Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
After The Maries County Advocate made a social media post on Sept. 20, 2022, notifying the public that the Belle Board of Aldermen voted to cancel the city’s police services contract with the county immediately, the city’s mayor stated they were looking for ways to control how the press gathers information.
Now, as The Advocate enters its third year reporting on the city of Belle’s Sunshine Law missteps and officials’ attempts to limit information within the boundaries of the law, citizens have had mixed reactions to the community news coverage.
However, it is because of The Advocate’s reporting that one woman decided to run for Ward 1 alderman.
Rebecca Withouse first attended a city meeting in 2021 when she was experiencing issues with a city water leak in her yard. Once the issue was resolved, she continued to attend the board meetings. At one point she asked to be considered for a vacated board seat as she hoped to help fix city challenges she’d learned about by reading The Advocate.
“The newspaper really opened my eyes to things, and I thought there was no way these things were happening,” Withouse said. “I thought I didn’t know anything because I wasn’t part of the board. I didn’t know I had a right to know things before all of this was going on. I didn’t know I had a right to access that, to say ‘teach me what’s going on.’ I gained this through the newspaper, a friendship through the newspaper. I learned there was free training and webinars. The (newspaper) said we didn’t have to rely on (them) telling us — to do our own research and form our own opinion. The newspaper gave me the courage to get to know this.”
Withouse speaks during the meetings, questions actions, motions, votes, new ordinances, and strives to understand city business. She regularly requests and pays for city meeting packets and minutes.
“If what the newspaper is saying is true, I do get to ask these questions,” she said. “I wouldn’t run for office without the newspaper.”
Whithouse is angry that the board isn’t more open about its actions, that so much is hidden behind closed doors when she doesn’t feel like it has to be. The Sunshine Law directs boards to err on the side of openness, which is how she says she would operate.
“When I first heard about everything this board was doing, I thought ‘no way,’” Withouse said.
She has heard from others who feel the newspaper’s reports have caused division within the community.
“There are those who feel the newspaper is at fault for the city being in trouble,” she said. “I am running for Ward 1 alderman because I feel like the current board is not doing a good job. They are not respecting citizen concerns. They are hiding things from us.”
Edward Gehlert, a citizen and occasional freelance writer for The Advocate has expressed frustration with state government entities for failing to take further action to correct the city’s problems.
“If not for the Sunshine Law, there would have been no way to uncover what really happened — what led to the state of decay and dysfunction in Belle,” said Gehlert. “The city council certainly wasn’t going to offer up the truth on their own. We had to fight for every piece of information, crafting our requests with precision because we knew they’d use any excuse to withhold the records we needed. Yet, after all that work — after exposing the negligence and the deception — it was infuriating to watch the accountability slip away.”
In the city’s settlement agreement, officials were required to submit all notices, agendas and minutes to the Attorney General’s Office for review for six months, post the same documents to its website, comply with media requests for meeting notices and agendas, and pay a $500 fine split between the two county school systems.
Four months into the settlement agreement, the AG submitted a motion to the courts to force the city to comply with the settlement agreement as it had not posted meeting notices, agendas, or minutes to its website to-date.
Again, the matter was settled out of court and dropped. The city posted a jumbled list of meeting information. In some instances, the meeting links don’t match the minutes.
“The state Attorney General’s Office barely lifted a finger,” Gehlert said. “We did our part. We put the truth out there. But when those in power refuse to act, it’s the people who suffer the consequences.”
While those who are unhappy with city government coverage seem to be the loudest, a quiet group has approached The Advocate’s staff members to keep up the good work. The squeaky wheel doesn’t always get the grease.
The balancing act is similar to walking a tightrope. When dealing with tense situations, maintain a professional demeanor and always be above reproach. In a time when there is so much mistrust surrounding government agencies, local officials and newspapers should be working together to keep public business open and accessible.
Roxie Murphy is a community news reporter with 19 years of experience. She joined Warden Publishing Company in 2012, shortly before graduating from Southeast Missouri State University with a Mass Communications degree. In 2016, Warden Publishing opened the Maries County Advocate, and she accepted the position to work in the Belle community. She is one of Missouri Sunshine Coalition’s 2024 Sunshine Heroes.
