A good editorial from Post-Dispatch. County Executive Sam Page and council member Lisa Clancy mounted in essence a coup to deliver the county council leadership to Clancy. The courts overturned this effort but there are substantial legal fees. Page and Clancy need to be held accountable. written by Paul Dribin
County Executive Page has appointed Rochelle Walton Gray to a position as Covid outreach coordinator. The trouble is Ms. Gray totally lacks experience for the position. Her claim to fame is voting for Lisa Clancy, a Page crony as Council Chair after her term expired, probably an unconstitutional action. This is simply pay to play and unethical. Written by Paul Dribin
Lisa Clancy used a slight of hand to be reelected as council leader in the last meeting and now some of her colleagues are upset. A change to the county council allowed an council member who voted in favor of Clancy to vote even though she had lost the election but her successor was sworn in. Regardless of the legalities, Clancy should have realized that the intent of the voters would have been to wait until the new member was sworn in to elect officers of the county council. In any case, a difficult situation is at hand. Written by Paul Dribin
The idea is good, the execution has stunk. Clancy again gave the impression of ineptly playing power politics. The whole idea warrants reconsideration. Written by Paul Dribin
Lisa Clancy is a young progressive member of the St. Louis County Council. She has supported police reform, affordable housing and other progressive causes. In a short period of time she has risen to become leader of the County Council.
During this time though she has played hardball, leading the effort to delegate to Sam Page, an ally and County Executive complete control over coronavirus relief funds. She has taken charge of a well intentioned effort to increase the sales tax to increase funding for early childhood education. This effort appears to have been hijacked by powerful people and some of the advocates are saying they are not sure of what the initiative authorizes. Furthermore she introduced the legislation to enable this effort at the last possible moment. I am disappointed to see a young progressive leader acting very much like a traditional politician. Written by Paul Dribin
St. Louis County had granted Save a Lot Corporation tax abatement to relocate its’ headquarters to the revamped Northwest Plaza. This deal seemed crooked on the face of it; another debacle created by County Executive Stenger and his stooge Sheila Sweeney.
The County Council has now overturned this decision. Good for them. Written by Paul Dribin
The St Louis Contrarian 