Kansas mayor resigns, gets charged with counterfeiting Zoobilee tickets

The mayor of a Wichita suburban town abruptly resigned Monday, pointing to a rocky relationship with the city administrator.

By Wednesday, he was facing criminal charges for counterfeiting tickets to a charity event to raise money for the Sedgwick County Zoo.

Jamey Blubaugh, former mayor of Goddard, and his wife Elizabeth Blubaugh were charged with counterfeiting tickets to Zoobilee on Wednesday, a Class A nonperson misdemeanor, court records show.

Zoobilee is an annual after-hours charity event at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita that includes food, music and drinks.

Court documents allege Blubaugh counterfeited tickets in 2019, when he was mayor. Tickets that year cost $165 each.

Blubaugh is also known for his “Blues Brothers” real estate commercials from the early 2010s.

The charges were announced Wednesday afternoon in a statement from City Administrator Brian Silcott’s office that tried to distance the city of Goddard from the accusations of wrongdoing.

“We understand that the former Mayor ... is facing serious criminal charges,” the statement says. “We also understand that these charges have no connection with any official action of the former Mayor.”

The statement said Goddard expects no disruptions to the functioning of its city government.

“These issues are entirely unconnected to the City, representing charges brought by the District Attorney against the former Mayor. No City officer or employee, including the City Police, the City Attorney nor the City Prosecutor have or will play any role in these charges.”

The Wichita Eagle first reported on Jamey Blubaugh’s resignation Tuesday night when Goddard City Council president Hunter Larkin lost to David Dennis in the Sedgwick County Commission primary.

Larkin confirmed Blubaugh’s resignation and his plans to replace him as mayor in an email Wednesday.

Blubaugh’s resignation midway through his first term as mayor came as a surprise. At the end Monday Goddard City Council meeting, he asked to read a letter to the council.

“I’m resigning from my position as mayor effective immediately. (Due to) ongoing conflicts and communication between myself and the city administrator, ... my vision for Goddard cannot be fulfilled,” he said.

One of those conflicts was over office space at City Hall and disagreement over his powers as mayor. Blubaugh said the city administrator, who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the city of Goddard, denied him shared office space and called him “a ceremonial head of the city.”

“I just feel like as I’m moving forward, I can’t get the things done that I would to like,” he said Monday. “Just being considered a ceremonial mayor — that’s not me. And that’s just kind of where I came with my decision.”

This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 1:41 PM.