KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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On Monday night, the Peculiar, Missouri, Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to appoint Ward 2 Alderman John Shatto as Mayor.
Doug Stark submitted his resignation as the city's mayor and the Board of Aldermen accepted the resignation at Monday night's meeting.
KSHB 41 Cass County Beat Reporter Ryan Gamboa first reported on the issue in May.
RELATED | Peculiar, Missouri, mayor faces impeachment; hearing set for June 2
The Peculiar, Missouri, Board of Aldermen voted 6-0 to move forward with the impeachment process.
Documents obtained by KSHB 41 accused Stark of withholding valuable financial information from the Board provided to him by the Interim City Administrator.
The City of Peculiar wrote a Facebook post on Monday night explaining what's next.
Alderman Robert Wells has been appointed Mayor Pro Tem and President of the Board.
The Board of Aldermen will soon appoint someone to fill Shatto's Alderman seat.
"With all that business behind us, we are moving forward," the Facebook message states. "We are entering the beginning of a new and very exciting time of prosperity in our small town." In the Facebook post, the city states it will follow through on its projects, road repairs, and code changes, something the city hasn't seen completed in decades.
Our wastewater treatment plant upgrades are underway. Some of you have already noticed the road repairs being done on 223rd and Old Town Rd, which were definitely LONG overdue. This was done in partnership with Cass County Road and Bridge, and we are grateful for their assistance. More road repairs within the city will begin late Summer or Fall with Sivley, Maverick Circle, and Summerskill. Then we are going to keep rolling with road repairs as long as the weather allows us. The low-water crossings on E. First St, Hurley, Harr Grove, and Cindy are all high-priority and we’re figuring out how to get those completed as soon as possible, in a way that will be permanent solutions - not just band-aids.
Additional city employees are being added in key places - police, public works, and parks. We are getting more / better equipment to fight snow and ice, along with adding GPS and mapping systems so you’ll be able to see where we’ve been and where we’re going during these kinds of events.
There are definitely challenges facing us. We know almost every street in the city needs to be repaired or replaced and some are worse than others. We will keep doing those repairs and replacements, one by one. The city is tens of millions of dollars in debt from decades-old revenue bonds and due to refinancing, they aren’t scheduled to be paid off until 2042 and 2050. We have identified some ways to potentially pay those debts off sooner and save the city money on interest payments. Meanwhile, we have water flow and capacity issues in multiple parts of town which will cost millions of dollars to fix or upgrade. We have stormwater flooding issues in parts of town which will cost tens of millions of dollars to fix. None of those problems got that way overnight, and they won’t all get fixed overnight, but they will get fixed - one piece at a time. We are rising up to meet these challenges, not ignore or shy away from them.
The City of Peculiar found itself in the middle of a fight in October 2024, as a proposal for a data center came through town.
"Big tech is preying on small communities," residents told the Board of Aldermen.
RELATED | Peculiar reverses zoning for data center after cries from neighbors
Former Mayor Stark found himself in the middle of the debate, writing in a Facebook post that there was "an effort to forward a petition asking for his removal as Mayor."
Stark wrote the project could have brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the city.
The rezoning efforts fell short, and Stark went on to blame a group of residents for spreading misinformation about the project.
"The Aldermen felt the pressure from this boisterous and ill-informed group and requested to remove data centers as an allowable use in the light industrial zoning class, essentially killing this project," he wrote.
Many residents online shared opinions that Stark's movement through the impeachment process would cast a black eye on the community.
"We are tired of focusing on what we can’t’ do. We are focused on what we CAN do. We just need two things: patience and trust," the City of Peculiar wrote on its Facebook page. "Focusing on anything that has happened in the past doesn’t get anything accomplished. We are committed to building up the town you deserve. Just watch."
KSHB 41 reached out to Stark for comment on Tuesday night and is awaiting a response.
