Let the Sunshine in on Shaky Joe Mokwa

I just made the following request to PR representatives for the Board of Police Commisioners and The Mayor's Office of the City of St. Louis.

Subject: Public record request - Chief Mokwa severance offer

First, let me say given the notoriously complex governance of the St. Louis Police Department, I apologize in advance if I am asking anyone for information that is not their problem. I would appreciate a "reply-all" response for which aspect(s) of this request each of you will be responding to. I am copying John Fougere in the Missouri AG's office so that he is aware of these requests and so that he can "referee" any questions that might come up.

Under the Missouri Sunshine Law, we request copies of any severance offers made to Chief Joe Mokwa, as well as a precise accounting for his pension package as it now stands. We also request an accounting for any change made to his pension package in advance of or pursuant to his recent resignation.

We also request copies of any correspondence this month (July 2008) between Mayor Francis Slay, Chief of Staff Jeff Rainford, Personnel Director Richard Frank, and the Board of Police Commissioners regarding Mokwa's severance package and pension. For this second request, we request copies of communications between any of these parties and any other of these parties on the matter of severance and pension; the records we request are not limited to those where all of the named parties are involved. Electronic communications are included in this request, as are minutes of meetings where severance and pension for Mokwa were discussed.

The first of these two requests has priority for us, but all of these documents are of keen and immediate public interest, and citizens will be interested to have an accounting on these important matters and how efficiently this information is provided to the press.

Thank you.

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Chris King
Editorial director
St. Louis American