Governor Greitens spent a lot of his campaign pledging to do away with the “culture of corruption in Jefferson City” and changing the “politics as usual” nature of the Capitol that favored “well-paid lobbyists and special interest insiders.”
He attempted to live up to that pledge in his first official act as Missouri’s 56th governor by moving to ban state employees of the executive branch from soliciting or receiving any gifts from lobbyists. In Executive Order 17-02 he pledged that his administration would “lead by example in order to fundamentally change the culture of Jefferson City,” but apparently that didn’t include his own inaugural festivities. Minutes after signing this executive order, Governor Greitens participated in the acceptance of well-paid lobbyist gifts.
The last page of the inaugural booklet distributed to inauguration attendees details the many lobbyists and special interest insiders, disguised as “benefactors,” that contributed to the inaugural committee. Among the 87 so-called “benefactors” are some of Missouri’s largest influence-wielding corporate special interests, including but not limited to; Monsanto, Enterprise, Commerce Bank, Altria, Peabody Energy and Walmart. I implore you to call the governor at 573-751-3222 and ask: What do each of these Jefferson City insiders pay for?
What’s clear from this brazen display of hypocrisy is that Governor Greitens just talks a big game about ending corruption in Jefferson City. It seems that, instead of holding himself and his “team to the highest possible standard,” he couldn’t resist getting a piece of the action before returning to wagging his finger at the public servants with whom he will have to work with as governor.
If Governor Greitens really wanted to lead by example, he should have disclosed the cost of his inaugural festivities and outright rejected the corporate dollars he continues to claim have tainted the Capitol. That is how you lead by example, not by signing a symbolic executive order. Missourians have had enough talk, and they’re hardly inclined to believe that you’ll “clean up” Jefferson City when you have no problem riding the corporate gravy train right into the Governor’s Mansion.
Michael Butler is Democratic Minority Caucus chair and state representative for District 97.
