Following a Board of Aldermen meeting in which the new Mayor Chris Thornton’s committee appointments were rejected by the board of aldermen by a 5-3 vote, his list (slighting altered) was approved at Monday’s meeting by the same margin.
While at the previous meeting there was no discussion preceding the vote, on Monday discussion went almost 30 minutes, with the mayor and most of the aldermen contributing.
Following the the mayor’s comments segment of the meeting, Thornton said he took the appointments seriously, and sent an email to the aldermen in April soliciting input. He said he wanted to know which committees they wanted to serve on, and incorporated that into his appointments.
See also: Brentwood Board rejects Mayor Thornton’s committee appointments, Thornton’s rejected committee appointments, Leahy’s suggestions
After the previous meeting, aldermen who voted no said they did so because Thornton had appointed some newly elected officials as chairmen.
Thornton said Monday that he considered a number of factors, but didn’t put a lot of emphasis on how long someone had served on the board. He said that’s because the board of aldermen changes every year.
“I assumed the voters who have elected these officials that sit in front of you did a good job, and that any one of them was wholly qualified to serve in any capacity which I can appoint.” He also said sometimes it’s a good thing to have a new set of eyes looking at an old set of problems.
He went down his chairmen appointments: Keith Slusser is a certified CPA and a partner in his own accounting firm where they service mostly municipal clients. David Plufka is an attorney who works with worker compensation, negotiating claims, and served for six years on planning and zoning. Patrick Toohey has served on the board for a number of years, and ran an “outstanding campaign for mayor.”
Thornton opened the discussion: “I want to make it clear the nominations are not subject to amendment. They are not to be changed unless I change them.”
Maureen Saunders said the ordinance states the appointments shall be made with the ‘advise and consent’ of the board of aldermen. Not, “They’re my appointments and I’ll make them,” she said of the mayor.
David Plufka said ‘advise and consent’ shouldn’t be taken too broadly. He said aldermen are the legislative brand and the mayor is the executive, which give him the power to appoint.
“As a fourth class city it clearly indicates power of appointment rests with the executive. Aldermen can advise and consent – we should have done last meeting, and hopefully we will tonight. However much we want as a body to lend our stamp of approval or disapproval, the only person here (to make the appointments is the mayor). He’s the only who has received votes from all four wards.”
Saunders said ideally the appointments should be made by the city’s professional staff, and that she’s championed that maybe Brentwood should become a charter city. “But for now, I will agree with you, it is appointment with advice of the council. I was hoping there would be more discussion,” she said. “As you said, he is the man.”
Both Kramer and Leahy said they wanted equal representation from each ward on each committee.
“There has been in the past—not a comment on the present—a tendency toward a political agenda, and a lack of balance of representation on ward representation,” Kramer said. He said if there was no change he would vote no.
Leahy agreed. “I’ll be honest—get rid of the patronage and agenda arraignments and get it to a fair balanced representation by ward so the residents keep a consistent flow of information.” Plufka said he was a little offended by Leahy’s “patronage” comment, and later, Leahy apologized.
Patrick Toohey said more equal representation makes sense, but each aldermen’s skill set shouldn’t be ignored.
Thornton had the final word before the vote.
“I think you’ll find that each of the committees that I’ve appointed have representation from at least three of the four wards in the city, and that was as close as I could get while still meeting my primary objective, which was to chose the best people to do the job, and the best people who could work together on each committee to get the results that the city needs,” he said.
Kramer, Leahy and Cindy Manestar voted ‘no.’ Plufka, Saunders, Slusser, Toohey and Lochmoeller voted ‘yes.’
Ways and Means
- Slusser – chairman
- Plufka
- Saunders
- Toohey
Public Safety
- Plufka – chairman
- Kramer
- Leahy
- Lochmoeller
Public Works
- Toohey – chairman
- Leahy
- Lochmoeller
- Manestar
Communications (not previously appointed)
- Lori Coulter (resident) – chairman
- Dan Duffy (resident)
- Lochmoeller
Jerry – just let me state for the record that you seem to be nothing more than a man who cannot handle a female that is smarter than you. I am willing to bet you are divorced because your wife realized she married a man stuck in a 1940’s mentality.
If you would follow the rules and regulations closely you would notice she is the only Alderperson willing to ask for details and if we are following the city statues. It is men like you Jerry that for whatever reason believe that because you are a man you are smarter than any female. You are a sad reflection on men in the community, Hopefully most of the females of Brentwood realize you are nothing more than a dinosaur when it comes to your opinion. Jerry any time you would want to stand up toe to toe with Alderperson Saunders and debate the facts I am sure she would be happy to be there to discuss. The only problem is, I would guess you do not have the guts, nor the knowledge to even begin to debate a person that is so overwhelmingly smarter than you. My advice, go back to your cave, build a fire, club your woman over the head and that will prove you are the “man in charge”. Reading your post to me says only one thing, there are losers in life and you happen to be one of them. It saddens me to think that in the year of 2015 you still believe that women are suppose to be treated as second class citizens. Jerry, you sadden those of us that acknowledge that in today’s world there are some very smart woman that have changed society for the better. Enjoy your cave.
I am also wondering was the Mayor allowed to nominate? In looking at our statues it states the Alderman make the decision and no where does it mention the Mayor to be involved. Yes, it is very vague, just curious if anyone knows how it is supposed to work. It appeared quite apparent that our new Mayor wanted to make sure Alderperson Saunders did not win the vote even though she deserved to based on how much she has changed the entire Brentwood political scene. An accomplishment that so many criticize. One day we will all look back and recognize her efforts that changed the city for the better. Look at our reserves, who was the one that brought that to our attention by sending out a flyer throughout every Ward. It was Saunders. And while she was blasted by Toohey and Wynn at the the meeting following the flyer now other Alderman are willing to say what a great job they have done increasing our reserves. Only one persons deserves credit for making this happen and it is Saunders. Dear fellow citizens of Brentwood please note now the current regime wants her out of office and I have no doubt they will do everything possible to show her in a negative light. I simply ask you to remember we would not have the changes we have today without her putting herself on the line to better our community.
Dear Women of Brentwood. My first concern is in the upcoming election we will have the Mayor and his cronies work hard at making sure Alderperson Saunders and Manestar will be voted out of office leaving us the female population of Brentwood Subservient to the lesser sex of a band of men. Is that what we want? The females of Bentwood, Saunders, Pozzo, Smith and others were the ones behind the state audit. Without the guts and grit of the ladies of Brentwood the man of the community would be continuing to cheat we the taxpayers of our money. My question to all of us women of Brentwood, will we support our own or will we allow ourselves to go back into the 1950’s when the men made all the decisions and we simple had to comply. Ladies of Brentwood, start shooting from the rooftops and mountain tops about how we want a fair and honest government. For goodness sakes we know from research alone we control 85 to 90 % of all household purchases, why are we surrendering our community to a bunch of men who have an overwhelming desire to satisfy their egos instead of doing what is right for the whole of society. Ladies, rise up, run for office, challenge the men at their game, they are not that hard to beat. Bring logic and facts to offset their simplistic thinking that they are smarter than us. Fact is they are not and when you look at societies run by females, they are by far and away more successful than those driven by the male ego. Ladies unite, go to the meetings, challenge these over ego’d men when they state their opinions. We can better Brentwood with a few “good women in charge”
Let me agree with the above. Mayor Thorton, without the action of Alderman Saunders and those she enlisted to help her sign the petitions you would not be our current Mayor. You should somewhere along the line acknowledge the fact that she brought to the attention of the citizens of Brentwood that our city was being poorly run from a financial standpoint. For you to treat her in meetings as some type of pariah I find to be extremely beneath the position you hold, which I agree with the previous posts you would not hold had she had not taken upon herself to ask for the state to audit our city. Have you ever asked her about how many hours and days she spent working on this project or have you simply listened to the prior Mayor to tell you how”awful” she is for pointing out that we were violating numerous state statutes, local statutes and hiding benefits in the budget so alderman were receiving benefits that they did not deserve. Mr. Mayor, you have in your your circle of influencers a very intelligent and dedicated alderperson who has worked very hard t0 get our city back on the straight and narrow path of following the law. Why you have decided that she is your enemy is a question that I would like you to answer. No single Alderperson in the past 15 year has stepped up to simply try to get our city to follow state and local statutes and for whatever reason that has caused an uproar. From where I sit that says that there are a lot of shenanigans that have taken place that still today we do not even realize and more importantly want to continue to hid from the public.
Examples are simple, our fire chief allows illegal overtime payment and is rewarded with life long benefits with no repercussions. The fireman are in no way disciplined and you seem to be working hard at making sure their pay is all above the norm. Why? Our City administrator is given full retirement benefits even though he was stealing from the public. Our alderman get a pension plan even though they are not full time employees, name another city where that takes place. The money paid in taxes belongs to the citizens, will you recognize that or will you just be another Mayor who is so interested in making the employees happy that you will create a disgruntled owner of the city, we the people. So far, after attending your first meeting, I am not impressed. You made promises in your election talked that I took to heart and you won my vote. After only a month I am believing you deceived me. You obviously can talk the talk, can you walk the walk – waiting for you to deliver on your promises. Up to now very disappointed in your actions.
It would be nice to see you take a moment in a meeting an acknowledge what Saunders did changed the entire course of Brentwood which in fact allowed you to be elected Mayor
An amazing video that is so true, I see it in my company every day. Females are are ************ while the men are seen as leaders. Unbelievable as the females in my company are what turned around our sales. Question to our city lawyer, was the Mayor allowed to by statute allowed to nominate Toohey. The way I read the code, this leadership role was supposed to by left in the hands of the Alderman only.
And I agree 100% with the others in saying, had it not been for the effort of Alderman Saunders and i think it was Julie Pozzo, we would be looking at another 4 years of Kelly, Robertson, Wynn who where all beyond following the law. We were robbed blind by this administration and to this day still do not know the extent of how bad it really was.
Has anyone reported to the IRS the illegality of how Robertson was accepting his health benefits. Rumor on the street is that what he was doing was it in a way that violated the IRS rules. Keith, any comments on this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTOjg4De188
Watch this video, it will highlight just how much harder it is for women to be in leadership roles. Even though it is 2015 some men still have issues with strong females. This commercial was created by Pantene and highlights the double standards that women face even in today’s world.
Go back a few years and remember it was the leadership of Saunders who got the necessary signatures to get the state to audit Brentwood. As the auditor said, one of the worst if not the worst he had ever seen.
What has it gotten her, headaches, an outside political consultant to create a smear campaign, letters telling her to move out of Brentwood and being treated as a second class citizen at meetings. How would all of this have played out if a man led the charge. Why do some folks have a problem giving a woman credit for uncovering all the financial games that were being played by the prior administration and for asking for nothing more than transparency and answers to questions that needed to be asked.
As a female boss I can empathize with Saunders and what she goes through.
Lack of attention to rules of order, and animosity among the BOA and administration I believe has caused an (natural) over-response to the new Mayor and BOA members. I watched the whole meeting video and there was a noticeable sensitivity to Rules of Order and the wording of specific Ordinances (both B’wd and Missouri). The time allotted to discussion was more consistent with people listening to each other–and not being closed off.
There also seemed to be more of a balance of powers during the meeting, which was very refreshing. I agree with Alderman Leahy’s comments about leaving the baggage of patronage and forcing an agenda behind, did not read Ald. Plufka into that statement and was sorry he took it personally. The statement sounded like generic guidance into a more fruitful future. I also took heart that Alderman Kramer and Alderman Saunders were in a dead heat for Chairing the BOA, until Alderman Saunders removed herself to get the job done. I was somewhat surprised that Mayor Thornton stated his basis for nominating Alderman Toohey for BOA Chair was that “he ran a good campaign.” Mayor Thornton also attended to using Executive Power to promote Alderman Toohey –for the same stated reason–in several other appointments. It is too early to tell, but the poorly thought out reasoning and the number of appointments set off my early warning signals of a forged alliance. But it is an early warning signal–that hopefully will not develop into a pattern. Again, time will tell. Ald. Leahy’s comment resonated with me for this reason, having nothing to do with Ald. Plufka. Just shows how subjective and sensitized to bad acts we have all become. I look forward to a legitimate power sharing from the people, through the BOA, through committees, to a responsive and responsible full hearing by Mayor Thornton. I expect as the dust settles, this will happen, and power grabs will be an unfortunate thing of the past. Looking forward to this body at work.
Agree about the chearleading for Toohy thing. Saw it too. My take during the campaign caused my vote, but this is a different guy we are seeing. Can’t figure, from this meeting to last, the guy displays some alarming need for control. We don’t want a manipulator.
Professionals take criticism and if Mayor Thornton is a professional he will attend to the ideation of criticism and make appropriate corrections. During the election process, I cited several times including the Mayoral Forum run by the League of Women voters. I do not consider gender in making important decisions. But as the first person to meet with Ald. Toohey after announcing his candicacy, and having all sisters myself: I openly quote Ald. Toohey as saying Ald. Maureen Saunders was “crazy” and a “screamer” , “out of control” in her understanding of what Brentwood needs. Ald. Toohey ALSO cited Alderman Cindy Manestar as “doing what she was told..” At that meeting, Ald. Toohey also outlined an interruption of Brentwood to get us on track that was very expensive and reduced home owners to the powers of tenants, like they were renting vs. buying. Finally he stated that if he was only Mayor for 2 years—-(ie no long term commitments to B’wd) he was ok with that. I will look up the 40 South presentations, as Doug Miner is editor and tracks the details of City work.
The fact that Ald. Saunders and Ald. Manestar are the only two women on the BOA I have to ask my self, ” What is the bigger picture?” In my conversation with Ald. Toohey, no mention was made of other Ald. who have status and position. My note on that conversation was that woman are held to a lesser status held in B’wd. As a woman, I don’t care—because I have all sisters and each is well heard, no matter what the topic/agenda. I heard a “barefoot and pregnant” resound. We met for about 1 1/2 hours, and i have never disclosed the commentary of that meeting until now. Having listened to Ald. Toohey I found a direct animosity against women—who should remain servile, or be touted as “crazy”—which is not my experience with either of these women, nor with women as a whole.
It is my strong intuition that Ald Toohey has stated things directly to me in private, and as heresay stated things that were outrageous against, and put in private writings things that are equally offensive regarding women. I cannot speak to the other things he has said as i was a second hand recipient (heresay).
Now, when Candidate, now Mayor Thornton came to my door with his wife to introduce himself, i explained that i was not interested in his candidacy. His first 40 South interview was very weak, and he “threw his hat into the ring”—a very weak or poorly thought out “chumming of the waters.” Chumming the waters is an expression that indicates a fisherman throwing out different bait to find out what kind of catch is available; and what it would take to bring in other fish. I looked at him and saw LED lighting scrolling across his forehead “How do i get THIS one to my side-?” like a theatre marquise. I told him that, and he invited me to meet more one on one at a later time that day I said that i would be at the Mayoral Forum and would take another read. I saw the same thing at the forum–style over substance. that brings us up to today.
Chris Thornton was elected by a narrow margin, but he is now our mayor. I find it “power grabbing” for him to unilaterally lose all his own appointments by the BOA vote, use Executive Power to do what he wants—and try and explain his method of decision making as [in the people’s best interests]. He did not listen to the people, won by a three way split cyphering a real challenge between himself and his strongest opponent. Now i watch video of the Mayor giving every avenue of “Miss Congeniality” to the vote cipher who was Alderman Toohey. so here we are.
I support the duly elected Mayor. I need a BETTER reason to appoint his splitter in positions of authority, knowing first hand in meeting how Ald. Toohey described other BOA members which was specific truly offensive to positions of women in power —*and i am not a feminist….i am a Constitutionalist.* The mayor on at least 2 video occasions identified his rationale to promote Ald. Toohey as “He ran an outstanding campaign….” when in reality he finished last in the group of three.
I support the Mayor as duly elected. But as an old horse trainer, there are some horses who need a “training bit”. That is for the horse who knows all the tricks of getting rid of outside interference–like a rider. I hope that Mayor Thornton understands his duty is to the people, and not keep promoting Miss Congeniality. We are in a true growth stage. I really hope that all the BOA people representing the citizens, and standing by the Rules of Order and the Ordinances as they are written justly do due diligence to all the areas of incorporation for which they have been elected. maureen
Maureen is at it again. She thinks that it is her way, or the highway.
Jerry, if contributing to the positive in not your strong point, at least don’t throw jabs at people who you personally dislike. Alderman Saunders is a straight shooter, checks out all the details —-and perhaps that is too much woman for you. But if we are going to start a new day for the people to be heard in B’wd, then let everyone be heard. If you listened to the video vs. reading the article here, then you would see that Alderman Saunders asked detailed questions and got detailed answers. If anything, regret she is not a man and use that as a tool to get over yourself. Ald. Saunders is a pin-pointer–and you are apparently just full of hot air. Can we get this new administration off to a good start by not bringing forward anti-woman gender crap that is part of our past? Thank you. maureen–the OTHER maureen.