What is Steve Ehlmann hiding?

In August of 2007 state lawmakers passed a lengthy bill (SB 22) which made numerous changes to Missouri laws affecting municipal government. SB 22 was filled with so many changes to the law that our elected representatives were voting to change laws without any knowledge of the reasons for the changes or even what was being changed. This type of legislation allows for legislators to sneak in changes to laws which benefit special interests or even one or two "friends" of the legislator.

One example of this was the change in the law on how to incorporate as a Village in Missouri. Rod Jetton has never fully answered questions regarding his role in changing this law but once the new law went into effect, Jetton's friend and contributor, developer Robert Plaster filed under the new law to incorporate his land as a Village. While Jetton and the new law were widely criticized, a similar change in a law (Section 228.110) on how to vacate a public road has been ignored. However, like the Village law, the change in this law appears to be done to help a developer and builder on one project, this time in St. Charles County. Of course, that road is Koch Road which has been the subject of legislation in O'Fallon, St. Charles County and Jefferson City, each time in an attempt to give this public property free of charge to a developer.

I spoke with one of the sponsors of the change in the road vacation law this week, Rep. Doug Funderburk, R-O'Fallon. Funderburk explained to me that he was contacted by St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann who lobbied for the change. This caught me by surprise because Ehlmann had requested a meeting with three of the residents involved in the Koch Road dispute a few weeks ago. At that meeting Ehlmann volunteered to the residents that he had no involvement in the changes made to the law in Jefferson City. Ehlmann also told St. Charles County Councilman Joe Brazil that he had nothing to do with the changes made at the state level. This directly conflicts with Funderburk's statement that Ehlmann was the only person who contacted him regarding this change.

At the time I spoke with Funderburk I had no reason to doubt Ehlmann's statements regarding his involvement in the state legislation and I never asked Funderburk if Ehlmann played a role in the matter. Funderburk was simply explaining the reasons why he supported the legislation, reasons which came mostly from Ehlmann's lobbying efforts.

So it appears Ehlmann is lying about his role in changing a state law to benefit a builder and developer on one project in O'Fallon, but why? It is already a matter of public record that under Ehlmann's leadership the county has ignored the illegal destruction of Koch Road and O'Fallon's deliberate false statements regarding New Koch Road. It is also a matter of record that under Ehlmann, the county has failed to protect the interests of the citizens but instead has advocated on behalf of his builder/developer friends. The large sums of campaign contributions Ehlmann has received from builders and developers is also public information, including those who directly benefit from Ehlmann's positions on Koch Road.

So what is Steve Ehlmann hiding? I emailed Ehlmann the information about his "contradictory" statements on Monday and he has not offered an explanation or response. My guess is Ehlmann wanted to keep his role as a (paid?) lobbyist for the builders and developers a secret. However, with everything else we know about Ehlmann, why would anyone be surprised.