INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Tom Van Camp, an Independence city councilman, will no longer represent District 4 come April.
On Feb. 4, Van Camp lost his seat in the primary election.
Daniel Hobart received more than 50 percent of the votes for District 4, while Van Camp came in at roughly 17 percent. Chris Heitzman received roughly 32 percent of the vote.
Van Camp was at the center of several 41 Action News Investigations that raised questions about his time spent on the city council.
In 2018, the 41 Action News investigators revealed Van Camp spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on travel.
41 Action News requested to speak with Van Camp on several occasions about the trips, which often included rental cars, valet parking, early bird check-in and room upgrades.
Despite multiple attempts to learn more about Van Camp's travels, Van Camp would never divulge how his trips benefited the city.
Ultimately, Independence adopted a new travel policy following 41 Action News' investigation into the matter. Now, planned out-of-town trips are added to the council's agenda ahead of time, and the purpose for the trips is discussed publicly.
Van Camp was also tied to several controversial projects during his time on the city council, including the purchase of the Rockwood Golf Course, which became an expansion of the city's solar farm.
Van Camp did not want to comment on the primary election.
He will leave the city council mid-April.
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