For almost three hours, the Jackson County legislative meeting was routine, with discussions on how to spend federal dollars, who to fund with COMBAT anti-violence money and fixing dilapidated buildings at the University Health Lakewood Medical Center.
Under the surface, though, legislators knew the motion to oust Manny Abarca as chairman was coming.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Vice Chair Sean Smith moved to suspend the rules, and a few minutes later, Abarca was out.
Smith said there is “general dysfunction” in the legislature.
The vote to elevate Legislator Donna Peyton was almost unanimous. Abarca abstained and one legislator was absent.
Before the vote, Abarca said he's trying to "root out corruption" and called it an "attempted coup."
After the meeting, Abarca stood before reporters and refused to answer questions.
When asked to react to his ouster, Abarca’s lawyer, Shawn Lee, said he would do the talking and that Abarca “intends to cooperate fully with pending investigations.”
The pair then retreated into a stairwell and entered a door marked private.
Smith, who voted for Abarca as chairman, had plenty to say after the meeting. He said the cumulative effect of Abarca’s criminal cases, personal matters and his leadership of meetings led him to lead the charge to remove Abarca.
Smith also suggested Abarca has put the county in jeopardy in the way he has accused fellow legislators and county staff of corruption. “By naming a specific staff publicly, we face liability now as a county if those accusations turn out to be unfounded,” he said.
The buildup to Monday’s drama at the regular legislative meeting began last Thursday.
Abarca posted to Facebook allegations of corruption by his fellow legislators and county staff.
“I have had to make whistleblower complaints regarding at least one legislative staff member and at least one colleague from being propositioned to receive a campaign donation in exchange for legislative action,” Abarca wrote. “Information was shared regarding the receipt of similar attempts by one of my colleagues to the tune of $50,000.”
Abarca pointed the finger at legislator DaRon McGee and legislative staff member Calvin Williford.
McGee is a former legislative chair. Williford served six months in federal prison for a scandal that also landed former county executive Mike Sanders in prison.
Then in the middle of the night, Abarca’s spokesman called an early morning Friday news conference.
“He will address recent actions taken by the Chairman and provide an update on matters currently before the Jackson County Legislature,” the announcement said.
He didn’t.
“We’ve been advised by general counsel that a formal statement will come Monday in regards to what’s to come next,” Abarca told reporters.
Abarca said he provided information to Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forte.
But Forte said Friday when he asked for details about the alleged bribes, he heard nothing.
“To date, Legislator Abarca has not responded to those requests or provided any additional information, nor has a formal report been filed with this office,” he said in a statement.
Forte said he handed the investigation off to an “outside agency” to avoid the appearance of bias. He did not say which agency.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol told KCUR it is not conducting the investigation. The FBI said in a message to KCUR that it can “neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.”
KCUR also uncovered that Abarca was banned from Kansas City’s Paseo Academy for the 2024-25 academic year due to “unsafe” and disruptive behavior.
Abarca is running in the Democratic primary for Jackson County executive. He has stopped actively campaigning but remains on the ballot, he said.
Abarca faces three criminal cases connected to the breakup of his marriage.
On Aug. 7, three days after the primary election, he is scheduled to be tried in Johnson County for misdemeanor domestic battery.
He is also charged in Hutchinson, Kansas, with making harassing phone calls on New Year’s Eve to the house where the parents of his estranged wife live.
Abarca’s first criminal charges came last June, when he was accused in municipal court of violating a protection order "by failing to return the minor child" to his mother.
