Council Has No Legal Recourse on Mayor’s

 Dispute with Dorsey on Municipal Court

                             By Carol Arnett

The Florissant City Council addressed issues surrounding Mayor Tom Schneider and the Municipal Court judges at the meeting Monday night. Council President Jackie Pagano read a message from the council. She said the council had received a letter from Mary Elizabeth Dorsey regarding the handling of the Paul Schneider case. They also received a letter from David Naumann, Schneider’s attorney. Paul Schneider is the mayor’s son.

“Every member of the council has received letters and phone calls from residents asking about the events and asking if the council is going to take action,” Pagano said. “The city council is a legislative body and the power of the legislative body is set forth in the city charter.”

   She said that the council, the city attorney, and a second attorney reviewed the city charter and state law. They concluded that the council has “no investigative authority, nor any power to address the issues being raised.” She said they encouraged anyone involved to address issues and complaints to the proper authorities.

“The members of the council are extremely frustrated by the situation but cannot get involved in a matter that is beyond our authority,” Pagano said.

Several residents spoke about Schneider. Rance Thomas, president of North County Churches United for Racial Harmony and Justice, said that he had known Schneider for years and supported him. Rance Thomas:

“I’m here to speak in support of Mayor Tom Schneider, who I’ve known for many years, even before he became mayor,” Thomas said. He said he had worked with Schneider on various projects through the years and gotten to know him well. “I cannot imagine him doing anything that is not in the best interest of Florissant or of North County generally.”

Mark   Behlmann spoke against the mayor. In the last election, he lost the mayor’s race to Schneider. He said that after he lost elections, he liked to go back to people and businesses and try to find out what went wrong. He wrote down what the found out in these interviews and compiled a report.

“I have sent a letter to the attorney general outlining what I found out. I also sent it to the U.S. Attorney General, who forwarded it to the FBI,” he said. “I’ve made a claim to the FBI to do a thorough investigation.”

As he ran out of time, he finished by saying, “Mr. Mayor, I think you need to retire.”

About ten people spoke, with the speakers about evenly divided between those supporting Schneider and those against him.

   Schneider did not speak about the issue.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us