Portageville City Council votes to impeach mayor

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. (KFVS) - The Portageville City Council voted to impeach the mayor after city officials accuse him of mismanaging funds.

Rodi Walker will serve as mayor pro tem for the remainder of the term until the next election when a new mayor is chosen.

Earlier, KFVS reported on the mayor’s displeasure with the complaints.

“One of the things I believe wholeheartedly is complete transparency in government,” he said. “You can never say ‘Well, they don’t need to know about this.’ They need to know about everything. Every little thing needs to be out to the public, then they can make their own decision.”

Alderman Michael Johnston said Berry turned down more than $300,000 in grant money, putting the city in debt.

“Our water treatment plant is in shambles,” Johnston said. “We need water. We just had digital water meters in, the county offered to pay for them. He turned down the money and he got a bank loan.”

With his job on the line, Berry said he wants to remain the mayor and believes the city is illegally trying to remove him from office.

“I reviewed the process,” he said. “I spoke with Missouri Municipal League and several other people and discovered that we had not followed the proper process. Just handing me a piece of paper and saying we are going to have a meeting next month and decide whether you get to remain mayor, is not the proper process.”

“Well, we did what the city attorney told us to do,” Alderman Johnston explained. “And the Missouri Municipal League, and the attorney, I was told they know more than what we do.”

We reached out to the city attorney who didn’t want to comment on any advice that she gave, but in the end, Barry believes the people should decide his fate.

Mayor Berry was found guilty on all charges except one, resulting in an impeachment.

He said he plans to appeal the decision to the New Madrid Circuit Court.

Copyright 2022 KFVS. All rights reserved.