Impeached Carthage mayor makes request at city council meeting

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Impeached Carthage mayor, Dan Rife shows up at Tuesday night’s city council meeting to make a request (12/10). After role call was taken, Rife spoke up from the front row of the audience section. Addressing Mayor Alan Snow, Rife said he believes the impeachment was illegal and therefore he remains the mayor [...]

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Dec 11, 2024 - 00:00

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Impeached Carthage mayor makes request at city council meeting

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Impeached Carthage mayor, Dan Rife shows up at Tuesday night’s city council meeting to make a request (12/10).

After role call was taken, Rife spoke up from the front row of the audience section.

Addressing Mayor Alan Snow, Rife said he believes the impeachment was illegal and therefore he remains the mayor of Carthage. Rife then stated he was willing and able to chair the meeting.

Responding to Rife, Mayor Snow stated that a hearing is set for Friday, which will determine if Rife's claim is correct. Snow further stated he was not able to approve Rife's request to chair the meeting.

After the short back-and-forth exchange, the council meeting continued as scheduled.

Rife has asked the courts to review his impeachment and rule on its validity. The case is scheduled to go before a judge Friday morning (12/13) at the Joplin City Courts building.

We caught up with Rife about why he decided to speak up at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

"I just felt like it was time to make the council aware and the temporary chair that we believe that the impeachment process and results were invalid and not done legally and that I honestly feel like I still should be sitting in that chair,” said Rife.

Mayor Snow declined to comment on Rife's "point of order" made during Tuesday night’s meeting.

How Did We Get Here?

This tense power struggle within Carthage city government first emerged in mid-2023, when Mayor Dan Rife fired all the board members of the city-owned Carthage Water and Electric Plant because they failed to comply with his request for financial details.

The City Council immediately reinstated the members of the board, drawing a battle line that pitted former City Administrator Greg Dagnan, Mayor Dan Rife, and former City Attorney Nate Dally against the council and backers of the CWEP board.

That was followed by criminal charges of embezzlement against former Parks & Recreation Director Mark Peterson, after Dagnan reportedly found money missing when preparing the city budget. After a forensic audit, Peterson is facing felony charges of money laundering and stealing.

Backers of CWEP’s board, dotted with powerful people, including some elected officials, formed a political action committee, Carthage Citizens United, to promote candidates for the City Council who would fire Dagnan and impeach Rife.

That slate of Jana Schramm, Tom Barlow, Dustin Edge, and Derek Peterson – son of the accused former Parks & Recreation director – was elected April 2, and immediately fired Dagnan and started the impeachment of Rife, who had blocked the firing. The city attorney, the administrative assistant, the fire chief, and a few other city employees resigned.

Dagnan has sued the City for wrongful termination and defamation, and against CCU for tortious interference with his contract, and Rife had sued to stop his impeachment because of due process. All of this has led to legal missteps, illegally closed meetings, and rebuke by the state attorney general’s office. Dustin Edge resigned from the council. Tiffany Cossey lost her council seat after a large majority of voters from Ward 5 said ‘yes’ to a recall question on the November 2024 ballot.

The city also received a letter from its insurer warning that coverage could be lost or diminished because “terminations by the council” were not following employment law.