http://www.examiner.net/stories/040304/new_040304034.shtml
Union stands behind support
By David Tanner
The Examiner Story last updated at 11:11 a.m. Saturday, April 3, 2004
The manager of the International Brotherhood of Ele ctrical Workers Local No. 53 is standing behind his organization's contribution of $38,000 to support four candidates for Independence City Council.
Keith Querry, business manager for the IBEW, talked openly about contributions, mailings to voters and his involvement in the Citizens for Reform campaign committee, Thursday morning at the IBEW headquarters, 1100 Admiral Blvd., Kansas City.
"Why would a union want to invest so much money in the City Council races of Independence?" Querry said, "The answer is simple and straightforward. We want a council that will give the employees a fair shake."
He said the current council has not made the employees a priority. The most recent city budget contained no raises. It also contained an increase in costs for various health care programs.
Citizens for Reform, which lists the IBEW as its main contributor, raised and spent about $38,000 to benefit the campaigns of John Hedden, Will Swoffer, Renee Paluka and Jim Page, in the 1st through 4th districts respectively.
The reformers have come under recent scrutiny by another campaign group, Citizens for Effective Leadership, which has been around for decades.
Jerry Kacheroski, president of the Citizens for Effective Leadership, filed a Missouri Ethics Commission complaint against Citizens for Reform two weeks ago. Kacheroski said his organization may be considering further action.
The Ethics Commission did not confirm or deny the nature of the complaint. Kacheroski said the CFR violated ethics laws by improperly disclosing funds.
Querry said he has nothing to hide.
"Citizens for Reform was late filing in the eight-day-before report for the primary election because of confusion over using the date on a check or the date of the actual deposit as the requirements for disclosure," Querry said. "The late filing was reviewed by a representative of the Ethics Commission without consequence."
In a recent letter to the editor in The Examiner, a citizen posed a question about Keith's wife, Sandy Querry, being the treasurer for state governor candidate Claire McCaskill, currently holding office as the Missouri State Auditor.
Since the IBEW is financing $100,000 toward a state audit of the city of Independence, some citizens have asked whether the Querrys were trying to influence McCaskill's audit of the city.
"The audit actually evolved from Mayor (Ron) Stewart making a statement at a council meeting that he would not have a problem if a third party audited the city Staywell medical plan," Keith Querry said. "This large amount of money was not offered in an effort to control the outcome of the audit. The money was offered because not to do so would mean the audit would never take place."
Querry said he got his union involved because of the way a committee, Citizens for Independence, spent money and got three council members elected in 2002: Mayor Ron Stewart and at-large members Jim Schultz and Jason White.
The Citizens for Independence spent $59,500 in 2002 on what was touted as the "All American Team."
"With that kind of resources the All American Team won in a landslide and the opponents had no chance at all," Querry said.
Querry said he felt spending union money to create Citizens for Reform and benefit certain candidates was the right thing to do.
The following is a breakdown of money the Citizens for Reform has spent on four Independence candidates.
$10,664 to benefit John Hedden's campaign.
$4,228 to benefit Will Swoffer's campaign.
$4,457 to benefit Renee Paluka's campaign.
$9,747 to benefit Jim Page's campaign.
Expenses include mailings, newspaper advertising, printing and graphics and postage.
Citizens for Reform had nearly $7,700 on hand heading into today. Querry said that money would be spent before the end of the weekend.
He said the Citizens for Reform literature going out is not geared toward negative campaigning, even though people, including the endorsed candidates' opponents, are claiming otherwise.
To reach David Tanner e-mail david.tanner@examiner.net or call (816) 350-6324.
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Saturday, April 03, 2004
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