposition to using tax incentives to build a new Walmart.  

But former mayor, Councilman Matt Pirrello denies that and tells McGraw in the Morning here on the Big 550 although he's not a fan of tax increment financing--he would still vote in favor of the Walmart TIF.

Matt Pirrello says, "As a responsible leader for my community, I cannot sit back and let my municipality go broke standing on principle."  

Before taking the impeachment vote, the council found Paul guilty on six charges of violating the city's charter.  

Paul says he'll ask a St. Louis County judge to set aside the impeachment until the newly elected city council takes office April 17th so that the new council can make the decision. 

 
Published in Local News

   The Ellisville City Council is expected to decide Monday evening whether or not to impeach their mayor, Adam Paul.  The council has scheduled public deliberations at 6:00 p.m.  

   If the council votes to oust Paul, he has said he'll sue.  

   The council has already retained attorneys to defend the impeachment, but the vigor of that defense is up in the air, since a newly elected council will be seated April 17th.  

   Three new council members were elected April 2nd - two of them are Paul supporters. The third hasn't made her position known.   Paul opponents Matt Pirrello and Rose Acup will remain on the council, along with Linda Reel, who had voted against charging Paul in the first place.  

   Mayor Paul was elected in April 2012 after campaigning against tax increment financing for a development that includes a new Walmart store.  The TIF was approved despite his opposition.

Published in Local News
Thursday, 04 April 2013 10:13

Still no impeachment vote in Ellisville

   The fate of Ellisville's embattled mayor won't be known until next week. The City Council was supposed to vote on Mayor Adam Paul's impeachment Wednesday, but postponed deliberations until Monday.  

   Paul and his attorney Chet Pleban spoke with KTRS's McGraw Millhaven Thursday morning about the proceedings.  

   Some of the charges against Mayor Paul were dropped last night - due to a lack of evidence.  Those include allegations Paul leaked confidential information.  Paul says those charges should never have been brought against him.  

   "Releasing confidential information is pretty, pretty significant, and they're pretty serious allegations," Paul told McGraw.  "And if you're going to put allegations like that out there, you better have some evidence."

   Paul's attorney Chet Pleban told KTRS's McGraw Millhaven this morning that the charges against his client keep shifting.  Pleban says although some charges against his client have been dropped, another charge - that Paul improperly questioned a city official - took center stage at last night's council meeting.  

   Pleban says the charge stems from an inquiry the mayor made on behalf of a constituent.  Pleban told McGraw that the resident wanted to know how he would be compensated for being displaced from low-income housing by the new Walmart development.

   "He went to the person who was the relocation expert and asked that question of what does this person get," Pleban said. "He got the answer to that question. He was satisfied with the answer, took it back to his constituent.  And now they want to impeach him for asking the relocation person that particular question." 

   Paul says that when the council finally votes on it, he expects to be ousted, and if that happens, he says he will sue.

   Pleban says the city council is already hiring legal representation in anticipation of that lawsuit.

Published in Local News
The Ellisville City Council won't hold an impeachment hearing for suspended Mayor Adam Paul until they night before the next city election is held. The Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to push back the hearing until April 1.

Mayor Pro Tem Matt Pirrello told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Paul's attorney had asked for the extra five days in order to prepare his defense.

The council had suspended Paul February 27 on charges that he violated the city's charter. Paul has maintained that the action stemmed from his vigorous opposition to a controversial tax increment financing for a Walmart development.

Three city council seats will be decided in the April 2nd election.

Also last night, the City Council rejected tax incentives for a second proposed development from Sansone Group. The developer had already won a TIF for a Walmart project.
Published in Local News
Ellisville officials are dropping some of the charges against their embattled mayor, Adam Paul.

Last week, the city council had adopted an 11 page impeachment document that charged Paul with violating the city's charter.

The charges also included swearing and drinking on the job. The council voted Wednesday night to drop those two charges from the impeachment proceedings.

City Attorney Paul Martin says he has evidence that both are true, but has learned that neither is an impeachable offense.

Mayor Paul refutes all of the charges, claiming they all stem from his disagreements with the council over a controversial Walmart TIF.
Published in Local News
Ellisville Mayor Adam Paul has been suspended pending the outcome of an impeachment hearing.

The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday evening to move forward with a litany of charges against the mayor that include disclosing confidential information and drinking on the job.

Dozens of residents had attended the special council meeting to show support for the Mayor, but it didn't sway the council.

A hearing was scheduled for March 20 to decide whether Paul should be permanently removed from office.

Mayor Paul has been at odds with most of the council over a controversial Walmart TIF since he was elected last April.
Published in Local News
When the Ellisville City Council members meet Wednesday, they're expected to levy charges against Mayor Adam Paul that range from disclosing employee salaries to using city resources to help a campaign contributor, and drinking on the job.

The 11 page resolution calling for Paul’s removal was drawn up by City Attorney Paul Martin after the council voted 5-2 for impeachment proceedings. Martin told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the mayor's improprieties began right after he took office last April.

That's also when Paul began officially fighting with most council members over a controversial Walmart TIF. The TIF passed, but is now tied up in court.

The impeachment drive follows an effort by some residents to get council members who'd supported the TIF recalled from office. That effort fell flat when a St. Louis County judge ruled that the city's recall provisions were unconstitutional.

If the council votes to adopt the impeachment resolution at Wednesday night's meeting, Paul would be suspended for 45 days, pending the outcome of an investigation.
Published in Local News
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