Kinder's chief of staff questioned over dual roles

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- David Barklage's 20-year friendship with Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder helped him land a $70,000-a-year job as Kinder's chief of staff.

But the friendship has yielded something more. A political services company Barklage owns took in more than $117,000 last year from a campaign fund that Kinder largely controls.

Barklage's company is Strategic Communications Group Inc. of Cape Girardeau. Last year, more than $1 of every $2 Republican donors contributed to the GOP's Senate Majority Fund wound up in the company's coffers.

No one asserts that any laws were broken, although the Senate's code of conduct states that Senate employees "shall not use" their position "in a manner designed to create personal gain." What most concerns some Republicans and Democrats is the potential for a conflict of interest, a situation that Barklage insists does not exist. As chief of staff, Barklage is an influential player in the legislative process. He is in a unique position to do behind-the-scenes favors for those with business before the General Assembly.

His actions could result in donations to the Senate Majority Fund that, in turn, are funneled to his company.

"There needs to be a bright line between government and the private sector," said Republican state Sen. Sarah Steelman of Rolla, who is critical of the arrangement. "That's particularly true when you work for the government. You have to be very careful ... that there's no personal gain as a result of your government job." Barklage should do one job or the other, Steelman said. Not both.

No salary taken

Barklage acknowledged that the appearance isn't ideal. But he said he no longer takes a salary from Strategic Communications, which coordinates fund raisers and handles other political tasks for the Senate Majority Fund. All money paid to Strategic is used to cover expenses and pay employees, he said.

"At the end of the day, I'm not getting anything out of it," Barklage said.

The practice of hiring a well-connected company to handle political work and fund raising is somewhat unusual. Republican senators in Kansas, Illinois and Iowa rely on salaried staffers to do the work. Democratic senators in Missouri do the same.

Barklage argues that his company has more incentive to hold down costs because it is paid a flat rate that includes all costs of doing business.

One reason Barklage's company was paid so much last year is Strategic Communications was owed money for work conducted in 2000, he said. Also, Strategic was paid a $25,000 bonus for helping Republicans win control of the Senate for the first time in half a century.

But fund-raising reports the Senate Majority Fund filed in 2000 and 2001 do not reflect any owed money. Barklage explained the discrepancy by saying the people who completed the reports are not professional accountants.

Barklage, who said he would quit the Senate when the session ends in May, was hired as chief of staff in March and originally planned to work only a few months. He said he opted to continue operating his companies because he needed a way to make a living once his Senate work was over.

Blaming Democrats

Democrats, who lost control of the Senate last year, are attempting to neutralize him, Barklage alleged. His job is to enable Kinder to be effective in his role as the General Assembly's top Republican.

"I'm the hit man here," Barklage said. "If that means me taking every bullet, I'll take it."

Said Kinder, "It's all above-board."

But other Republicans also voiced reservations. State Sen. Larry Rohrbach of California, Mo., complained that so much money has flowed to Strategic Communications that the Senate Majority Fund is hurting for money as the election year begins.

"I'm very concerned," said Rohrbach, who signs checks for the fund. "The main thing I've noticed is that we've raised a considerable amount of money and don't have very much in the bank."

Senate majority leader Bill Kenney, a Lee's Summit Republican who is the chairman of the Senate's fund-raising caucus, said he and Kinder decided early last year to rehire Strategic Communications for two years. He declined to disclose contract terms.

But he acknowledged that other senators had raised questions about Barklage's dual role as chief of staff and owner of Strategic Communications.

"I brought it to Kinder's attention and said, 'We might get some heat on this.' I guess he decided he wanted Barklage in place," Kenney said.

Kenney, though, insisted that nothing was amiss.

"I know personally there's nothing unethical going on," Kenney said.

Barklage said, "I don't apologize because I believe in what I'm doing."

Changing the Senate

During his months in the Senate, Barklage has become a lightning rod for criticism because of changes he and other Republicans have sought to make in chamber operations.

Their proposals have included a 10-percent cut in the Senate budget, implementing a new ideological screening process for legislation and, more recently, revamping the Senate research staff.

As chief of staff, Barklage is positioned to influence the course of legislation that pleases, or displeases, potential party donors. Chiefs of staff have been known to have a say in the makeup of Senate committees, in decisions over the assignment of bills to committees and in decisions regarding when issues are heard on the Senate floor.

Kinder, though, insisted that Barklage has little clout when it comes to those matters.

"I make decisions on bill assignments," Kinder said. "David is not usually even consulted."

An analysis of campaign-finance records shows that the Senate Majority Fund paid Strategic Communications $117,526 during 2001. The fund's first-quarter report recorded activity beginning on Feb. 19.

The total represents more than 57 percent of all expenses the Senate Majority Fund incurred last year after the GOP takeover of the Senate in January.

About $15,000 more went to workers employed by Strategic Communications or another company, Fundraising Solutions, with ties to Barklage. He is listed as that company's registered agent on forms filed with the secretary of state.

New scandal level

"It looks horrible," said Pat Harvey, director of Missouri Citizen Action, a statewide consumer coalition that has worked on campaign-finance issues. "I think it's a scandal that money can buy power. But it takes the scandal to a new level when power or proximity to power is used to make money."

Senate Democratic leaders also said they had problems with Barklage's business ties.

"That's very questionable," said Senate minority leader Ed Quick of Liberty. "It's an opportunity for some undue influence being purchased." At year's end, Republicans reported $60,734 in the bank after having spent $206,099 since mid-February. The GOP did not file a complete first-quarter report. Democrats had $50,155 in their main war chest after having spent less than half as much, $89,656, during the year.

The 40-year-old Barklage helped run two campaigns last year that resulted in the GOP's unexpected takeover of the Senate. In the 1990s, he ran GOP House races and was in charge of the House campaign committee in 1998.

"He's probably got the best political mind I've ever worked with," said state Rep. Gary Marble, a Neosho Republican.

However, he's run into his share of difficulties as well. In 2001, the House campaign committee was hit with a $12,100 fine, the largest ever levied by the Missouri Ethics Commission, for disguising how it spent nearly $200,000 on behalf of candidates in 1998.

Republicans defended Barklage's work, saying all the money the GOP spent was accounted for. The problem, they say, was a failure to disclose in more detail how the money was spent and on which campaigns, said state Rep. Delbert Scott, the House minority leader at the time.