Lee's Summit mayor removes council member as mayor pro tem; ethics questioned

LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — KSHB 41 News reporter Braden Bates covers parts of Jackson County, Missouri, including Lee's Summit. Send Braden a story idea by e-mail.

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Lee's Summit Mayor Beto Lopez removed councilmember Hillary Shields as mayor pro tem, sparking a contentious exchange between the two city leaders.

At Tuesday night's city council meeting, Shields addressed the removal, saying she served effectively and carried out the duties she was tasked with.

That was followed by claims Shields made that the mayor did not follow the terms of his recusal, when discussing the municipal courts in which he has a conflict of interest.

"What I have described is a pattern of corrupt conduct, an elected official remaining involved behind the scenes in a manner from which he was recused because it would provide a substantial financial benefit to his own household," Shields said.

Mayor Lopez called Shields' statements slanderous as he responded to her claims.

"I think there's bitter feelings because something was taken away from you that you didn't earn," Lopez said. "This community doesn't need that kind of garbage leadership around here."

Shields said her removal stems from her opposition to an ordinance currently moving through the city council that would provide a mid-term pay increase for the city's two municipal judges. The ordinance would compensate the judges as they work additional days to ease the courts' daily caseload.

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"A move which, to be very clear, would put an extra $50,000 per year directly into his wife's pocket, into his household income," Shields said.

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Lopez is married to Lee's Summit Judge Venessa Maxwell-Lopez, who has advocated for the pay increase, as she said they need to expand the days judges are in office.

KSHB 41 has covered the municipal court debate extensively.

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Mayor Lopez recuses himself from all discussions related to the municipal court. That put Shields at the forefront of the conversations, as the mayor pro tem fills in for the mayor.

"My ethics are what I live my life by, and I would never jeopardize that by making one decision," Lopez said.

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Lopez said his decision to remove Shields came down to her leadership style and how she ran meetings in his absence.

"I just lost confidence and trust in her leadership ability to serve as mayor pro tem," Lopez said.

Shields disputed that explanation.

"He can say that it's the way I ran the meetings, but I think that it's that I didn't deliver the outcome that he wanted," Shields said.

Lopez selected Shields as his mayor pro tem in April. He is familiar with the role, having served as mayor pro tem eight consecutive times under the former mayor.

Lopez said experience was the primary reason he chose her.

"Ultimately, I chose her because of her experience, and we had worked together for several years as city council representatives," Lopez said.

With her removal, Lopez appointed councilmember Donnie Funk to the position.

Both leaders said they remain focused on the residents they serve.

"The residents of Lee's Summit pay taxes," Shields said. "They need to have trust in their elected officials."

Lopez expressed confidence the city would move forward.

"I'm very confident that we will move past this situation and have confidence that everyone will really truly focus on what's best for this community," Lopez said.

Fellow councilmember Nyauna Cravens called on both leaders to keep residents at the center of their work.

"I would appreciate if we could conduct business in a professional way and put our residents, our citizens and our city first," Cravens said.

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