At Chris Thornton’s first board of aldermen meeting since being sworn in as mayor, the board rejected his slate of committee members and chairmen 5-3.
Thornton had appointed David Plufka (Ward 1), chair of public safety; Keith Slusser (Ward 2), ways and means; and Steve Lochmoeller (Ward 3), public works, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
See also: Thornton’s rejected committee appointments, Leahy’s suggestions
All three are newly elected, and Maureen Saunders (Ward 1), said that was her concern. “I want the public to know that the aldermen’s job is to vet the appointments,” she told the Post-Dispatch after the meeting.
See also:
With no discussion, they voted:
- Tom Kramer – no
- Patrick Toohey – yes
- Andy Leahy – no
- Cindy Manestar – no
- Maureen Saunders – no
- David Plufka – yes
- Keith Slusser – yes
- Steve Lochmoeller – no
After the vote, Thornton said, “OK, the appointments have failed.”
When Leahy later passed Thornton a list of alternate candidates. Thornton said, “Your suggestion is noted.” Later in the meeting Thornton said all his appointments are on hold. See all Thornton’s appointments and Leahy’s suggested list.
The list included Maureen Saunders, chairman of ways and means; Patrick Toohey, public safety; and Cindy Manestar, public works, according to the Post-Dispatch.
Resident, Susan Ryan said in public comments following the vote she was disappointed.
“We have a new mayor that makes appointments; there’s no discussion, there’s no explanation, and sitting in the audience I’m wondering what that speaks to that we have four aldermen that have been on the board, and we’ve just voted down a new mayor’s appointments,” she said. “It certainly doesn’t feel like this is a cooperative effort moving into the first meeting.”
Thornton told the Post-Dispatch after the meeting that he would talk with the aldermen and find out what their objections were. Read the full article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
While Mayor Thorton is running the meetings in a completely different tone, it would be nice to hear what his thoughts are and the thoughts of all alderpersons on who should head the various committees. As citizens I can’t think of even reason why we should not be at least able to hear the logic behind what logic and reasoning has gone into the process.
Again, we were promise transparency, what a great place to start.
Let me first state that I am biased toward Alderperson Saunders. Because of her willingness to get the state to audit our city by collecting signatures and then running for office while being attacked did make me a big fan of hers. What our prior mayor along with an outsider worked hard to attack her showed how low the prior mayor was willing to go to cover his lack or over site. While just my opinion I do not believe we will ever find out just how corrupt our prior leadership was.
While simple my opinion I am in support of her to run Weighs and Means to bring about a pay plan for our city employees that brings our city in line with comparable communities.
I have great respect for our police and fire fighters. With that said they should not be setting the standard of pay throughout the region. It would be interesting to know what they do every day. How many calls do they go on, I can’t recall the last fire they fought. As an outsider it appears they get to hang out in one of the counties finest facilities with vey little to do. Would someone please post how many hours in a given week they are actually doing something in regards to their jobs.
To watch our fire chief and police chief at board meetings act as if they are untouchable and deserve to be the highest paid in St. Louis is absolutely insulting.
Mr Chief of Firefighters we all recognize that your staff stole from us in the past and we still have not gotten over that fact. Again let me state – that is a FACT. Your ego at the meetings is insulting.
Our city employees (again my opinion) are some of the most spoiled and overpaid people serving in public office. I would like nothing more than Alderman Saunders to go toe to toe with them.
These tax dollars belong to us the citizens. Instead of overpaying the city staff why not let us drive up and down Brentwood Boulevard without hitting a pothole every few feet.
What does any part of this uneducated rant have to do with the topic of this story ? Why don’t you find the answers to these questions yourself before you go on a factless, opinion based tirade that is completely off subject.
Actually, this is a splendid rant, and if you were more familiar with Brentwood’s recent past, you’d realize that it’s neither “uneducated” nor “factless.” This guy (Mr. Sherman) demonstrates a keen knowledge of what’s been going on in Brentwood in recent years. In fact, he’s right up there with the legendary Mr. Completely when it comes to city facts and lore. I suppose you’re right about him veering off subject, but who cares? He’s got a lot of compelling things to say. If you do a little research, you’ll find that he’s correct on most everything. The one exception is the wretched condition of Brentwood Blvd., which is the fault of the County, which owns and theoretically maintains it.
I see nothing in this “rant” that pertains to the topic of the story. I see a lot of questions being asked and a lot of opinion. Opinion and fact are entirely different. Mr. Sherman just sounds like an angry, emasculate person that has a personal problem with the first responders and takes ANY opportunity to take a cheap (weak) shot. If he has such a “keen knowledge” of what’s going on, he wouldn’t have so many questions. That’s a fact!
Ms. Wheat is correct that only 1 in 4 voters bothered to vote in Brentwood’s April 7 election. And Mayor Thornton would be wise to remind himself that while each of the city’s 8 aldermen was elected by a majority of voters, he was not. Most of the voters who cast a ballot for mayor on April 7 did not want him. 53% of them voted for someone else. Mr. Thornton’s 47% plurality was neither a ringing endorsement nor a mandate. And how astonishing that as his first official act, our rookie mayor would try to appoint rookie aldermen to chair each of the city’s aldermanic committees. Think about that. The most critical elected positions in our city’s government — all of them — would be held by untested novices who have no prior experience in these offices, while the city’s 5 experienced aldermen would be given the shaft. Was this an act of retribution by the mayor? Where’s the transparency he promised us? Bravo to 4 of our 5 veteran aldermen, and to newbie Steve Lochmoeller, for taking the governance of our city serious enough to reject the mayor’s committee appointments. It was gratifying and reassuring to the see our aldermen use their authority this way. I salute Aldermen Kramer, Leahy, Saunders, Manestar, and Lochmoeller for intervening to veto this risky act. If Mayor Thornton wants to be successful, he would be wise to remember each and every day that most Brentwood voters didn’t want him to be mayor, and to act with humility, cooperation, and consensus.
Susan – you have spent years complaining the prior board simply rubber stamped everything which led to your neighbor getting to break housing codes. Now you are complaining that they did not rubber stamp the mayor’s suggestions. Perhaps there is a back story and you should explore the facts before making a statement that simply makes you look like someone who likes to complain just to complain. What you should be upset about is not the Alderman, it should be the lack of transparency we were promised. Then we would know why the votes went down the way that they did.
All too true Aletheia, about the ‘rubber stamp.’ If we are going to change the tenor of City Hall, I think these appointments should be vetted. The mayor has never been a mayor. The BOA proposed Chairmen have not done their jobs before. There is a lot of experience in the existing BOA—why were they all by-passed? And if I recall, there was only a 27% voter turnout, which is far from a public mandate. Some scrutiny is very appealing under these circumstances.
correction: line three should read “a lot of already experienced BOA” members.