KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint against several Kansas City, Missouri, leaders on Tuesday.
The commission first received the complaint on Jan. 19, 2021.
It alleged that KCMO's website was using public funding to support candidates because their campaign social media pages were linked on it. This included KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas.
This violated Missouri Chapter 115 which states that "No contribution or expenditure of public funds shall be made directly by any officer, employee or agent of any political subdivision, including school districts and charter schools, to advocate, support, or oppose the passage or defeat of any ballot measure or the nomination or election of any candidate for public office."
As a result, KCMO City Manager Brian Platt was fined $1,000, because the commission said he was responsible for the website as city manager. The links have since been removed.
Platt signed a consent order accompanied by legal counsel and the matter was resolved.
The complaint also alleged that some people were blocked from Lucas' Facebook page and that he used it to post official business.
After an initial review, the commission opened the complaint against Lucas, Platt and the KCMO City Council.
In a letter, the commission said that it's not authorized to review whether Lucas violated law regarding the allegations on Facebook.
The commission voted on Tuesday to dismiss the complaint against Lucas, Platt and the council members.
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