‘Disrespectful, disgusting and straight despicable’: Azotea requests Dobson’s removal from Hannibal City Council

HANNIBAL, Mo. — April Azotea, 2nd Ward Council Member candidate, asked members of the Hannibal City Council to raise their hands at their meeting Tuesday night if they believed it was important for council members to have ethics and should operate under the impression that, even outside of City Hall, they are still representatives of the city.

The council agreed.

“You all sit here before me and just agreed with what I just said. Yet last Monday night, Councilman (Mike) Dobson (of the 2nd Ward) verbally attacked me during a candidate forum,” Azotea said. “Not only was this uncalled for but highly inappropriate, unprofessional, disrespectful, disgusting and straight despicable.”

Azotea referenced comments made by Dobson at a candidate forum last week during which he presented a piece of paper from the Missouri Department of Revenue that showed the sales tax license for Azotea’s business, La Azotea Lounge, had been revoked in Sept. 2024. Dobson, who was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine to the Missouri Ethics Committee last year for violating state statute, then asked Azotea why voters should trust her as a council member.

His comments threw Azotea off guard at the time. She said she had no knowledge of what he was talking about. In the days that followed, Azotea said she spoke with her accountant, the city and the state to get to the bottom of what had happened. In a statement provided to Muddy River News days after the forum, Azotea said she should have paid more sales tax in November 2021 and in October 2022. 

“I give all my sales tax info to my accountant monthly, and both my accountant and I were unaware of this,” she said in the statement. “While Dobson’s statement apparently ended up being right, he was 110% wrong in not only his approach to informing me about this from how he did it, the place and time all the way down to his motive behind doing so — especially considering he is the councilman to all the small businesses on Main Street.”

At the council meeting Tuesday night, Azotea said “it’s still a win-win for me, regardless if I win or not,” because Dobson will be replaced on the council soon. He has opted not to run for reelection. During next week’s Apr. 8 election, voters will choose between Azotea, Earl Hughes and Tammy Riley to take his place.

“I would like to ask the council to move a motion at tonight’s meeting to remove Councilman Dobson effective immediately for misconduct and multiple ethics violations which have been reported to the Missouri Ethics Commission,” Azotea said.

The council opted not to fulfill her request. Dobson declined to comment on the matter after the meeting. 

In other news, Central Services Director Andy Dorian made his debut as interim city manager. The current city manager, Lisa Peck, soon will be leaving for a city manager position in Salem, Ill.

Dorian recommended the approval of an engineering service agreement with Klingner & Associates in the amount of $15,500 for a boundary/topographic survey of the Grand Avenue Bin Wall area. He explained that a bin wall consists of corrugated metal bins filled with soil that are put into the side of a hill to reinforce its structural integrity.

He said the bin wall has had issues since it was built in the 1980s, with “significant problems” having been recorded as far back as 1985 and 1987. As many as five bins have failed during the last several years, including one in the last few weeks that caused rock and debris to slide into Grand Avenue.

Scott Haycraft, 1st Ward Council Member, asked if there was a risk of a dangerous landslide occurring. Dorian said that the city is actively monitoring the situation but that it was time “to not kick this can down the road anymore.”

“It is a matter of time before something more serious happens,” Dorian said.

The resolution authorizing the agreement was unanimously approved.

Dorian also recommended the approval of an agreement with Tournear Roofing, Inc., for $136,495 to replace the roof at City Hall. He said insurance will cover most of the costs due to hail damage. The resolution authorizing that agreement was unanimously approved.

Marion County Western District Commissioner Lacey Miller presented the city with a certificate of recognition from the Mark Twain Regional Council of Governments for successfully completing a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) project, the Union Street Emergency project.

“Tonight I get to bring some happy news to you,” Miller said. “Those CDBG grants are not easy, so congratulations on receiving the grant as well as on your completion of the project.”

The council also:

• heard the first reading of an ordinance to dedicate a private alley running parallel to Eighth and perpendicular to Lyon for public use;
• unanimously approved a construction bid from B&H Better Homes LLC for $58,750 to complete various repairs at the Molly Brown House;
• unanimously approved a special event request from the Y Men’s Club for its Down by the River and Mud Volleyball events in July; and
• unanimously approved a special event request from the Early Bird Kiwanis Club for its spring and fall pork chop events in May and September.