Kirkwood Electric’s $15M Spending Scandal | St. Louis News

Kirkwood’s electric department is in deep financial trouble after blowing through a $15 million budget, forcing the city to bring in an outside firm to investigate. The mess stems from a rushed substation renovation that drained city reserves and diverted funds from other departments — a pattern eerily similar to financial mismanagement by former director Mark Petty, who was fired from Detroit over two decades ago for the same issues. Petty, now ousted from Kirkwood too, walked away with a $112,000 severance — initially called “retirement,” now confirmed as a termination. City council is pushing for a third-party audit, with the state auditor recommending a private firm for speed and clarity, at a cost of $250K–$300K. The city is still deciding between state and private audit routes — but one thing’s clear: they’re determined to fix this mess and prevent it from happening again. Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/21c99aa3cd2cbd1d