Wright City Board of Aldermen rejected a request from a resident to repeal city ordinance 1099 relating to conflicts of interest during their meeting April 23.

The request was presented by Carmen Sida who said she has tried to file an ethics complaint against former Alderman Ramiz Hakim, but has run into roadblocks with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Sida said the reason she was given by the commission is that because Wright City has its own ordinance, the city is responsible for policing its own ethics complaints.

Sida said she was also confused as she was told by the commission that the city’s ordinance regarding conflicts of interest had expired in September 2025.

City Clerk Abbie Ogborn said that the city’s old ordinance had expired but that the board had approved a new ethics ordinance later in the fall that was in effect.

Sida then asked whether anyone in the city reviews the ethics forms filed by elected officials. Ogborn stated that the forms are submitted to the state and she simply receives notice that they have been filed.

This led to a discussion as to why Sida was looking to file an ethics complaint against Hakim, who officially left the board during the April 23 meeting.

Sida said she did not feel as though Hakim recused himself from votes he should have, specifically referencing the vote on the Serenity Woods subdivision. She said Hakim should have recused himself because he owns property near the proposed subdivision at the time it was approved.

Alderman Kim Arbuthnot said she disagreed with Sida that Hakim needed to recuse himself if he merely owns property near the proposed subdivision.

Alderman Karey Owens said that while she can respect Sida for coming forward with a potential conflict, tangential property ownership isn’t enough to create a conflict. She said that if he had owned property within the subdivision he would have been required to recuse himself, much as he did during the discussion on Indian Head Lodge Road.

Mayor Michelle Heiliger said she felt as though city officials do a good job of policing themselves when it comes to conflict of interest issues. She noted that city officials often get blowback for projects that affect their properties.

Alderman Don Andrews said he didn’t feel any decision made regarding Serenity Woods benefited Hakim at all. He noted that the board’s approval of the project was merely to negotiate certain terms under the planned development agreement the project is under. He said the city could not have simply rejected the proposed development.

Ultimately this led board members to ask Sida what her end-goal was regarding the request. She said she had mentioned on social media how many properties Hakim owned and he subsequently attacked her online and therefore she wanted to pursue an ethics violation.

City Attorney Paul Rost said the state commission had previously been overrun with ethics complaints and so they started to take a position that if cities had their own ethics ordinances those municipalities could handle their own ethics complaints. He recommended that if she wanted to file a complaint she proceed with the commission and if they would not hear her complaint to file the complaint with the city.

Heiliger said she had received word from the commission that they did not find a reason to investigate Sida’s complaint further.

None of the board members seemed willing to repeal their current ordinance. Heiliger said one of the primary reasons is that without an ordinance, city staff would be required to fill out financial and other disclosures, and she didn’t believe the board would be willing to subject staff to such a requirement. Andrews specifically said he wouldn’t be willing to consider a repeal of the ordinance for that very reason.