ST. LOUIS — The city’s ongoing issues responding to public records requests appeared to come back to bite it Wednesday.
City officials had named a Shell gas station in north ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ a public nuisance, accusing it of maintaining a haven for criminal activity. Complaints from neighbors about drug dealing and violent crime had been piling up for years, and had grown louder after police shot a 16-year-old boy there last month. Wednesday’s hearing was set to decide the station’s future.
But before things got started, Chuck Billings, the attorney for the gas station’s owner, asked for a delay. He said his client had disputed the city’s allegations and requested in August copies of police reports to prepare a defense.
The city asked for payment on Aug. 31, Billings said, and he sent payment the next day. He said he hadn’t heard from the city since.
People are also reading…
“I’m not a big Sunshine guy,†Billings said. “But I would think they’d have the records sooner than that.â€
Hearing officer Tom Yarbrough hesitated. He worried about delaying action on a site the city says is dangerous. But he said Billings had a right to see the records first and shouldn’t be faulted for the city’s delay: “42 days is a reasonable time period to receive those documents,†he said.
Yarbrough apologized to the four police officers who’d been waiting to testify and set a new hearing for Nov. 8.
Later, city officials questioned Billings’ account. They said they got a request from him concerning the gas station records Sept. 8, responded within a week, and did not receive a reply. They said they could not find the records he referenced in the hearing on Wednesday.
But Yarbrough told the Post-Dispatch that Billings showed him documentation and it appeared to be in order. He noted that attorneys who intentionally misrepresent evidence would open themselves up to serious professional repercussions.
Billings later insisted his documents were in order.
If true, his accusations would add to a list of complaints about the city’s handling of Missouri Sunshine Law requests. Journalists and attorneys, who routinely use the law to procure government records, have accused the city of long delays and hiding records. One of those attorneys, Elad Gross, even sued the city last month, alleging officials have “established a system by which they regularly violate Missouri’s Sunshine Law and use public funding to deny the public access to public records.â€
The records concerns on Wednesday added to resident worries over the Shell station, at 2800 North Florissant Avenue.
Multiple people have been shot at the gas station in the past two years. Police have also reported drug dealing on the premises. And last month, the station drew new scrutiny when police shot and killed 16-year-old Darryl Ross, who officers said reached for a weapon as they were chasing him.
City officials got an earful about the gas station at a community meeting last month where Barbara Manzara, who lives nearby, repeatedly asked Public Safety Director Dan Isom why the city hadn’t shut down what she called the “Shoot ’em up Shell.â€
Isom said there had been legal “restrictions†to taking action on the property, but said city officials were aware of the issues and hopeful they could take action soon, perhaps by getting security posted at the station.
It didn’t happen Wednesday.
Georganna Ekpo, an assistant city counselor handling the nuisance case, declined comment, referring questions to her boss, City Counselor Sheena Hamilton.
Hamilton did not respond to a request for comment.
Manzara, reached Wednesday by phone, was furious.
“The city’s failure to be prepared is of a piece with their disregard for the life and safety of residents on the near northside,†she said in a text message.
