CLAYTON — The St. Louis County Council on Tuesday approved spending $520,000 in Rams settlement money to put a proposal on the ballot for next month’s election.
Proposition B would give the council the power to fire county department heads with approval from five of seven council members.
But it costs money to put such measures on the ballot.
Expenses include paying poll workers, renting trucks to deliver equipment to polling places, postage and other costs, said Rick Stream, Republican director for the county Election Board. The council measure orders the county to pay those expenses from the county’s $169.3 million portion of the settlement over the NFL team’s departure for Los Angeles.
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Only Democratic Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, of Maplewood, voted against using settlement money for the ballot measure.
The council also on Tuesday passed a resolution saying the proposition would not give the council the power to fire the county police chief, a concern the county Board of Police Commissioners . Councilman Dennis Hancock introduced the resolution, seeking to assuage the board’s fears.
“Neither the county executive nor St. Louis County Council has authority under the charter and ordinances of St. Louis County to hire or fire a police chief,” the resolution stated.
Doug Moore, a spokesman for County Executive Sam Page, said the resolution was non-binding and has no impact on the ballot language.
On Wednesday, the regional business group Greater St. Louis Inc. issued a statement opposing Proposition B, calling it “a distraction.”
“Proposition B would expose subject-matter experts in complex professions to the whims of County Council politics and hang a cloud over the head of any qualified person looking to serve the citizens of St. Louis County,” the statement said.
Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, a Democrat from North County, said Tuesday the measure would allow the council to hold department directors accountable. They’ve struggled sometimes to get information from the county executive’s administration.
“We need accountability and checks and balances,” she said. “This is to ensure that county councilmembers are able to interact with the department heads and get the information that they need. If you’re working well, and you’re doing your job and all these excellent things, you don’t have anything to worry about.”
The council also passed a measure requiring council approval before any county money can be spent on efforts to inform the public about ballot initiatives. The county has spent money on such initiatives in the past, such as when it spent $300,000 on an “educational” campaign regarding a marijuana sales tax question in 2023.
Only Clancy voted against the measure.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of March 2, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
