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Kansas City Manager Brian Platt fined by state ethics body for campaign links on city site

Kansas City Manager Brian Platt has been fined after he was found in violation of state law by the Missouri Ethics Commission.

In an action filed Tuesday, the Missouri Ethics Commission found that the city’s official website linked to the social media pages of elected officials “which supported and/or solicited contributions for candidates for public office.”

The website is ultimately under the direction of Platt.

This is a violation because the city manager used public funds “in support of the election of candidates,” according to MEC filings.

Per Missouri law, “no contribution or expenditure of public funds shall be made directly by any officer, employee or agent of any political subdivision ... to advocate, support or oppose the passage or defeat or any ballot measure or the nomination or election of any candidate for public office.”

Appointed city manager in December 2020, Platt serves as the chief administrative officer for the city.

According to the consent order made public Tuesday, Platt has been fined $1,000 by the commission. If he pays $100 within 45 days, the rest of the fee will be stayed.

City spokesperson Chris Hernandez in an email to The Star described the issue as a “simple oversight.”

“Some officials have both official and personal social media accounts, and the city’s website accidentally linked to the wrong one on a webpage that listed social media accounts for all officials,” Hernandez said. “Upon being made aware of this issue, the social media directory was removed, resolving all issues in the complaint.”

Hernandez said Platt is named because of his position as head of the organization, but that the issue happened before he became city manager.

Tuesday’s MEC filing reads differently: “During all relevant times, respondant Brian Platt was the city manager.”

“(Platt) agreed that he was the city manager at all relevant times alleged in the investigation, and he served as the Chief Administrative Officer when the Kansas City official website included links to elected officials’ social media pages which supported candidates or solicited contributions,” Liz Ziegler, Executive Director of the MEC said in a statement.

“Commission investigations focus on and name responsible parties for the violation.”

Ziegler said consent orders are signed by the parties involved.

“In this instance, Mr. Platt agreed in paragraph 9 of the document that there was probable cause that he violated the statute by permitting the use of the official website to display the links and therefore support the election of candidates,” Ziegler said.

Hernandez did not respond to questions from The Star regarding the dates of the infraction nor who is paying for the fine.

The initial MEC complaint has not been made public.