By Debbie Coleman-Topi

At least one member of the Jackson County Legislature is suspicious of the reasons behind the resignation of the entire Jackson County Ethics Commission.

Legislator Dennis Waits said he believes the commission, which is charged with keeping all county employees free from unethical practices, may have its own political agenda. The five-member body resigned en masse recently following the legislature's adoption of a new county ethics code that exempts members of the legislature. The move places the legislature under state rules. Three members resigned because of the legislative action while one other member resigned for personal reasons. The lone remaining member resigned after learning she was the last to remain on the commission.

"The particular commission was not without its political interests," Waits said during a telephone interview Thursday afternoon. However, the longtime member and former chairman of the legislature declined to speculate or name those political influences, adding only that he's very disappointed in the group.

"It looked very poor," Waits said of the resignation. "'If we can't continue to investigate and oversee the legislature...then we'll go running along.'" The commission investigates allegations of conflicts of interest and recently investigated allegations that Legislator Scott Burnett had violated law by having a county-paid aide work for his private business. The county commission dismissed allegations against Burnett, but the state ethics commission investigated and determined he had violated state law and he was ordered to pay a $3,500 fine.

Mike McCormick, a member of the commission for the last ten years, said the group was disappointed in the legislature because they rejected the code recommendation. He disagrees that the commission is politically motivated.

"None of us are political by nature," McCormick said. "I don't know what Denny would be referring to."

Besides, McCormick said that the body's authority was eliminated when the legislature exempted themselves from the very code designed to keep them ethical.

"Elected officials are the ones who typically run afoul of ethics," McCormick said. "It kind of rendered what the ethics commission does 'moot,'" he said. "A lot of people spent a lot of time coming up with a code.."

However, Waits argued that adopting the code as presented would have created an inherent conflict of interest because the legislature oversees the commission's budget. Therefore, they exempted themselves from the commission's watchdog role and switched that authority to the Missouri Ethics Commission, a statewide body.

Waits said the legislature acted on the recommendation of one of the framers of the county charter, Harold Fridkin.

"We had a very solid reason..." Waits said, adding that the county code, as proposed "needed to be refined and reviewed. "We made some modifications that seemed to be the most appropriate...It wasn't as though we were attempting not to be answerable."

Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders could not be reached for comment. However, Jackson County Public Information Officer Jeph BurroughsScanlon said he spoke with a representative of the Mid-America Regional Council Thursday who said a three-member selection committee charged with naming new County Ethics Commission members has begun the process. He also said that Sanders continues to favor forming a charter review commitee to examine the issue of ethics. Any revisions to the county charter can go before voters every ten years, meaning the issue could be up for a vote in 2010.

In an interview conducted via email, Theresa Garza, also a member of the legislature, said she also favors a charter review committee and that the code as adopted is not the final draft.

"I know this is not perfect, but I feel this is a foundation to build upon," she wrote. "Ultimately, the ability of any commission to deal credibly and forthrightly with the issues that come before it depends on the governing body's willingness to reform its own rules and behavior."

When asked for a answer to the dilemma, Garza wrote: " I believe the obvious solution would be first to see what conduct it is that everyone is most concerned about."