Election Ethics Discussion Ends With Board's Support of Free Speech

An election ethics discussion at Wednesday night's Wentzville Board of Aldermen meeting left board members in agreement that there were some things beyond their control.

"We cannot entertain notions of limiting people's free speech," Ward 1 Alderman Forrest Gossett said.

The ethics discussion, which had been removed from the previous meeting's agenda, was prompted by citizen complaints about an election flyer for Ward 3 Alderman Michael Hays with an endorsement from Mayor Nick Guccione.

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Ward 1 Alderman Cheryl Kross opened the discussion, asking for clarification about the city's recently-adopted ethics policy and how it applied to elections.

City Attorney Paul Rost said that the policy generally applied to city employees, prohibiting them from campaigning or working for a campaign while on the job.

Kross asked, "But can I support a candidate?"

Rost said that in plain English, city policy said that an elected official can do whatever any other person is allowed to do. He said that elected officials would not be allowed to perform "activity from behind the dias" to influence an election.

Rost gave the example of an elected official using city letterhead and having city staff write up and distribute endorsement materials.

"You've got to be careful," Rost said. "We cannot use our ordinances to violate the first amendment."

Ward 2 Alderman Chris Gard said that as a legislative body, the board could consider things like the placement of election sign placement.

City Clerk Vi Skillman told the board that candidates get a packet of information when they file that lists state and city rules for elections along with other election information. The packet is also sent to school board candidates.