Mayor Paul Lambi has asked that an agenda item be added to tonight's Board of Aldermen meeting concerning his legal fees in a city investigation into a $15,000 check that may have constituted a conflict of interest.
Lambi is requesting $6,671.25 in reimbursement.
In a March 30 memo to Interim City Administrator Dennis Walsh, Lambi said that the city has already paid $41,448.71 to special council Tom Lorain.
"Do you really want to send the message to City Department Heads and employees that they can use the city treasury to neutralize the Mayor if they curry enough favor of the board by simply making allegations," Lambi wrote.
On March 16, Wentzville Patch posted a story about Alderman Nick Guccione's and put board president Leon Tow in office as Mayor Pro-Tem, thus giving Tow an advantage in the April 3 mayoral election.
Tow denied the allegations, saying that the accusation was politically motivated.
He said the report uncovered information unrelated to the $15,000 check and the board acted on that information. “We thought it was necessary to turn that over to two other agencies to investigate thoroughly.”
Guccione won the election for mayor with 42.32 percent of the vote. Tow received 33.75 percent.
