Extra Innings Continue for Hearing to Remove Ellisville Mayor

The hearing to remove Ellisville Mayor Adam Paul will stretch into a third day after more than five hours of testimony drew contrasting pictures of his tenure.

Shortly after 11:30 p.m., the attorneys representing the city and Paul agreed to wrap up the testimony of City Clerk Catherine Demeter and resume at 1 p.m. Wednesday, but in the much smaller of venue of Ellisville City Hall.

The hearing’s presiding officer, John Maupin, said the hearing must be concluded by midnight on that day and Paul’s defense attorney, Chet Pleban, promised he would bring his case to a close by that time.

Demeter’s testimony took up the majority of the evening, spanning several hours. The city’s special prosecutor, Keith Cheung, used her testimony to illustrate Paul as someone who repeatedly bended the rules in his favor, insulted city staff and made it difficult to do her job.

Lines of questioning from Paul’s defense attorney, Chet Pleban, sought to portray the incidents as nothing more than differences of opinion on how should Paul perform the job of mayor while casting doubt on whether he could be held solely responsible for controlling the conduct of citizens during city meetings.

On the stand, Demeter described the meetings since Paul took office in April of last year as increasingly “uncomfortable.” In particular, she described a meeting on Dec 5 as the “worst of her career.”

In a series of questions from Cheung, Demeter said Paul had treated the council in a condescending manner and insulted city staff, calling legislation amending the city’s zoning code “garbage.”

“He appeared to act like he knew more than the council,” she said. “I was extremely upset. I left the meeting for a while.”

She also described incidents in which the mayor asked her to remove an agenda item that the council had placed and insert language she deemed unnecessary and “inflammatory” into city minutes.

During his cross-examination, Pleban sought to undermine her testimony by establishing that many of Paul’s allegedly “illegal” actions were simply a way of doing business that she wasn’t used to.

On the issue of whether Paul violated the charter by circumventing the council to replace the City Attorney Paul Martin, she told Pleban she thought Paul should have waited to talk with rest of the council performing speaking with other attorneys about the position.

“In my past experience, that is not how it has been handled,” she said.

Pleban questioned this logic, arguing that just because something was different, it isn’t necessarily wrong. Demeter responded by saying she wasn't sure that Paul "understand his role as a council-person-at-large."

"Or, did you not understand your role in connection with the new mayor," Pleban suggested, adding that Paul was the "new sheriff in town."

The "sheriff" remark caught Cheung's attention as the hearing winded down to a close. He noted during his re-direct of Demeter that Ellisville has a "weak mayor" form of government, which she explained means the mayor has no more power than any other council member. 

So, he may be the new sheriff in town, Cheung said, but he is not the new boss. 

Pleban also attacked charges that Paul had requested a gun and a badge from city police Chief Tom Felgate. Felgate said the only reason, in his opinion, an elected official would need a badge would be to arrest citizens or get out of speeding tickets.

However, Pleban argued that his client had only made the request after being told by former Mayor Ed O’Reilly that O’Reilly had received one. During Felgate’s testimony, Pleban gave him a picture of former Mayor Ed O’Reilly’s badge.

“That’s a shocker,” Felgate said upon seeing the photo.

He earlier testified that in his decades of service with the city he had never known a gun or badge to be issued to an elected official. 

Did you go to last night's hearing? Planning on attending again today? Add your own coverage of the hearing by starting a "Local Voices" blog on Patch.