It seems the City of Edgar Springs is claiming to be insolvent and unable to pay a court judgement to Rebecca Varney following a years long battle over public records. Varney, who filed suit against the City in 2020 with the help of the non-profit Freedom Center of Missouri, accused multiple employees and city council members of violating public records laws by denying Varney access to public City Council meetings, trespassing Varney from public property as a result of her attempts to obtain public records and attend public City Council meetings, and by closing meetings and records in violation of public records laws. In December 2023 Varney was awarded $100 in damages, $650 in civil penalties, $2,071.22 in litigation costs, $76,895 in attorney fees, and interest. The City appealed and then withdrew their appeal the same day the opinion was issued.
Varney, through her attorney, has been unable to collect the judgement as the City claims to not have the funds available. According to Varney, the City is in possession of over $142,000 and is legally permitted to increase the tax rate to replenish the funds.
An in-person court hearing is scheduled for July 18th at the Phelps County Courthouse to address these issues. The case number is 20PH-CV01430.
The City of Edgar Springs continues to refuse to pay for their public records and constitutional violations against Rebecca Varney. In 2024, Varney won her case because of clear violations of law. Afterwards, the City paid $1,000 towards the over $79,000 in attorney fees. Her attorney filed to force the City to pay, to which they fought and initially lost, but they subsequently appealed. During this time, the judgement continues to increase in fees and interest at a rate of 9% per year.
The appeal argued that the Missouri Supreme Court does not require parties to take actions that will be futile, or unsuccessful. The City has argued that Varney cannot take funds or property from the city, thus Varney opted to skip the step and ask the court to direct the City to pay to which the court agreed. The City subsequently appealed and The Southern Direct Court of Appeals of Missouri agreed with the City, forcing Varney to attempt to collect property from the City's bank through garnishment.
Recent...
It seems there are big changes ahead for the City of Mountain Grove. An eventful Board of Alderman meeting occurred last night with the swearing in of a new mayor, two new alderman, and two re-elected aldermen and the resignation of five city hall employees, including the city administrator.
David Todd was elected to replace Fred VanBibber. Some of you may remember David Todd was terminated from his position as a full-time lieutenant with the fire department after he announced the retiring fire chiefs replacement prior to the formal announcement by City Hall. There were accusations of threats and retaliation made involving Todd and then city clerk Becky Davis. Davis was later promoted to city administrator until her resignation last night.
An interesting note regarding the makeup of the members- three of the nine members are former firefighters. Mark Bushong retired as the Fire Chief for the City of Mountain Grove, David Todd was terminated as Lieutenant for the City of Mountain ...
Since our last update on the City of Edgar Springs, the City asked the court to reconsider the judgement and the matter has been taken under advisement. So far no decision has been made. The City has also filed a notice of appeal in the Southern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals and we are awaiting more information on that case.
The original case number is 20PH-CV01430 and the appeal case number is SD38838.
