Someone on City Councilwoman Sharon Sanders Brooks' campaign team really knows their way around public records.
Brooks, the incumbent, is contesting the residency of Michael Fletcher, one of her opponents in the 3rd District City Council race.
Through her attorney, Phil Willoughby, Brooks filed a petition in Jackson County Circuit Court that cites excerpts of legal pleadings Fletcher filed in appeals court in which the candidate claims to have lived in California from January 2006 to October 2010.
The city charter requires candidates for City Council to live in Kansas City for two years prior to the general election, and live for at least six months in the district they're running to represent. State law requires a candidate to live in Missouri for at least a year prior to the citywide election.
Fletcher has been fighting a disciplinary action with regard to his law license in California. A motion that Fletcher signed October 6, 2010, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit states the following, according to Brooks' petition:
Since Appellant (Fletcher) has lived in California since June of 2006, the prejudice that would inure to Appellant in attempting to pay for and then travel to Jefferson City, Missouri while simultaneously litigating two federal cases and another state case would be immense ... Appellant moved his wife and daughter to California in June of 2006 to start his life over.In related filings and lawsuits, Fletcher lists his address as being in Long Beach, California.
