A prominent St. Joseph attorney and ex-husband of a Democratic statewide officeholder soon will run St. Joseph’s motor vehicle license office.

One of James Montee’s biggest changes to the office will enable Buchanan County drivers to pick up identification cards and greeting cards at the same strip mall. He plans on moving the office from the East Hills Shopping Center to the North Belt Highway, next to Rod’s Hallmark.

The state awarded Mr. Montee’s Saint Joseph License, a limited liability corporation, the contract to run St. Joseph’s motor vehicle license office over three other applicants, the Missouri Department of Revenue announced Thursday evening.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon called for an end of the political patronage system just days after he took his oath in January and implemented a cycle of proposal requests for all 183 fee offices.

Mr. Montee, who the state also selected to run the Lee’s Summit fee office, previously was married to State Auditor Susan Montee, of St. Joseph, and his law office serves as the Buchanan County Democratic headquarters.

“It’s an extensive bid,” Mr. Montee said. “It’s very transparent. Everybody had the same opportunity.”

The former state-run fee office Downtown closed its doors in June 2005, part of a cost-savings effort under Gov. Matt Blunt’s Republican administration. The new office opened up at East Hills Shopping Center under the private operation of Matt Gerstner.

Mr. Gerstner, who couldn’t be reached for comment Friday, didn’t re-apply for the post. Four entities competed for the office, but Saint Joseph License earned 69 out of 100 points in the bidding process, compared to Applus Technologies’ 51 points.

The state didn’t rate proposals from two other bidders — Faith First Enterprises out of Jefferson City and Sheila Graham, who manages KCFA Management in Kansas City —

because they didn’t meet basic bid requirements. A previous employee of KCFA Management is set to work as the next office manager, however.

Among the largest changes will be the new location at 2319 N. Belt Highway, which Mr. Montee said will nearly have curb-side access. The site sits between Rod’s Hallmark and what was formerly a Mexican restaurant.

“I would have proposed keeping the current location, however the citizens of Saint Joseph continually complain in the newspapers as to how inconvenient the current mall location is,” Mr. Montee wrote in his bid. “It is very difficult for elderly and disabled citizens to visit without a long walk into and through the (m)all to get to the current office.”

The transfer of operation won’t occur immediately. Mr. Montee has 45 days to open the new site, but that could happen in as early as 20 days, he said.

“I think we could do a better job with hours of operation and wait time,” Mr. Montee told the News-Press.

The bid stated the new office would provide chairs for waiting, and clerks would provide at-chair service to elderly patrons who noticeably had difficulty moving. Drivers now stand while waiting in lines.

He said the Lee’s Summit office’s prior average waiting time was about two hours. “Now we have that down to 13 minutes,” he said.

The new St. Joseph office will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and will be open every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., under the bid. Also, the office plans on offering extended hours the last five days of the month.

When the state-to-private-office transition took place in 2005, few employees were re-hired. Except for management, Mr. Montee said he hired back most of the Lee’s Summit office clerks and he intends to hire St. Joseph’s current staff, pending employee interviews.

He said he plans on naming Sandra Gutshall as the new manager. She served as manager in the St. Joseph office from May 2005 to December 2007 for KCFA Management. She works at Bethany’s license office as manager and is assisting Saint Joseph License with the Lee’s Summit office. Based on fees from the last fiscal year and Mr. Montee’s budget, he’s set to make less than $35,000 annually on the whole operation.

Of all four bids, Mr. Montee offered the highest rate of return to the state — 10 percent in the first contract period. Future renewals would drop the rate of return to 5 percent.

The St. Joseph office collected $437,797 in fees from July 2007 to July 2008, but Mr. Montee’s estimated operating expenses, employee salaries and equipment costs, plus the state’s cut, roughly totals $405,303. That would yield a $32,494 profit, based on recent figures.

“It was a competitive bid. It was the right thing to do,” Mr. Montee said of the state’s return.

Alyson E. Raletz can be reached

at alysonraletz@npgco.com.