Vague insinuations of influence peddling are hanging over Wentzville Mayor Paul Lambi.

The mayor has hired a defense attorney, but it is his business partner, Ed Watkins, who is doing most of the talking.

"This is nothing more than a political witch hunt," Watkins said, referring to reports that the Board of Aldermen was investigating the mayor.

Watkins is president of Winning Endeavors, a fundraising consulting firm in St. Peters. Lambi the firm's chief executive officer.

Lambi declined to comment, referring questions to his attorney, Chet Pleban. Pleban did not return calls before the Journal's deadline.

Watkins said "rumblings" of alleged wrongdoing began in September as city officials were pursuing an agreement with Ranken Technical College to open a satellite campus in Wentzville. Lambi learned a rumor was circulating that the college gave him money. Lambi refuted the rumor in a letter, dated Sept. 21, 2011, to the aldermen.

Lambi wrote that, through his firm, he developed a good relationship with Ranken President Stan Shoun, enabling him to introduce the college leadership to Wentzville officials for the purpose of exploring the satellite campus idea.

"Neither Winning Endeavors or myself are engaged in any financial relationship with Ranken Technical College," Lambi wrote. "However, in order to avoid any other perception, I am asking that the Board of Aldermen and our economic development director take over all communication with Ranken regarding that relationship as this opportunity is explored."

Lambi wrote that he would recuse himself from voting on the Ranken agreement, something that would be necessary only if a board vote resulted in a tie.

The board voted Jan. 25 to approve a $360,000, three-year agreement with Ranken. In return for the school opening a campus in Wentzville, the city would subsidize its $80,000 annual lease for three years and provide $120,000 for staffing.

Watkins said he, Lambi and their consulting firm "at no time" engaged in negotiations between Ranken and the city regarding the $360,000 agreement.

Shoun, Ranken's president, said Watkins and Lambi visited him at the college last summer, asking him to support Winning Endeavors' Graduate America Priority 1 (GAP1), a program that provides resources to help people obtain college degrees.

Shoun said Watkins and Lambi asked Ranken to provide $5,000 to sponsor GAP1 mentor training. Shoun called it "a non-starter" because Ranken already provided the same kind of community outreach and assistance for disadvantaged students. Shoun said he declined the request. Afterward, they discussed bringing the Wentzville aldermen to tour the Ranken campus, Shoun said.

Watkins confirmed that Pleban was examining whether Wentzville should have requested bids before approving its $360,000 agreement with Ranken. Watkins said at least two aldermen and the city's economic development director were aware that another school, Linn State Technical College, expressed interested in opening a satellite campus in Wentzville two months before the Ranken agreement was finalized.

The board's president, Alderman Leon Tow, Ward 1, responded to Watkins' allegations. "I don't believe it should have been put out to bid," Tow said. "I did not know Linn State Technical College was interested. I have an understanding that maybe someone had talked to them, but I did not meet with anyone from Linn Technical."

Tow is running for mayor in the April 3 election. His opponents are Bill Schuette, a former alderman; Alderman Nick Guccione, Ward 3; and former Mayor Darrel Lackey. Lambi did not file for re-election.

Donald Claycomb is president of Linn State Technical College, a state-funded, two-year technical school in Linn, Mo. Claycomb said Linn State did express interest in opening a Wentzville campus and met with city officials, but was never asked to make a formal proposal.

Claycomb said representatives from his school met Nov. 21 with Lambi and Larry Tucker, Wentzville's business development manager. Watkins sent the invitation, Claycomb said. The meeting included representatives from five other organizations, but not Ranken, Claycomb said.

The school "left the ball in Wentzville's court," Claycomb said. It did not hear back from the city, he said. Two months later, it learned through the media that the city made an agreement with Ranken.

"If they had put this out for bids, we would have said we are interested," Claycomb said. "We don't have a dog in this fight. We are not crying foul on anything. If this decision has been made, we understand. If the city wants to talk to us or wants a proposal from us, we are interested."

Rumors have swirled for months that something unusual was happening behind the scenes in Wentzville city government. The aldermen have held a number of closed session meetings, fueling speculation among local political observers.

On Jan. 11, the start of the Board of Aldermen meeting was delayed more than 90 minutes while the aldermen met in closed session. On Jan. 17, the Journal requested the closed session minutes. The city denied the Journal's request, citing provisions in Missouri statutes that allow cities to withhold minutes of meetings dealing with litigation, personal information about employees, and personnel records.

Since mid-December, an anonymously published online blog called "The Wentzvillian" has posted unattributed rumors about city officials investigating alleged influence peddling by Lambi.

Alderman Guccione confirmed the board was looking into the allegations, commenting first to a newspaper reporter, then in open session during the board's Feb. 8 meeting.

"Some of this stuff was out on the street, was in a blog, it was out there," Guccione said.

Alderman Chris Gard, Ward 2, said he was "extremely troubled" that city officials might have leaked information discussed in closed session. Gard and other aldermen debated releasing closed session documents to clear up some of the mystery surrounding the meetings, but City Attorney Paul Rost advised against it.

"We are not trying to play this in the public," Rost said. "We are not trying to do this in the newspaper. We are trying to handle this matter in the most professional manner."

Rost said the city was not involved in a "political witch hunt." He said the city itself was not conducting an investigation, but had turned the matter over to "appropriate agencies."

Gard said he had to comment on Ranken's part in the allegations. "There has been no finding that anyone from Ranken has done anything wrong at all," he said.

Gard cast the lone dissenting vote in a 5-1 decision to approve a news release drafted by Rost. The release, dated Feb. 8, states the Board of Aldermen "wishes to inform the public that an investigation of possible conflicts of interest is currently underway."

The statement continues, "An initial investigation, undertaken in response to an employee complaint, has led to the discovery of issues that have been referred to appropriate agencies and/or authorities for further investigation and action, if deemed warranted.

"To respect the privacy of the employee(s) involved and to protect the integrity of the process, the city reserves any further comments until after the investigation is completed and conclusive findings can be announced."