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The Bi-State Development Agency Board of Commission-ers recently voted to approve a Metro transit fare increase that will go into effect on July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year. Periodic fare increases are part of the agency’s long-range plan. Read more on the fare hike at www.callnewspapers.com.

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County executive race hits airwaves;erupts at weekly meetings of council

Mehlville school board to discuss proposed 2014-2015 budget

Mike Anthony photo

MFPD celebrates 60th anniversaryThe Mehlville Fire Protection District celebrated its 60th anniversary Satur-

day with an open house at Engine House No. 3, 4811 S. Lindbergh Blvd. The gala featured tours and demonstrations. Among those attending were Sunset Hills Mayor Mark Furrer and Sen. Scott Sifton, D-Affton. The celebration’s theme was ‘Get Out Alive: Prepare and Practice Your Fire Escape Plan.’ Above, MFPD Chief Financial Officer Brian Bond, right, discusses the impor-tance of developing and practicing a home fire escape plan with some guests.

Skeptics outline opposition to city-county merger

Volume 17, Number 24 1 Section, 16 Pages Thursday, June 12, 2014 callnewspapers.com9977 Lin Ferry DriveSt. Louis, MO 63123

Sime declines to explain his attemptto reclassify Crestwood clerk’s post

Visit www.callnewspapers.com to read more about Friendship Village’s fifth annual Young at Art Show.

By GLORIA LLOYDStaff Reporter

The race for the county executive’s office is in full swing, with television commer-cials hitting the airwaves to remind voters of past scandals at the same time that the County Council is turning into a weekly battleground leading up to the Aug. 5 Dem-ocratic primary.

In the space of one week leading up

to the council’s June 3 meeting, council members had three public disputes — on an audit, the Children’s Service Fund and minority requirements in county contracts.

Only one council member is backing County Executive Charlie Dooley’s re-elec-tion, with the other members siding with 6th District Councilman Steve Stenger, D-Affton, one of Dooley’s opponents in the

(See RACE, Page 6A)

Panel recommends denial of towerBy MIKE ANTHONYExecutive Editor

The Sunset Hills Planning and Zoning Commission voted last week to recommend denial of a request to erect a 100-foot-tall telecommunications tower at 9907 Sappington Road.

Planning and Zoning Commission members voted 8-0 to rec-ommend denial of a conditional-use permit, or CUP, to erect the monopole telecommunications tower and a shelter on property owned by the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection. Commission members Al Koller and Kevin Studer were absent from the June 4 meeting.

(See DENIAL, Page 4A)


As projections continue the district’s trend of negative cash flow and a planned spend-down of reserves, the Mehl-ville Board of Education is set to consider some major

financial decisions tonight — June 12 — including next year’s budget, an employment contract with teachers and salary increases for other employees.

A preliminary budget the board could consider projects a $109 million budget with a deficit of $3.8 million for

the upcoming fiscal year, including $2.5 million in salary increases, up from this year’s $105 million budget.

The board will discuss the budget at a meeting at 7 p.m. at the Administration Building, 3120 Lemay Ferry Road.

(See BUDGET, Page 2A)

Mehlville news ........... Page 2AArea news ................... Page 3AOpinions ..................... Page 4AOur town ..................... Page 5ACounty news ............... Page 6ACalendar...................... Page 7ACrestwood news ......... Page 8ASenior living ............... Page 9AClassifieds ................... 1ACrossword puzzle ....... Page 12A

Inside the Call

By MIKE ANTHONYExecutive Editor

Crestwood City Administrator Mark Sime is declining to explain why he attempted earlier this year to reclassify the city clerk’s position as an unclassified position — a change that appears to violate the city’s Charter.

In February, Sime proposed an ordi-nance to amend the city’s municipal code

to make the city clerk’s position unclas-sified, or exempt — the same status as elected officials, the city administrator and department heads, who are not covered under the city’s Civil Service Rules and Regulations.

City Clerk Tina Flowers wrote in a May 30 email sent to aldermen that Sime’s pro-posal would directly conflict with the city’s

(See DECLINES, Page 8A)


Many of the region’s leaders turned out for a sympo-sium on a city-county merger at St. Louis University earlier this year, and merger skeptics responded with their own forum last week to outline why they oppose the idea.

Many Republican politicians were in attendance, including former Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones, who told the group that he is in favor of a stronger St. Louis region, but the unknowns in a city-county merger are just too numerous to support it.

“Those of us who have grown up in the county and spent our hard-earned sweat to build careers and create businesses here — we do not want to take on problems of which we do not know, and I think that’s the biggest lesson to learn here,” Jones told the audience of roughly 60 people June 5 at The Lodge Des Peres, adding that during his time as speaker, the Legislature did not pass any pro-merger legislation.

Last week’s forum was organized by the St. Louis County Preservation Committee, a group opposed to a

(See OPPOSITION, Page 3A)

A - Call Publishing, Thursday, June 12, 2014

• DeclinesProposal to reclassify positioncosts city $1,690 in legal bills(Continued from Page 1A)Charter, which states the city clerk “shall be a civil service employee.”

However, Sime told the Call, “... Any proposal that I would bring forward would not confl ict with the Charter.”

Sime’s effort to reclassify the post resur-faced after Ward 2 Alderman Tim Trueblood instructed City Attorney Lisa Stump on May 27 to draft an ordinance for alder-men to consider June 24 that, if approved, “would put before the voters of Crestwood at the next regularly scheduled election a ballot to amend the city’s Charter ...”

Under the proposed ballot issue, the city clerk’s position would “fall entirely under the selection, control, review and direction of the Board of Aldermen ...”

While Sime’s proposal to reclassify the clerk’s post originally appeared on the agenda for the Feb. 11 aldermanic meet-ing, he removed it from the agenda the day before the meeting. Legal bills the Call obtained through a public records request show Stump’s fi rm, Lashly & Baer, was paid roughly $1,690 for researching and drafting the ordinance.

Asked why he proposed Flowers’ reclas-sifi cation, Sime, who took his post last year, told the Call, “Well, that’s getting into the personnel arena here, and since it didn’t come out, then I’d prefer not to discuss it right now.”

Asked if his proposal would confl ict with the city’s Charter, he said, “I would hesitate to say that because the proposal that I did not bring forward was not out there, so we can’t say it was against the Charter or not.”

When reminded that the Charter states the clerk’s position shall be a civil service post, Sime said, “That is correct. The clerk’s position would have remained a civil service position.”

Asked to elaborate, he said, “... Well, all employees of the city are civil service employees,” including department heads.

When reminded his proposal would have classifi ed the clerk’s position as an exempt post not subject to the Civil Service Rules and Regulations, Sime said, “... This is where it will be a discussion about the Charter ver-sus the civil service rules, and I’m not here to get into that discussion with you at this time.”

Also at issue is who initiated the pro-posed change. In a May 30 email, Ward 4 Alderman Michael Vincent wrote that he was opposed to Trueblood’s May 27 pro-posal after talking with Sime and believes it would be better handled by the city’s Charter Review Commission in the future.

“I say wait — and incur no expense now. Most of us I assume have seen the legal costs incurred the last time this was brought forward,” he wrote. “It is my understanding our clerk initiated discussions with our CA (city administrator) and that he attempted to positively help her and to consider FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) guidelines.

“It is my understanding our clerk changed her mind and the issue was dropped. At that time, as now, I understand our CA had no criticism of our clerk or her work. It is my hope we all feel our clerk is doing excellent work, and needs no further pro-tection beyond what she has with the CSB

(Civil Service Board),” Vincent wrote.Asked about Vincent’s email, Sime said,

“It wasn’t sent to me.”However, copies of the email the Call re-

ceived after making a public records request show Sime was copied in on Vincent’s email. Asked if he had seen the email, Sime said, “I can’t comment on that.”

Trueblood told the Call that Flowers, who has been city clerk since early 2007, did not initiate the change and is opposed to it. Classifi ed employees cannot act as a spokes-person in response to media inquiries with-out approval from the city administrator.

Trueblood said when he fi rst learned of Sime’s proposal to reclassify Flowers’ position, he called the city clerk “to con-gratulate her because I thought, quite hon-estly in my being somewhat naive, that this was something that she really was wanting and would be good for her. And I was excited for her and I asked her, ‘Hey, how does this affect you? It looks good to me. How does it look to you?’

“And she said, ‘Tim, it’s awful.’ And I said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘I thought you wanted this.’ She said, ‘No ... I never said I wanted this. It takes me out of the protection of civil service, and then I would be an at-will employee (under Sime) ...’”

Trueblood said Flowers believed that Sime’s proposal also would jeopardize her independence as the city’s custodian of records and hinder her ability to impartially perform the responsibilities of her offi ce.

In her May 30 email response to Vincent, sent to all aldermen, Sime and her personal attorney, Flowers wrote, “I did not initiate nor did I support the reclassifi cation of my position as city clerk. This issue was proposed to me by City Administrator Sime in late January 2014. At that time, I expressed the concerns of this reclassifi ca-tion as being in direct confl ict with the City Charter and also that my position would no longer have the status of being a classi-fi ed position under the city’s Civil Service Rules and Regulations.

“I also advised Mr. Sime at that time that if asked in a public meeting, I would have no choice but to go on record as expressing my opposition of the proposal ...”

She also wrote, “... It is also important to know that I would never recommend any type of action that would be in confl ict with city rules and regulations, especially when there could be the negative perception of intentionally promoting personal gain with-out any regard whatsoever for the city ...”

Asked about Flowers’ email, Sime said, “That is still within the personnel arena, and I can’t discuss that at this time.”

He also said, “... I’m not going to com-ment on her opinions.”

Going forward, Trueblood told the Call, “I feel like the best way to handle this posi-tion is to amend the Charter and convert it into one that’s responsible to the mayor and Board of Aldermen, like our neighbors do. It just seems to me that this would be the best choice for that position.

“Now it’s up to the voters to approve it. It’s honestly not our say other than to put it before the voters. They have that option to do as they see fi t. I would encourage them to really think hard and long about it before they voted and hope they would vote in the affi rmative to make the change ...”

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