Friday, February 5, 2010
St. Louis Police Officers Association President Tom Walsh and Vice President Joe Steiger have filed three lawsuits challenging the ballot summaries and fiscal notes prepared for three different ballot initiatives that would authorize the City of St. Louis to take control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Two of the ballot initiatives would also allow the City of St. Louis to take control of police officers’ pension fund.
The lawsuits challenge the ballot summaries prepared by Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.
The suits allege that all the ballot summaries misstate current law by stating the St. Louis City police force and its pension fund are controlled by the state of Missouri. The police force and its pension fund are actually controlled by two separate and independent boards, the St. Louis City Board of Police Commissioners and the Police Retirement System of St. Louis, according to an SLPOA press release.
One of the ballot summaries does not describe what effect the proposal will have on police pension fund. None of the ballot summaries describe all the new, additional powers that will be granted to The City of St. Louis and its Board of Aldermen if the city chooses to take over the police department and its pension fund, according to the SLPOA.
The suits also challenge the fiscal notes prepared by Missouri State Auditor for these ballot proposals.
Under state law, Missouri Auditor Susan Montee is responsible for preparing a fiscal note that would outline the cost or savings to the state or the cities if the proposals are approved.
The fiscal notes prepared for these ballot proposals grossly overestimate the savings to the state and the city that could result from these proposals, the SLPOA says. The fiscal notes do not consider actual state expenditures on the city police department and instead focuses on “potential” savings. it says.
The fiscal notes also ignore costs that would be shifted from the state to the city, according to the SLPOA, adding the costs could include approximately $500,000 that is currently covered by the Missourio Legal Expense Fund.
The lawsuits challenge the process used by Carnahan and Montee to prepare the ballot summaries and fiscal notes. The suits allege the state officials did not provide public notice they were preparing the ballot summaries or fiscal notes. Because of the lack of public notice, opponents of the proposals did not have the opportunity to comment on the ballot summaries or provide cost and savings information for inclusion in the fiscal notes as authorized by law, according to the SLPOA.
The cases are Walsh and Steiger vs. Carnahan and Montee. They are pending in Cole County Circuit Court where state law mandates these types of lawsuits be filed. The SLPOA is represented by the Stinson Morrison Hecker law firm.
Walsh, Steiger and the Stinson Morrison Hecvker law firm have yet to respond to inquiries from the Globe-Democrat.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.