File II · The Pattern
Sixteen years. One pattern.
Every stop below is documented, a demotion, two conflicts, a residency disqualification, a $199,000 political appointment, a firing, and a vote against her own ward. Scroll the line. Click through to the evidence.
Jan. 2010
Stripped of her committee chairmanship
As a Jackson County legislator, she spends three years chairing the Justice and Law Committee, until the newly elected chairman removes her from the post. A public demotion, one she confirmed herself.
Source: The Dispatch, Jan. 27, 2010Feb. 2011
Conflict-of-interest concerns at the county
Her husband resigns from the Guadalupe Center, a nonprofit receiving nearly $200,000 a year from the county, after the county attorney warns the funding would have to stop if she served. Her offer to simply recuse herself wasn't enough. She called the standoff political retribution, while admitting to the Star she had no proof.
Source: Associated Press, Feb. 2011; The Pitch candidate roundupSee the playbook it started →2014
Steps aside from the county legislature
Doesn't seek re-election to the Jackson County Legislature, one of three incumbents the Star reports are 'stepping aside.' Months later she files for the Kansas City council seat that ends in her disqualification.
Source: Kansas City Star, May 12, 2014Feb. 2015
Exits the KC council race
Drops out of the race for Kansas City's 5th District at-large seat amid questions about whether she actually lived where she claimed to live, the charter's two-year residency requirement was the problem.
Source: Kansas City StarFeb. 2015
Disqualified by court order
Days after her withdrawal, a Jackson County Circuit Court order makes it official: she is disqualified over residency, the lease she presented was signed nine days before the two-year deadline, and election records showed her voting in Blue Springs. Her name stays on the ballot, but votes cast for her are not counted.
Source: Jackson County Circuit Court order, Feb. 2015; Kansas City Star editorial, Mar. 23, 2015The court docket ↗Oct. 2016
The state puts a $9,915 lien on her
The Missouri Department of Revenue files a certificate of tax lien, individual income tax, $9,915.43 against Theresa A. Garza, and judgment is entered in Jackson County. It will hang over her for eight and a half years.
Source: 16th Judicial Circuit, Case No. 1616-MC15890Read the docket ↗2017
Garnished
To collect, the state goes after her money directly: garnishments served on her UMB Bank account (by the sheriff), then on CareFusion Resources and Renovate America, three executions in one year. The bank answers for $850.26. The lien stood.
Source: Case No. 1616-MC15890, garnishment entries 17-EXEC-360 / -8204 / -8213Read the docket ↗Apr. 2023
Elected in Raytown, while owing the state
Elected to the Raytown Board of Aldermen, Ward 4, defeating Mary Jane Van Buskirk 443 to 249. To file, Missouri law required her to attest she was current on state income taxes. The $9,915.43 lien was still on the books, unpaid.
Source: City certified results, Apr. 18, 2023 · RSMo § 115.306 · Case 1616-MC15890Apr. 15, 2025
Pays up, on Tax Day, two years into her term
A satisfaction of judgment is finally filed: the 2016 income-tax lien is paid off on April 15, 2025, eight and a half years after it was entered, and two years after Ward 4 voters handed her the gavel.
Source: Case No. 1616-MC15890, satisfaction of judgment, Apr. 15, 2025Read the docket ↗Oct. 2025
Named County Chief of Staff, $199,000/yr
Accepts the Chief of Staff job under Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota, a political appointment, not a merit hire, while still serving as Alderman and drawing a second public paycheck. Cashing in on politics: two offices, two taxpayer salaries.
Source: LeVota letter; press reportsFollow the money →Apr. 2026
Fired as Chief of Staff
LeVota's letter fires her from county employment, citing taxpayer resources used for personal job hunting, a contract conflict of interest, and hidden activity. Six months in, $99,500 paid out, and the county concluded it needed 'new leadership.'
Source: The letter; KSHBRead the letter, annotated →Apr. 14, 2026
Votes AYE to convene the impeachment board
Votes AYE on Amended Bill 6707-26, the ordinance serving eight articles of impeachment on fellow Alderman Latrice Thomas and convening a Board of Impeachment, adopted 7–2. The case against Thomas centered on unpaid taxes. Garza cast that vote with her own $9,915 income-tax lien, garnished by the state, unpaid for eight years, barely a year behind her.
Source: City minutes, Apr. 14, 2026 · Case 1616-MC15890Jul. 2026
The Dobbs campaign begins
Alderman Theresa Tush circulates a letter to Raytown's tire and repair shops urging them to pack the July 7 meeting against the Dobbs Tire permit, even proposing a cap on new business licenses. On July 21, the mayor puts a 'Code of Ethics Violation, Alderman Theresa Tush' discussion on the board agenda. The fight over one empty lot has gone fully political.
Source: Tush letter (copy on file); July 21, 2026 BOA agendaThe smoking-gun letter →Aug. 11, 2026
Kills reinvestment in her own ward
The Dobbs Tire permit, recommended by staff, approved 7–1 by Planning & Zoning, urged by the property owners, fails 5–3. Garza votes no and works the floor against it, in her own Ward 4. The lot sits empty today, exactly as staff warned in writing it would.
Source: City minutes; city broadcastOpen the full case file →
Once is a mistake. Twice is a method. Sixteen years is a career.
Keep reading
More from the record
The evidence locker
The Vault →
Every document behind every claim, the letters, the docket, the packets, the broadcast.
Case File No. 6713-26
The Dobbs Tire File →
Five years vacant. A 7–1 recommendation. A 5–3 vote that killed it, plus the letter that packed the room.
Annotated, page by page
The Termination Letter →
Her own boss put it in writing: the $199,000 salary, the hidden job hunt, the verdict on her character.
Still unanswered
Open Questions →
The questions Ward 4 voters keep asking, tracked until she answers them.
Spread the record
Share Toolkit →
Ready-to-post lines, the PDF of the letter, and print materials for your neighborhood.
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