LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – Leavenworth City Commissioners voted to oust Shay Baker from the mayor’s office. Baker is under fire for a letter she wrote to a federal judge asking for leniency for a convicted drug dealer.
Commissioners asked Baker to resign. She refused.
“I still want the opportunity to serve as mayor,” Baker told them.
Last week, Baker wrote a letter asking a federal judge be lenient when sentencing Billy Joe Trinkle, 32, who was charged and convicted in a federal drug trafficking operation in February.
Read the Letter HereBaker and Trinkle went to high school together. Her letter said Trinkle lived with Baker and her then-boyfriend during college.
However, the letter ignited so much outrage in the community, commissioners called a special meeting to discuss her future.
The public spoke first.
A few supporters applauded Baker’s compassion for an old friend. Others did not.
Some of those people voted for her. Some have lived in Leavenworth for decades but never had enough passion to attend even one past commission meeting until now.
Many unleashed brutal criticism at Baker while calling for her resignation from the mayor’s office.
“You should add an “M” to your first name and be ‘Shame Baker', you’ve embarrassed us,” said Tim Love, a Leavenworth resident.
“You have no right to speak for me,” said Janice Eldridge, another Leavenworth resident. "You wrote that letter as our Mayor. You’ve brought us national ridicule. We’re a joke!”
“It was a dumb thing you did,” said Mary Love, another Leavenworth resident. “You took us all down with you.”
Commissioners called Baker’s actions naïve and a slap in the face of local law enforcement who arrested, charged and worked to put Trinkle behind bars for his crimes.
Baker’s removal was a unanimous decision. However, she will continue as a city commissioner. The city’s attorney said the action taken Thursday night is subject to appeal.
