Attorney: Fulnecky tax issue should have prevented council run

Last edited 3:33 p.m., July 7, 2016

A report issued yesterday to Mayor Bob Stephens and Springfield City Council members indicates Councilwoman Kristi Fulnecky was ineligible to run for her position due to taxes owed by her construction management firm.

Attorney Kevin O’Keefe, who was hired late last year by the city to represent other council members, said under state law and Springfield city charter, an individual is not eligible to be a candidate or be elected to council if they are “delinquent or arrears in any city taxes.”

Fulnecky, according to the report, did not pay business license taxes for seven years for Fulnecky Enterprises LLC. In October, six months after she was elected, Fulnecky paid her 2015 license and three prior years. That payment did not remedy the situation, O’Keefe said.

“Ms. Fulnecky’s voluntary payment of these taxes eliminates any basis for dispute as to whether they were owed at the time she ran for office,” O’Keefe wrote, noting in November 2014 Fulnecky signed an affidavit stating she was unaware of any delinquent taxes and in December that year and later in April 2015 again stated she met all the requirements to hold office. “Ignorance of the law is never an excuse for noncompliance.”

The report refers to a number of options now available to council and other government officials.

Council may “take the extreme step of usurping the will of the electorate by declaring council member Fulnecky’s election to be void and her office vacant,” according to O’Keefe, an attorney with St. Louis-based Curtis, Heinz, Garrett & O'Keefe PC. Council also may defer the the decision to voters, who can decide whether to recall Fulnecky. In addition, the Missouri attorney general and Greene County prosecutor both have the power to remove a council member if they believe the individual unlawfully holds the office, according to the report.

Fulnecky, who was elected in April 2015 to General Seat C, in May was cleared by retired Judge John Holstein of wrongdoing related to a closed meeting other council members held last year regarding her eligibility to serve. Holstein found Fulnecky did not break the law by entering the closed meeting or making a partial recording of it.

In January, Fulnecky also announced plans to run for mayor in 2017.

Joseph Passanise of the Law Offices of Dee Wampler and Joseph Passanise PC provided a statement on behalf of Fulnecky responding to O’Keefe's report.

“We are saddened that the city continues this saga,” the statement reads. “We were hopeful that after one of the finest jurists our state has to offer heard and disagreed with the city’s position, that it would end this nightmare for Fulnecky and the taxpayers of Springfield. The city has wasted tens of thousands of dollars and had the opportunity to have their day in court, and they chose to withdraw this business license fee issue previously.

"Now, with a very biased and one-sided report, the gang of five, the mayor and O’Keefe continue to attack Fulnecky to undermine her campaign for mayor."