Lanning out at CAPSTJOE

By Marcus Clem

Whitney Lanning has been fired as executive director of the Community Action Partnership of Greater St. Joseph.

Lanning confirmed the news of her Wednesday firing by CAPSTJOE to News-Press NOW. A severance deal is currently being negotiated, she said.

“I am proud to have served as the executive director of CAPSTJOE these past nine years and of all the good things that were accomplished in my 11 years with the agency,” Lanning said. “While I am disappointed with the decision of the board of directors, I respect their decision and hope for nothing but the absolute best for the agency, staff and families served.”

Reached by phone on Thursday, CAPSTJOE board of directors chair Megan Kennedy-Stickley declined to comment.

“I cannot comment on personnel matters,” she said.

Told directly that Lanning said she had been fired from her role, Kennedy-Stickley repeated her statement that it was a personnel matter.

The move comes following an incident involving Lanning, who also serves on the St. Joseph Board of Education, and another member, Isaura Garcia, after a Feb. 26 meeting. Lanning is facing a charge of second-degree harassment stemming from that situation. The case is next set for a 2 p.m. June 11 hearing before Judge Chad Gaddie at the Buchanan County Courthouse. Garcia also has filed a civil lawsuit in the matter.

In light of that charge, lawmakers in Jefferson City have called for Lanning to resign from CAPSTJOE. News-Press NOW has also received reports that a bill was modified in the Missouri Senate last week that contains a population-based provision that, if enacted into law, specifically threatened funding for CAPSTJOE.

The relevant provision of the appropriations legislation, HB 11, reads as follows:

“No funds shall be expended to any community action partnership that provides assistance for low-income individuals and families, located in any city with more than (71,000) but fewer than (79,000) inhabitants.”

The 2020 U.S. Census of St. Joseph reflected a population of 72,473 people. No other Missouri city falls within that category. St. Charles, Missouri, has a population of 70,687; O’Fallon, Missouri, has a population of 91,825, according to the census. Lanning said Thursday that about $3 million had been at stake, out of about $11 million budgeted each year.

In a statement, Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer praised the CAPSTJOE board’s decision to fire Lanning.

“Whitney Lanning violated the public trust when she committed criminal acts against a fellow school board member,” Luetkemeyer said. “I believe the (CAPSTJOE) board made the right decision for the community in removing her as executive director. My hope is Whitney strongly considers resigning her position from the school board as well.”

The Senate Appropriations Committee, which most recently reviewed the language, includes familiar faces. Luetkemeyer and Sen. Rusty Black, who together represent St. Joseph and the area surrounding it, hold seats on the committee.

“I and others have voiced our strong concerns about Ms. Lanning and her troubling behavior publicly that I believe everyone in the community has now witnessed,” Black said in a statement.

Black added that he anticipates there will be continued state support for CAPSTJOE in the wake of Lanning’s departure.

“As for me, I can’t speak for everyone, but I believe the community and the region will be better served with new leadership,” he said. “Now that CAPSTJOE is moving in the right direction to restore the trust of the communities it serves, I am confident that the state will continue the support of this important organization.”

Asked if the legislation about CAPSTJOE is related to Lanning, Luetkemeyer did not respond. Lanning is a registered Democrat. Luetkemeyer, of Parkville, and Black, of Chillicothe, are Republicans.

A divided school board censured Lanning on April 3 on Feb. 26. Unlike the professional role of executive director, for which Lanning was paid a salary of about $118,000 per year to run CAPSTJOE full time, Lanning is not paid as an elected school board member, and there is no way to remove her, or reduce her authority as a school board member.

Should Lanning choose to resign, the remaining six board members would be able to fill the seat. Otherwise, Lanning will continue to serve on the school board until at least April 2026.