2014-02-10 Reg - Laserfiche WebLink

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found that residency is quote, “largely a matter of intention, to be determined not only from utterances of the person whose residence is at issue, but also from his acts, and in light of all of the facts and circumstances of the case”. Mr. Hales stated that while he does not object to a concerned citizen raising a question about his residency, in this case it was less of a question and more of a thirteen-page prosecution, with exhibits and evidence over the internet. He stated that he strongly objects to not having been afforded the opportunity to respond, and being put in the position of having to hire attorneys to protect his right to run for office and serve this community. Mr. Hales stated that he cannot tell you how sad he was to have had to file a lawsuit against the City, but he was left with no choice and no other remedy to protect his rights, and what he believes to be the rights of every citizen, especially the 73 people who signed the petition to have his name appear on the April ballot. Mr. Hales stated that his own city aggressively prosecuted its case against him and produced evidence that they said clearly demonstrated his intent to abandon his UCity residency, yet they never bothered to even speak to him. He stated that when his attorneys argued that at no point had he been afforded due process. The City argued to the Judge that as a candidate he was not entitled to due process. Mr. Hales stated that ultimately the Judge issued a Writ of Mandamus ordering the City Clerk to certify him for the ballot in April, and he is thankful. But he does not believe that there is any consolation prize for the City in this endeavor for having spent an extraordinary amount of time, energy and taxpayer money to prevent a candidate from appearing on the ballot. Mr. Hales stated that he had had faith that his City Government would seek the truth and do what was right by its taxpaying citizens, and what saddens him the most is to now feel as though his City has failed him. Mr. Hales stated that in spite of everything that has happened he remains committed to this City and believes that its best days are still ahead. He stated that his hope is that no citizen of UCity will ever have to go through what he has just been through. Gregory Pace, 7171 Westmoreland Mr. Pace stated that at the close of business on the last day of the candidate filing period he had checked to see who was running and later checked to see if the candidates had paid their taxes. He stated that while checking Mr. Hales’ 2013 personal property taxes he noticed that he had paid his taxes to Clayton and not University City. Mr. Pace stated that at that point the proverbial light went off in his head and the search began. He stated that Mr. Hales started J. Whitney Properties in 2012 listing his address with the Secretary of State as Clayton. Mr. Pace stated that he then determined the Clayton address to be that of Mr. Hales’ mother. He stated that Mr. Hales and his partner had acquired foreclosed properties on Gannon, West Point and Kingsbury, in that order, and that it was apparent that they were rehabbing and flipping them. Mr. Pace stated that while this is honest work, continuous residency in U City was not in the chronology that he uncovered. He stated that the Charter maintains that Council members shall have been a resident of University City for at least three consecutive years immediately prior to their election, and that Marian-Webster defines resident as living in a particular place usually for a long period of time. Mr. Pace stated that his assumption is that the voters of University City understood this to be the common definition when voting on the Charter amendment that included this residency requirement, he knows for a fact that he did. He stated that had he concluded that 13