MOScout Daily Update: Largest Lobbying Firms - Dems in CD2 - EDCKC Shake-Up - Carnahan Food Blogging and more...

Largest Lobbying Firms

In this little lull before session, I decided to go to the Missouri Ethics Commission website and see who has the most clients.  (This isn’t a perfect list – some folks share clients or pitch in on an account, and sometimes one principle is involved on an account, but another isn’t.)

Gamble & Schlemeier – 104 clients – website.

Strategic Capitol Consulting – 79 clients – website.

Catalyst – 61 clients – website.

Bardgett & Associates – 56 clients - website.

Flotron & McIntosh – 54 clients – website.

Nexus Group – 47 clients – website.

Scherr Winter – 47 clients – website.

Husch Blackwell Strategies – 45 clients – website.

Patek & Associates – 44 clients – couldn’t find a website.

Lathrop Gage Consulting – 43 clients – website.

Burton-Liese – 42 clients – website.

Dems in CD-2

Congresswoman Ann Wagner continues to be a target for some Missouri Democrats despite having handily beaten back challenges each cycle.  It’s hard to imagine that the map is going to get easier for Dems after redistricting, but that’s not stopping their dialing for dollars.

·         Ben Samuels, a newcomer, raised a boatload, $636,000, with a lot of checks coming from the coasts. 

·         Meanwhile Rep. Trish Gunby raised $130,000. 

EDCKC Shake-Up

KCUR reports on a shake-up at the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City.  See it here.

·         Directors for the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City (EDC) fired the organization's top executive last month for allegedly misusing agency funds and changing its policy manual without board permission.

·         A press release from the EDC issued on Oct. 4 thanked its interim president and chief executive T’Risa McCord for her service and announced Heather Brown would take over as the agency’s new interim chief executive.

·         In fact, minutes of a closed door meeting held on Sept. 30 show that a unanimous slate of directors voted to fire McCord for violating EDC policies. Kansas City Mayor and EDC board member Quinton Lucas made the motion to terminate McCord’s employment, and EDC board member Tammy Henderson seconded the motion.

·         Records show in 2020, McCord wrote a $15,000 check to herself from an EDC bank account as an advance while she waited for a loan in the same amount from her 401(k) retirement funds. EDC policy says the agency’s top executive cannot spend more than $10,000 of agency funds without the board’s approval.

·         That same year, records show, a series of payments totaling $1,400 were made from the EDC to McCord’s husband, Reginald McCord, using online payment application PayPal.

·         Earlier this year, the agency’s policies and procedures manual was changed to remove a policy that limited contracting with family members of EDC employees.

More on Thompson for Prosecutor

One reader gives the low-down on Zach Thompson running for Clay County Prosecutor….  [He’s] married to Clay Co Eastern Commissioner Megan Thompson. His dad is attorney TK Thompson, long time R stalwart and donor in Clay. He’s got the name and the money. Would be surprised if a serious challenger emerges.

DESE Announces Rural Advising Program

Press release: The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), in partnership with philanthropic organization rootEd Alliance, today launched a statewide initiative to ensure high school students, particularly those in rural communities, have an advisor exclusively focused on helping them achieve success following graduation. The program, called the Missouri Postsecondary Advising Initiative, will place trained advisors into rural high schools, alongside school counselors, to provide students individualized college and career support.

·         MOScouter: [This was] one of the line items vetoed by the governor, but governor’s office and DESE worked to find solution through federal grants.

Carnahan’s Food Blog

Former US Senator Jean Carnahan is blogging… about food.  See it here.

I’m Jean Carnahan. You may remember me as Missouri’s First Lady during the 90s or the state’s first woman U.S. Senator. Over the last twenty years, I’ve published eight books, including one cookbook, Christmas at the Mansion: It’s Memories and Menus.

I no longer cook daily for a family of seven like I once did. I cook for one at my condo, eat out frequently, and entertain family and friends at my farm on most weekends and holidays. So I still have a spoon in the pot, so to speak….

There are a lot of picky palates out there, so when it comes to home cooks, or the professional ones, I’m always affirming.  I think anyone brave enough to take up a skillet and spatula should be encouraged in their pursuit. I merely pass on vignettes of my food experiences with friends and family. Admittedly, I engage in some recipe mongering and food nostalgia, which is allowed women of a “certain age.”

eMailbag

·         On Parson: Just a sh*t show. I hate to say this, but get can we go back to meaningless phrases like workforce and infrastructure…

·         On Bruce: Not surprised to see the field start shooting at Kalena Bruce, the most pro-Trump, pro-Ag conservative outsider in the 4th….

·         On Biden’s IRS proposal: It’s bad policy overall, and that’s not a D or R thing.  There are significant security risks, there are compliance challenges, and most importantly, it violates consumer privacy.  At the level of $600, it’s a dollar amount that would require financial institutions to sweep and share information from virtually every account…

Lobbyists Registrations

Cheryl Marten and Brenda Mobley added Organon LLC.

Richard McIntosh added Missouri Alliance For Animal Legislation.

Steven Tilley, Thomas Robbins, and Tracy King deleted Cole County.

$5K+ Contributions

Lincoln PAC (pro-Hough) - $10,000 from Missouri Soybean Association

Mighty Missouri PAC (pro-Vescovo) - $10,000 from Charter Communications Inc MO PAC.

Crystal PAC (pro-Quade) - $6,750 from Penn National Gaming, Inc.

Great Outdoors PAC - $10,000 from Seven Points LLC (8/11/2021).

Great Outdoors PAC - $15,800 from Seven Points LLC (9/13/2021).

Building Communities PAC Inc - $19,400 from O'Reilly Development Co., LLC.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. Patricia Pike, and John Lamping.