City manager testifies, denying he told Kansas City staff to lie to media in 2022

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - On Thursday, testimony continued in a Jackson County courtroom after a former Kansas City director of communications filed suit against the city more than two years ago.

City Manager Brian Platt spent much of the day on the stand in the ongoing jury trial to settle the lawsuit filed by former communications director Chris Hernandez against the city in 2022.

The lawsuit accuses Platt of intentionally lying and exaggerating. Hernandez claims in the suit that he was demoted and transferred to another department when he pushed back against Platt’s policy.

The lawsuit claimed a bold new plan to lie was openly discussed among six city leaders during a meeting on Jan. 3, 2022. Much of Thursday’s testimony centered on that meeting, a tweet by Platt, and a meeting with Hernandez in August 2022.

Thursday morning, Platt was asked by the plaintiff’s attorney why he could not recall details of the meeting when asked about them during the deposition last October, but now he can.

Platt responded that he has many meetings over critical issues, and didn’t remember much until preparing for this trial.

In the lawsuit, Hernandez claims that Platt reportedly asked, “Why can’t we just lie to the media?” during that January meeting.

Platt said that he did not instruct the staff to lie. Platt testified that he told them that they should not lie, and he did not tell them to lie to the media, or make up numbers.

He told the City of Kansas City’s attorney, “It’s not appropriate. It’s our job to tell the truth and build trust.”

Platt also testified about a discrepancy between information that was released to the public about the number of lane miles the city hoped to resurface in an upcoming season.

A news release said the city planned to resurface 300 miles, but in a tweet City Manager Platt put out on his personal account, he wrote that the goal was 400+ miles.

Platt said the Public Works director told him he expected the city could do the 400 miles, so he went with that. When Hernandez asked Platt about the tweet, and the discrepancy, Platt told him to stay with the 300.

On the stand, Platt said he was frustrated with Hernandez asking him about the tweet and said the 400+ was a goal and they were setting expectations. The City’s attorney confirmed they did end up paving over 400 that year.

Platt testified he met with Hernandez in August of 2022 and suggested restructuring, and asked Hernandez to consider another position within the city. He said there was a lot of tension between he and Hernandez and that they “weren’t on the same page.”

Platt testified that he wanted Hernandez to figure out his next role, but he didn’t like the two ideas that Hernandez came up with: working on getting more national media attention or creating a podcast. Platt said national media relations was already part of the job, and that Hernandez wasn’t doing it. He was not interested in a podcast.

Overall, much of Platt’s testimony was about how frustrated he was with Hernandez’s job performance.

Platt said he asked Hernandez to create a news release policy, and a Social Media Best Practices policy. He said seven months later, he still did not have those policies.

Troy Schulte, Kansas City’s City Manager from 2009-2019, testified about his relationship with Hernandez during his tenure.

Schulte said he had “no qualms” when Hernandez was promoted to the director position.

Schulte praised the work that Hernandez did in the job. He said Hernandez developed innovative ways to engage the community and that he “never had to worry about inaccurate information.”

Schulte said Hernandez was very good at anticipating reporter questions and preparing city officials for media interviews. He said Hernandez also helped with the planning of big events the city was preparing for, including the World Series, the NFL Draft and the early work on the FIFA World Cup.

But when asked if he would support a new CEO coming in and making changes, Schulte replied, “absolutely.”

In the last hour of the day, Rod Richardson, operations manager in the Communications Division for the city, testified.

He was asked about that Jan. 3 meeting, and whether what Brian Platt said about the Jersey City Mayor was instruction to lie to the media.

“I did not take that as direction to lie to the media,” said Richardson. He added that he didn’t think the rest of the team did either.

Hernandez’s attorney then had Richardson clarify that Brain Platt was still his boss. Richardson clarified that Platt is his boss.

Hernandez is expected to testify on Friday and the trial is planned to go into next week.

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