Who Are the Winners and Losers From Ellisville Impeachment Hearing?

With a weekend to wait for a final decision on whether to remove Mayor Adam Paul from office, residents of Ellisville have time to reflect on the broader impacts of the intense, three-day hearing that took place earlier this week.

The proceedings had the makings of a serious courtroom drama with plenty of exhibits introduced, witnesses cross examined and objections raised, giving residents who attended or scoured the media coverage plenty to ponder.

For Patch, one of the more interesting questions is who might be deemed the “winners and losers” from the very public proceeding, regardless of what decision the council may ultimately make on Paul. In that vein, we have put together the following list:

Good for:

• Anti-TIF politicians – Justified or not, candidates for Ellisville Council cast Paul’s embeachment hearing and Tuesday’s election as a referendum on TIFs – . Additionally, municipal elections in nearby Chesterfield also brought in to power a mayor who campaigned against the sales tax financing given to one of the city’s future outlet malls.
  
  
• Chet Pleban’s reputation – Paul’s defense attorney clearly has a flair for the dramatic, grilling the prosecution’s witnesses against the mayor with an intensity that often earned reactions from his supporters in the crowd.
  
  
• Civil Discourse – Despite the acrimonious nature of the proceedings, they actually went off with relatively little in the way of interruptions or outbursts, either from the public attending or the lawyers involved. During a city council meeting immediately following the election, the city’s newly elected council members expressed a desire to work together and move the community past its recent run of negative headlines.

Bad for:

• Low legal bills – While officials declined to speculate on what the eventual cost of the entire process may be, it likely won’t be cheap given the hourly fee of around $200 each charged by its special prosecutor and hearing officer. Plus, there is the possibility of a future circuit court battle if the mayor is impeached.
  
  Although Pleban has declined to disclose his hourly rate, the same is likely true for Adam Paul. A family member told Patch during the hearing Wednesday that they have been receiving donations to help cover the cost of his defense.
  
  
• Ellisville’s reputation – If there’s one thing that all of the city’s residents can agree, it’s that the political crisis that has gripped Ellisville in the last few months has given it a lot of negative publicity as a poster child for dysfunctional government. It even attracted a reporter from the New York Times, their Midwest correspondent, who flew in from Kansas City for the Monday portion of the impeachment hearing.
  
  
• A good night’s sleep – With the Monday and Tuesday portions of the hearing extending to midnight or later, the lawyers, residents, media and elected officials who attended all lost out on their recommended eight hours. 

What's your take? Share your own "good for/bad for" assessment by adding it in the comments section below. 

Read more coverage of the hearing in Patch:

• Three-Day Hearing Ends With City Manager's Testimony
  
• Update: No Decision Today on Ellisville Mayor's Fate
• Extra Innings Continue for Hearing to Remove Ellisville Mayor
• Winners of Ellisville City Council Elections Results
• Courtroom Drama Defines Hearing to Remove Ellisville Mayor