October 16, 2008 News » Feature

Share

Wyco ratepayers paid big money for Conklin's attorney 

by Justin Kendall
The first public clue that a grand jury was investigating Marc Conklin came in a judge’s opinion issued on November 19, 2007. Conklin had appeared in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. O’Hara in an attempt to retain attorney-client privilege regarding a document leaked to The Pitch and The Kansas City Star. The document was a liability analysis weighing the pros and cons of admitting to the Environmental Protection Agency that upgrades at BPU power plants did not comply with the federal Clean Air Act (“Pitch Wins Court Battle,” March 8, 2007). O’Hara’s ruling scathingly referred to Conklin’s testimony as “lacking in credibility” and “largely self-serving, if not evasive.” But the grand jury revelation came in this line: “Presumably because of the pending grand jury investigation of BPU and indictments that potentially might ensue, Conklin’s personal attorney, Todd R. [sic] Graves, attended the hearing, but he took no active role.” (Todd P. Graves was the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri from October 2001 until his resignation in March 2006.) BPU ratepayers shelled out $3,160 to pay Graves to watch the November 2007 hearing. They also paid Graves’ firm $51,482 to represent Conklin in the months leading up to that hearing. But Kansas City, Kansas, electric and water customers stopped paying Conklin’s legal bills on October 3, 2008, the day the grand jury’s indictments were unsealed.

Feature archives »

Tags: , , , , ,

Comments (4)

Showing 1-4 of 4

Add a comment

Once again, the BPU's chickens have come home to roost. This also means the Unified government also has its incestuous dealings under scrutiny. It is time for the people of KCK to come to their senses and demand that government of the people, but the people, for the people become a reality and get rid of the old, long-standing familial government rule. You have only to look at the the structure of those who run the Unified Government to understand this quagmire. Until we do, we will always get the type of government we have been saddled with for as long as I can remember. The people of KCK are being played for fools, and it seems as though they don't mind it at all.

report   
Posted by Marilyn White on 10/24/2008 at 2:01 PM

Once again, the BPU's chickens have come home to roost. This also means the Unified government also has its incestuous dealings under scrutiny. It is time for the people of KCK to come to their senses and demand that government of the people, but the people, for the people become a reality and get rid of the old, long-standing familial government rule. You have only to look at the the structure of those who run the Unified Government to understand this quagmire. Until we do, we will always get the type of government we have been saddled with for as long as I can remember. The people of KCK are being played for fools, and it seems as though they don't mind it at all.

report   
Posted by Marilyn White on 10/24/2008 at 11:01 AM


Great article and follow-up. Kudos for such good research and investigative reporting. BPU management and Board are corrupt and need to be exposes.

report   
Posted by Eliza C. on 10/16/2008 at 10:55 AM

Great article and follow-up. Kudos for such good research and investigative reporting. BPU management and Board are corrupt and need to be exposes.

report   
Posted by Eliza C. on 10/16/2008 at 7:55 AM
Subscribe to this thread:
By Email
With RSS
Showing 1-4 of 4

Add a comment

Latest in Feature

Most Popular Stories

Viewed
Commented
Shared

Facebook Activity

All contents ©2012 Kansas City Pitch LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this service may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of Kansas City Pitch LLC,
except that an individual may download and/or forward articles via email to a reasonable number of recipients for personal, non-commercial purposes.

All contents © 2012 SouthComm, Inc. 210 12th Ave S. Ste. 100, Nashville, TN 37203. (615) 244-7989.
All rights reserved. No part of this service may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of SouthComm, Inc.
except that an individual may download and/or forward articles via email to a reasonable number of recipients for personal, non-commercial purposes.
Website powered by Foundation