tesson ferry library relocation

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Senior living ............... Page 3ASchool news ............... Page 4ABirths .......................... Page 5AOpinions ..................... Page 6ACalendar...................... Page 9AHoneymoon 2014 ....... Page 13ABusiness news ............ Page 17AClassifieds ................... Page 21ASports .......................... Page 26AHomes and gardens .... Page 27A

Inside the Call

One year after Newtown, Mehlville remains vigilant, Knost says

Library officials to close on purchaseof new Tesson Ferry site this week

Belmar named chief of county Police DepartmentBy GLORIA LLOYDStaff Reporter

After a unique year in the history of the county Police Department, there’s a new chief in the county.

Last week, a day after former chief Tim Fitch’s re-tirement, the county Board of Police Commissioners named Lt. Col. Jon Belmar as Fitch’s replacement.

After the Jan. 31 announcement, Belmar said the outgoing chief left the department in “outstanding” shape, so he will be looking to improve its existing operations rather than making wholesale changes.

Last July, Fitch promoted Belmar, then a captain,

to lieutenant colonel, the department’s highest rank below chief.

Belmar, 50, has spent his entire career in the depart-ment, serving in every division since he began his career 27 years ago in the Affton Southwest Precinct, which he later commanded.

Besides his most recent assignment commanding the Tactical Operations Unit, Belmar has commanded the Bureau of Patrol Support and the Bureau of Crimes Against Persons Unit. He has supervised the Bureau of Crimes Against Property and the West County Precinct

(See CHIEF, Page 12A)

Crestwood mayor announces possibilityof forming business-first advisory panel

Volume 17, Number 6 1 Section, 28 Pages Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014 callnewspapers.com9977 Lin Ferry DriveSt. Louis, MO 63123

Bill Milligan photo

Teddy bear mascot returns from HondurasJacque, a teddy bear mascot for Abiding Savior Lutheran School’s kinder-

garten class, returned home from an eight-day trip to Honduras last Friday with tour guide Erik Beishir. Read more on Page 7A about Abiding Savior Lutheran Church members’ mission trip to Honduras. Beishir, back row, left, is shown with the mascot and the school’s kindergarten class.

By KARI WILLIAMSStaff Reporter

Recent discussions about reviving Crest-wood’s Economic Development Commis-sion spurred Mayor Jeff Schlink to announce the possibility of forming a business-first advisory committee within the city.

Resident Mike Balles brought the issue to the Board of Aldermen’s attention at its Jan.

14 meeting when he noted the economic development strategy created by the city’s Economic Development Commission has not been updated since 2005.

Schlink told the board at its meeting last week the city’s goal is to “engage with the business community.”

“The primary role of the group would be(See PANEL, Page 8A)

Lindbergh bond sale scheduled TuesdayBy MIKE ANTHONYExecutive Editor

Lindbergh Schools’ sale of roughly $32.65 million in general obligation bonds to refund bonds issued in 2007 is scheduled for next week.

The sale of the bonds, set for Tuesday, is expected to save tax-payers $1.6 million, according to Chief Financial Officer Charles Triplett.

At the recommendation of the district’s independent financial adviser, Joy Howard of WM Financial Strategies, the Board of Education voted in December to begin the process of refunding

(See BONDS, Page 19A)

Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Franklin County, chair of the Senate General Laws Committee, last week banned video coverage of the final debate and vote of his committee approving a bill that seeks to declare Missouri exempt from some federal gun laws. Visit www.callnewspapers.com to read more.

Web exclusive

First of two partsBy GLORIA LLOYDStaff Reporter

A year after adding extra security in the wake of the mas-sacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., the

Mehlville School District is trying out new security tech-niques and continuing to examine its existing measures.

The Mehlville Board of Education joined districts across the country in voting to fund buzzer systems for front doors and police officers for elementary schools, adding four ad-

ditional part-time police officers to patrol the district’s 10 elementary schools.

“We always have to stay vigilant. We can’t wait for anoth-er tragedy to step up our game,” Superintendent Eric Knost

(See VIGILANT, Page 20A)

By GLORIA LLOYDStaff Reporter

After delays from zoning and traffic, St. Louis County Library officials are set to close Friday on their purchase of property for the new Tesson Ferry Branch Library across from Grant’s Farm.

Library officials originally filed their intent to rezone the property at the inter-section of Gravois and Musick roads with the county Department of Planning last

summer. But the final purchase of the property has been delayed in the months since then, after concerns raised by near-by residents at an August public hearing about traffic and safety spurred the county and state to require a traffic study for the library to move forward with the plans.

Now, with final zoning from the County Council and an agreement with the county Department of Highways and Traffic for

(See CLOSE, Page 10A)

A - Call Publishing, Thursday, February 6, 2014

• CloseLibrary pays fair market valuefor new site, Sorth tells Call(Continued from Page 1A)$500,000 to $750,000 in road improve-ments to Musick Road secured, the library can fi nalize its contract to buy the 4.29-acre property for $2.5 million from devel-oper McBride Berra.

The developer has owned the property since 2012, when it paid $6.25 million for 67 acres. McBride Berra, comprised of developers McBride and Son and J.H. Berra, plans two subdivisions next to the new library.

The library is paying fair market value to McBride Berra for the property, library Executive Director Kristen Sorth said.

“We had an appraisal done on the prop-erty,” she said. “We wouldn’t purchase a piece of land in an amount that didn’t meet the appraisal, so we had an appraisal done — that’s all part of the inspection period.”

The location in unincorporated Affton, across from Grant’s Farm and near Cor Jesu Academy, will replace the current Tesson Ferry Branch at 9920 Lin Ferry Drive, two miles away in Green Park. It is the library’s oldest and busiest branch.

The county highway department might set a schedule for the road improvements it requires at Musick as early as this week, Public Information Manager David Wrone told the Call.

The construction project will most likely start when the weather warms up.

Since the three-way pact to fund the im-provements was agreed on, the Lindbergh Schools Board of Education has placed a $34 million bond issue on the April elec-tion ballot that, if passed, would fund con-struction of the district’s sixth elementary school on the site of the former Dressel School, on Musick Road near the new Tesson Ferry Branch.

Fenton branch zoning nixedAt the same time that library offi cials are

moving forward with the site for the new Tesson Ferry, they are postponing another new branch after that site also encountered zoning opposition from residents and offi -cials.

After the Fenton Board of Aldermen rejected a special-use permit for the new Meramec Valley Branch last month 5-2, the library has to fi nd a new location and library administrators are now proposing that the construction of that new library be postponed to the facilities master plan’s second phase.

Improvements to fi ve other library branches, including Cliff Cave in Oakville, could now be moved up to the construc-tion plan’s fi rst phase, said library Com-munications Manager Jennifer McBride.

Plans for moving up those improve-ments are tentative and have not yet been

approved by the library board, Sorth noted. “Like I said, we haven’t made any deci-

sions yet — but to get a new building built in Fenton and to start over is going to take some time,” she said. “We’re kind of re-evaluating what to do since that fell through.”

Just as Green Park Mayor Bob Reinagel did last fall, Fenton Alderman Chris Clauss and three other Fenton residents addressed the library Board of Trustees in December to request that the board choose a dif-ferent site for the new Meramec Valley Branch, citing some of the same concerns that Musick and Gravois neighbors had voiced about the new Tesson Ferry loca-tion, including traffi c congestion, fl ooding and increased pollution.

The proposed Fenton site, just down the street from the current one-room library in City Hall, is a residential area.

Unlike the Gravois and Musick library site, a traffi c study commissioned by the library found that the Fenton branch would not add much traffi c to its neighborhood, McBride said.

Although the majority of Fenton alder-men voted against the library, Sorth said the primary opposition came from neigh-bors living in a cul-de-sac near the pro-posed location, which fronted Highway 141.

“There were neighbors nearby that had concerns about the location of the branch, that it would be close to their home, and they just had concerns about the impact on them with that,” she said. “And there were a number of people at all of the meetings that spoke in favor of the library as well.”

From its facilities master plan with $108 million of improvements funded through a 6-cent tax-rate increase approved by voters in 2012, the library estimates it will spend $20 million on land and construction of the new Tesson Ferry Library. Preliminary renderings unveiled for the new branch show a modern white library with a glass wall facing Grant’s Farm.

When they fi rst saw the plans last fall, library board members raised questions about how much glass walls would cost to maintain.

The rejection of the library’s zoning in Fenton means that all three of the library’s new branches slated to be built in the fi rst phase of its facilities plan have faced some type of opposition: nonprofi t preservation-ist group Modern STL objects to the pro-posed demolition of the library’s historic Lewis & Clark Branch in Moline Acres, contending that the building is a unique showcase of St. Louis’s architectural his-tory that should be preserved.

The library plans to build the new branch near the current Lewis & Clark site on property they already own, then demolish the current building.

Lindbergh students participate in GeoBeesElementary students in Lindbergh’s Pro-

gram for Exceptionally Gifted Students recently competed against their class-mates in the fi rst round of the National Geography Bee.

Fifth-grader Ridhima Ginkala won and fi fth-grader Greg Goetz was runner-up, according to a news release.

At Truman Middle School, eighth-grader

Emma Deutschmann won the school-level Geography Bee, and runner up was sev-enth-grader Bridget Klohr.

As winners of their school-level com-petitions, Ridhima and Emma will now complete a written test to apply for com-petition at the state GeoBee, which will take place in Columbia later this year, the release stated.

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Missouri representatives want to give the State Board of Edu-cation authority to restrict where students from unaccred-ited districts can transfer. Rep-resentatives discussed the pro-posal by Rep. Rick Stream, R-St. Louis, but took no action last week. Read more by visit-ing www.callnewspapers.com.

Web exclusive

Read more on Page 7A about the Kiwanis Club of South County’s Terrific Kids of the Month.

By MIKE ANTHONYExecutive Editor

Chief Brian Hendricks outlined mission and vision statements for the Mehlville Fire Protection District during a Board of Directors meeting last week.

“... At the end of 2013, the administrative staff engaged in some continuing education, some leadership training, some team-build-ing exercises. We felt it important to draft a mission statement and

vision statement for the district ...,” Hendricks told the board at its March 5 meeting.

The mission statement reads: “Mehlville Fire Protection District is committed to ensure that the community will receive the high-est level of life and property protection through quick, profession-al and efficient responses dedicated to the best possible outcome.”

The vision statement reads: “Mehlville Fire Protection District is(See MISSION, Page 8A)

Three seek two-year seat on Lindbergh Board of Education

Hendricks outlines mission, vision statements for Mehlville fire district

Residents contendthey weren’t askedabout new location

Volume 17, Number 11 1 Section, 16 Pages Thursday, March 13, 2014 callnewspapers.com9977 Lin Ferry DriveSt. Louis, MO 63123


Three newcomers are vying in the Tues-day, April 8, election for a Lindbergh Board of Education seat that carries a two-year term.

Christopher Clegg, Daniel Sampson and Gary Ujka are seeking election to the school board seat vacated by Vic Lenz, who

resigned last summer after being appointed to the State Board of Education. The victor will serve until April 2016.

Former board member Mark Rudoff was appointed to the seat last summer, but said at that time he would not seek election.

Asked to identify the most important is-sue in the race, the candidates responded:

• “Maintaining and restoring local con-

trol of the education of our children. No one cares more about our children than we do,” Clegg said.

• “Prop G — Growth. This is a ‘hot’ topic specifically due to the bond (issue) needed to build and update our schools for children coming into our district,” Sampson said.

• “Enrollment growth and the support and(See LINDBERGH, A)


Tesson Ferry Branch Library patrons at-tending a meeting organized against the branch’s new location last week voiced concerns that they were not consulted on the new site, and said they would have rejected it outright if the library had asked what they thought.

“You’d have to be half-nuts to pick that property,” one library patron said during the meeting. “And these are the people in charge of the library?”

Under its official list of pros and cons for new sites, obtained by Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors Secretary Ed Ryan through a Missouri Open Meetings and Records Act request, library officials listed the pros of their cho-sen Gravois and Musick site: It is close to Grant’s Trail and soccer fields, no demoli-tion is required and owner McBride Berra

(See CONTEND, Page 5A)

Election 2014 ............. Page 3AOpinions ..................... Page 4ALibrary news ............... Page 5AArea news ................... Page 6ASchool news ............... Page 7AMFPD news ................ Page 8ASenior living ............... Page 9ACalendar...................... Page 10AClassifieds ................... Page 11ACrossword puzzle ....... Page 12A

Inside the Call

Parents in Mehlville preferhalf day in April over June 2By GLORIA LLOYDStaff Reporter

With the school year extending into June due to snow days, Mehlville School District Superintendent Eric Knost sent surveys to parents last week asking if they would prefer their children attend a half day of school on April 18, Good Friday, instead of June 2.

The currently scheduled half day of school on Monday, June 2, poses a problem because it is after high school graduations the previous weekend.

“Our attendance is going to be horren-dous (on June 2), because it’s after grad-uation,” Knost told the Call. “We defi-nitely won’t have a thousand seniors.”

(See PREFER, Page 6A)


Although the St. Louis County Library already bought land for the new Tesson Ferry Branch Library, local elected officials allege that sinkholes given as the reason for moving the branch do not exist, and they are enlisting residents to help fight the library’s move.

More than 100 Tesson Ferry Branch Library patrons packed the library’s auditorium on Lin Ferry Drive Friday afternoon to learn what they could do to protest its planned move to a new site across from Grant’s Farm in Affton.

Fliers that organizers passed out to promote the meeting dubbed the new $20 million, glass-walled library St. Louis County’s “Crystal Palace.”

“They haven’t even started construction, and they duped us out of our money by not even looking at this location, saying there were sinkholes that were not even here,” Green Park Ward 1 Alderman Carol Hamilton said. “It was fraudulent, and I feel like I’ve been ripped off.”

South county officials speaking at the meeting, including Hamil-ton, Green Park Mayor Bob Reinagel, Green Park Ward 1 Alder-man Tony Pousosa and Mehlville Fire Protection District Board

of Directors Secretary Ed Ryan, contend that the library based its $11 million a year Proposition L tax-rate increase, approved by voters in 2012, on inaccurate information.

While library officials say the current Tesson Ferry site is littered with sinkholes, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, told local officials that Tesson Ferry does not have a single sinkhole.

(See FIGHT, Page 4A)

Elected officials enlistresidents to fight moveof Tesson Ferry Library

Gloria Lloyd photo

Green Park Mayor Bob Reinagel and Ward 1 Alderman Carol Hamilton allege that sinkholes given as the reason for moving the Tesson Ferry Branch Library do not exist.

Call Publishing, Thursday, March 13, 2014 - A

9977 Lin Ferry Drive, St. Louis, MO 63123(314) 843-0102 • 843-0508 (fax)

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By Mike Anthony

With election approaching,learn about the candidates

With the April 8 election for muni-cipal and school board seats fast ap-proaching, we encourage readers to take the time to learn about the candi-dates seeking election or re-election.

As always, the Call will publish questionnaires profiling the candi-dates in contested races. In today’s issue, we feature three candidates — Christopher Clegg, Daniel Sampson and Gary Ujka — who are seeking a two-year seat on the Lindbergh Board of Education.

We also urge readers to attend for-ums so they can see the candidates firsthand. We know of three forums that are scheduled:

• Lindbergh Board of Education candidates will meet during a forum at 7 p.m. today — March 13, in the boardroom of the district’s Early Childhood Education center, 4814 S. Lindbergh Blvd. Besides the three candidates seeking a two-year seat, five candidates are seeking three three-year seats on the board.

The five are: Cori Akins, board Vice President Don Bee, board member Vicki Lorenz Englund, Al Faulstich and board President Kathleen Kienstra.

• In Crestwood, former Ward 3 Alder-man Gregg Roby is challenging Mayor Jeff Schlink. The two will meet during a candidate forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 20, at the Community Center, 9245 Whitecliff Park Lane. The forum, sponsored by the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Area Chamber of Commerce, will be moderated by the League of Women Voters.

• Five candidates who are seeking three seats on the Mehlville Board of Education will meet during a forum at 7 p.m. Monday, March 24, at the Nottelmann Auditorium on the Mehlville Senior High School cam-pus, 3200 Lemay Ferry Road.

The five are: board Treasurer Rich Franz, Randy L. Howard, Venki Palamand, Emma Jean Pretto and Samantha Stormer. Those at the forum can submit questions that evening or in advance by emailing them to Com-munications Director John Wolff at [email protected].

As we said, we urge voters to take the time to research the candidates who are seeking to represent them.

Voters also should consider who is supporting a candidate. If a candidate is being supported by failed former board members who didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to seek re-elec-tion, we believe that speaks volumes about that person’s candidacy.

Most importantly, however, vote on Tuesday, April 8, because as President Abraham Lincoln once said, “The bal-lot is stronger than the bullet.”

Letters policyThe Call welcomes letters to the editor.Typed letters of 200 words or less are given priority. Letters must

be marked “exclusively for the Call.”Visit www.callnewspapers.com/Site.Aboutus.html for our com-

plete letters policy.

Web exclusiveThe Call is updating its website on a daily

basis. Visit www.callnewspapers.com to read web-exclusive stories.

To track down your web-exclusive com-munity news, simply use your smartphone and scan the QR code to the right.

Executive Editor: Mike Anthony — [email protected]

• FightOfficial seeks Ryan’s removalfrom outside of library branch(Continued from Page 1A)

Many of the library patrons present said they voted for the tax-rate increase, but would change their minds if voting today.

Instead of Gravois and Musick, they want a new building at the current location, which they prefer because of its access to major roads, walking traffic, proximity to bus routes and Lindbergh High School and lack of traffic problems.

Reinagel emphasized that library cus-tomers who oppose the new location are not against the library itself.

“We’re for you, we’re for the library,” he said, recounting what he told library staff at Tesson Ferry. “We want to keep it here. We want to be positive, we love the library. Everybody in here wants to keep it. We’re not your enemies.”

Library calls police on organizerThe day before Friday’s meeting, Ryan

stood outside the library and passed out fliers advertising the event, alongside a woman gathering signatures for a peti-tion on an unrelated matter. Ryan said Assistant Branch Manager Gina Sheridan came out to ask him what he was doing, then said he violated part of the library’s code that states people cannot sell, solicit, panhandle or loiter on library property.

Although Ryan noted that the woman next to him was soliciting signatures for her own cause and that he was just pass-ing out information, Sheridan told Ryan to leave and then called the police, alleging he was violating the library’s code.

A county police officer responded to the library’s complaint, but left without mak-ing Ryan leave after agreeing that he was not violating any law or the library’s rules.

“I said I’m handing out literature, we have a meeting tomorrow,” Ryan said. “Here’s

a woman right next to me soliciting signa-tures for a petition drive, so how can you keep one person off and have someone else? He said, ‘OK, I hear what you’re saying.’”

Tesson Ferry Branch Manager Anne Arthur deferred all questions about the incident to library Communications Manager Jennifer McBride, who declined to comment.

Cost of new siteThe current effort against the new library

site is gaining traction based on new infor-mation from documents Ryan obtained through requests to the library under the Missouri Open Records Act, or Sunshine Law, after the library closed its $2.9 mil-lion purchase of the property from devel-oper McBride Berra Feb. 7. Since the doc-uments detail real-estate information, they were considered confidential until after the library closed on the property purchase.

In 2012, McBride Berra paid $6.25 mil-lion for 67 acres, in a foreclosure sale that included the library’s corner lot. Nearby Cor Jesu Academy also recently expanded its campus by purchasing 16 acres for $2.2 mil-lion from the Busch family, which also once owned the current McBride and library lots.

Neither of those purchases were included in the library’s real-estate appraisal, which was conducted after its Aug. 27 public hearing last year to rezone the McBride Berra property and obtained by Ryan after the closing.

“They show that they stumbled very badly in paying $2.9 million for this prop-erty,” Ryan said, citing his own experience locating public properties for the construc-tion of three new MFPD firehouses.

Residents at the meeting noted the profits McBride Berra is making from the new library, since with its 4.2-acre purchase, the library essentially paid for half of the entire 67 acres McBride Berra bought a year earlier. Ryan obtained another docu-ment that lists 25 sites the library consid-

ered for the new location, including their pros and cons. The current library site is not listed as an option.

Obtaining the documents from the library has not been an easy process, Ryan said, noting that he is on his fourth attempt trying to get information from his initial request to library Executive Director Kristen Sorth.

“Getting this information was like pull-ing teeth,” he noted. “I get a response from Mrs. Sorth saying that it’s confidential, and I write back, ‘It’s not confidential, what do your minutes show? I guess (the board) didn’t talk that night.’”

In a response to one of Ryan’s Sunshine Law requests last month, Sorth replied that the library did not have any documentation detailing its site requirements for the new library location, the names of the top 25 sites’ owners, the asking price for each of the 25 properties or any “identification why the Gravois/Musick site was chosen over each of the other five top locations.”

Sorth did not respond to requests for comment. McBride declined to answer direct questions from the Call, but instead issued a statement, noting that she would have no further comment.

“The existing branch on Lin Ferry is struc-turally, architecturally and operationally inadequate to meet the changing and grow-ing needs of the community,” the statement read. “The decision to replace this branch was discussed prior to the November 2012 ballot initiative ... County residents par-ticipated in strategic planning focus groups during the development of the facilities plan and many more went to the polls to approve the plan and the tax increase.

“The site for our new south county branch has been selected and the property has been purchased ... We look forward to engaging our patrons and county residents as we put the finishing touches on the de-sign and get construction underway.”

To the editor:In response to the letter to the editor published Feb. 27, I dis-

agree with the author’s opinion that Oakville incorporation is equivalent to an additional layer of government.

As a conservative, I believe that in most cases, less government is better. But if government is not responsive to its citizens, then it is necessary for citizens to make a change. Incorporation is not an additional layer of government. It is a replacement government.

Incorporation means the citizens of Oakville will have a more prominent role in determining our land use and zoning practices.

Incorporation means that local elected officials will determine how our streets are maintained.

Incorporation means that we will have more influence over how our tax dollars are spent and ensure these tax dollars stay in the community.

(See OAKVILLE, Page 6A)

Incorporation of Oakville would be ‘a replacement government’

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Read more on Page 2A about these Bierbaum Ele-mentary students honored by the Kiwanis Club.

Our town ..................... Page 2ANuptials ...................... Page 3AOpinions ..................... Page 6ALetters to the editor .... Page 7ACalendar...................... Page 8AObituaries ................... Page 9AHomes and gardens .... Page 13ASenior living ............... Page 15AClassifieds ................... Page 18AWelcome Call ............. Page 1B

Inside the Call


Although the candi-dates for Crestwood may-or have long disagreed on the city’s economic prospects, at a forum last week residents heard their stances on other key issues, including the city-county merger and whether the mayor’s job should be full-time or part-time.

Incumbent Mayor Jeff Schlink and his challenger in the April 8 election, former Ward 3 Alderman Gregg Roby, squared off in front of an audience of 150 people at the March 20 forum, which

(See FORUM, Page 12A)

Gregg Roby Jeff Schlink

Blades principal squeaky cleanStudents at Blades Elementary School recently col-

lected nearly $6,000 for the American Heart Association in their Jump Rope for Heart campaign. Principal Jeremy Booker, above, motivated the students by providing a squeaky-clean incentive program, allowing students who raised the most money to sponge, spray or dump water on him while he sat in a plastic swimming pool on the playground. Read more at www.callnewspapers.com.

Last of two partsBy MIKE ANTHONYExecutive Editor

Five candidates, including three incumbents, are vying for three three-year seats on the Lindbergh Board of Edu-cation in the Tuesday, April 8, election.

The five are: Cori Akins, board Vice President Don Bee, board member Vicki Lorenz Englund, Al Faulstich and board President Kathleen Kienstra.

This article will profile Faulstich and Kienstra. Akins, Bee and Englund have previously been featured.

Asked to identify the most important issue in the race, the candidates responded:

• “The educational welfare of all students,” Faulstich said.

• “Planning for and managing the growth in student enrollment over the next five years. With current district growth at a rate of 100 (to) 125 students per year, the up-

coming increase in enrollment must be addressed. Four of Lindbergh’s five elementary schools are operating above their designed capacity, and the fifth, Crestwood, is located in one of the fastest-growing areas,” Kienstra said.

“Today, there are enough elementary students to fill a sixth building. As enrollment continues to increase by ap-proximately 464 students between now and 2018, it will be necessary to add another 650-student building.”

(See LINDBERGH, Page 16A)

Crestwood mayoral forumdraws about 150 residents

Plans for new brancheswon’t be changed, saycounty library officials

Mehlville candidatesdiffer on No. 1 issuefacing school district

Five, including three incumbents, seeking three three-year seats on Lindbergh board

Volume 17, Number 13 2 Sections, 36 Pages Thursday, March 27, 2014 callnewspapers.com9977 Lin Ferry DriveSt. Louis, MO 63123


The five candidates seeking three seats on the Mehlville Board of Education in the Tuesday, April 8, election differ on the No. 1 issue facing the school district.

The five are current board Secretary Rich Franz, Randy L. Howard, Venki Pal-amand, Jean Pretto and Samantha Stormer.

Incumbent board President Mark Stoner and board member Elaine Powers, both elected in 2011, are not seeking re-election.

Asked to identify the most important is-sue in the race, the candidates responded:

• “The most important issue in this elec-tion is the need to continue to restore the school board’s focus on success for our kids in the classroom. The world outside of school is a highly competitive place. We have an obligation to prepare our students to compete and be successful,” Franz said.

• Howard did not identify the most im-portant issue in the race.

• “Lack of progress over the past year. Previously, from 2011 to early 2013, the district approved and began constructing its first-ever auditorium — now complete — built state-of-the-art tennis courts at Bernard, started and completed an inno-vative solar energy project, and most im-portantly, gave 5-year-olds ‘The Gift of Time’ by implementing tuition-free, full-day kindergarten. There has been nothing noteworthy over the past 12 months that

(See DIFFER, A)


St. Louis County Library officials are being pressured by citi-zens from throughout the county to change their plans to build new libraries, but say they will not change their plans in any way — and County Executive Charlie Dooley said he does not plan to intervene.

Residents from throughout the region converged on last week’s meeting of the Library Board of Trustees with pleas to the board to save the Lewis & Clark Branch in Moline Acres, which is scheduled for demolition, and the Tesson Ferry Library, slated to be moved to Gravois and Musick.

(See LIBRARY, Page 17A)

The county Planning Commis-sion recently voted unanimous-ly to approve changes to the way the Department of Planning notifies county residents about zoning issues. Read this web-exclusive story, along with daily updates on other news, by visit-ing the newspaper’s website at www.callnewspapers.com.

Web exclusive

Call Publishing, Thursday, March 27, 2014 - Page 17A

• LibraryBeckwith declines to discussdecisions made by trustees(Continued from Page 1A)

“I know you didn’t mean to make a bad decision on the Tesson Ferry Library, but you did,” Green Park Ward 1 Alderman Carol Hamilton told the board. “I’m ask-ing you, and I’m begging you. I know it’s on your shoulders to do something about it. We’re asking that you halt the project, make this right and let us do something at the current site so that they can all be happy in south county, and we can con-tinue to go to that library.”

“The Lewis & Clark Library, once lost, would not be replaceable,” said art histo-rian Mary Reid Brunstrom, echoing the sentiments of dozens of architects and historians attending the March 17 meeting.

Library Executive Director Kristen Sorth said she wants to emphasize how the new libraries, part of a $108 million project that is unprecedented in the history of the library, will benefi t library patrons.

“It’s a really exciting time, and I feel like it’s a really good story. Sometimes you get so focused on the diffi culties that you forget that we provide this amazing service for St. Louis County and that we want to continue providing it forever ... We want to help our residents,” she said. “I want the lasting legacy to be that we did something completely amazing for St. Louis County and that we continue to provide excellent, world-class service for them.”

Library offi cials are tentatively calling the new Tesson Ferry Library the “South County Regional Branch.” The library has also downgraded its earlier estimate of costs for the South County Branch, from $20 million to $16 million, including the $2.9 million land purchase and $1 million for the architect, Christner.

Library board meetingFor the past year, every citizen who has

made a public comment during library board meetings has been opposed to the new Tesson site.

Although roughly 16 speakers signed up at last week’s meeting at library head-quarters in Frontenac, board President Lynn Beckwith did not let them all speak, abruptly ending the meeting without hear-ing from some residents who had waited hours to speak and signed up as required.

As residents pleaded to keep their libraries, Beckwith at times appeared more concerned with holding speakers to the three-minute time limit than with listening, paying close attention to cutting speakers off at exactly three minutes — at one point, he peered around Treasurer Elena Garcia Kenyon at the timer as early as 30 seconds into a speaker’s three-minute comment. Another time, he cut off St. Simon’s Catholic Church Deacon Paul Stackle more than a minute too early, stopped by the protests of the crowd.

Besides north county residents Beckwith, who lives in Florissant, and Kenyon of Hazel-wood, most members of the library board live in west county: Vice President Edith Cunnane of Creve Coeur, a former County Council member, Secretary Chingling Tai of Creve Coeur, and the newest member, Stephen Sachs of Ladue, appointed in 2010.

In his comments to trustees, Stackle cited the lack of south county representation on

the library board as a problem.“If there was one member from south

county, we probably wouldn’t be in this pre-dicament right now,” he noted, adding that the hundreds of children who attend elemen-tary school at St. Simon’s regularly walk to the Tesson Ferry site and would not be able to go to the Musick site. “I think that’s an injustice to our children and the area.”

Cunnane, Tai, Kenyon and Sachs did not respond to requests for comment. Sachs was out of town and did not attend the March 17 meeting, and Cunnane attended by phone, as she has some previous meetings.

In an email, Beckwith declined to dis-cuss any of the board’s decisions, saying, “I am declining that opportunity because I believe it is the collective voice of St. Louis County Library Board of Trustees that counts concerning the Tesson Ferry and Lewis and Clark Branches and not that of my individual opinion as president.”

Dooley’s responseThe trustees are appointed by Dooley

without approval from the County Council, since library boards are exempt from the County Charter mandate that appointees be confi rmed by the council.

For his part, Dooley said he has not talk-ed to anyone on the library board and has no plans to step in and save the Lewis & Clark Branch or the Tesson Ferry Branch, adding that citizens were informed of the library’s plans before the passage of the Proposition L tax-rate increase in 2012.

“This is not breaking news. This is some-thing they’ve been talking about for over two years, and now there’s this issue about should they (change their minds),” he said. “The tax was passed on the idea that there would be new buildings at these two sites. That was said for the proposal. So I would think that the library trustees are going to go forward with the process.”

Sinkholes at Tesson Ferry siteWhen library offi cials provided informa-

tion to the public for Prop L, they cited the library’s master facilities plan, which called for a new Tesson Ferry Branch Library “on a new site” due to “multiple sinkholes.”

In a sinkhole study commissioned by the library in 2008, Midwest Testing Lab-oratories found no evidence of sinkhole damage to the library itself, but saw evi-dence on topographic maps from 1934 of a “former sinkhole” that had been success-fully remediated prior to library construc-tion. Midwest Testing also notes manholes on the site drain “into the throats” of sinkholes on surrounding roads Lin Ferry Drive and Lindbergh Boulevard, but not on the property itself. Those sinkholes are listed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which does not list any current or former sinkhole at Tesson Ferry.

At the time, Midwest Testing’s study said a new library could be built on the property as long as remediation of any potential problems was undertaken.

“Many reports were made to the board about this during this time — about both of these reports,” Sorth said, citing the sinkhole study and an earlier preliminary study that found visual evidence of sinkholes at the site.

Trustees accepted an architect’s recommen-dation not to build on the current site, and the recommendation carried over into two facilities plans to the current day, she added.

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Read more on Page 2A about the Kiwanis Club of South County’s Terrific Kids of the Month.

Election in Mehlvilleattracts most moneyof local board races

Sunset Hills work sessionfocuses on commuter lots

MFPD opens two bidsfor roof at No. 6 house

Volume 17, Number 15 1 Section, 20 Pages Thursday, April 10, 2014 callnewspapers.com9977 Lin Ferry DriveSt. Louis, MO 63123

Up, up and awayMehlville Senior High School students who are serving

as members of the high school’s Special Olympics steer-ing committee are pairing up with children who attend the John Cary Early Childhood Center to put on mini-Special Olympics events on Wednesdays. Pictured, from left, are Mehlville High junior Kayla Drew, early childhood center student Elijah Teal and Mehlville High junior Mackenzi Giorgi. Read more at www.callnewspapers.com.

Dooley pledges reviewof new library projects

For results of Tuesday’s elec-tion — which occurred after the newspaper went to press — visit www.callnewspapers.com. The Call will have election results for the Lindbergh and Mehlville Board of Education races, mu-nicipal races and Lindbergh Schools’ $34 million bond is-sue, Proposition G.

Web exclusive

Three candidates seek Democratic, GOP nods for county’s top post


The Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors opened two bids last week for replacement of the roof at the dis-trict’s No. 6 engine house, 6870 Telegraph Road.

Geissler Roofing Co. of Belleville, Ill., submitted a bid of $35,300, and Lakeside Roofing Co. of Collinsville, Ill., submitted a bid of $28,958.

The district’s request for proposals, or RFP, also included an alternate — installing

(See ROOF, Page 6A)


County Executive Charlie Dooley, who appoints the members of the St. Louis County Library Board of Trustees, last week promised groups opposed to new libraries in north and south county that he would look into how the library has gone about its construction projects.

“I will research it, I’ll look into it, I can’t tell you what the out-come’s going to be,” Dooley told representatives of Save Tesson Ferry Library and Modern STL. “I’m not saying what you’re say-ing is not legitimate. I’m just saying what people told me, what they said they voted for. I will say this: I will look into it. But I cannot promise you anything.”

Organizers of both groups are encouraging residents to send emails or letters to Dooley, urging him to intervene to stop the projects.

(See PLEDGES, Page 6A)


Sunset Hills officials are seeking an outside opinion on whether commuter lots that a developer wants to turn into commercial businesses were included as commercial property under the city’s comprehensive plan.

Sansone Group is under contract to purchase two commuter lots at the intersection of Kennerly and Weber Hill roads from the Missouri Department of Transportation, or MoDOT, in ex-change for $1.03 million and building MoDOT a new 9.5-acre lot at Rahning Road and Highway 30.

QuikTrip has submitted plans to the city to build a 5,773-square-foot convenience store with eight, single per island, dual-faced

(See COMMUTER, Page 19A)

Staff ReportDemocratic and Republican voters will each select their party’s

nomination for county executive in the Aug. 5 primary from a field of three candidates.

Three Democrats — incumbent Charlie Dooley, 6th District County Councilman Steve Stenger and Ronald Levy — are seek-ing their party’s nod for county executive.

Three Republicans — Green Park Ward 1 Alderman Tony

Pousosa, Ellisville District 1 City Councilman Matt Pirrello and Rep. Rick Stream of Kirkwood — are seeking their party’s nomi-nation for the county’s top post.

Libertarian Theo “Ted” Brown Sr. also filed for the county exec-utive’s post. Brown was a write-in candidate for Missouri gover-nor in 2008, ran for county executive as a Libertarian in 2006 and 2010 and was a write-in candidate for county executive in 2002.

(See NODS, Page 5A)


Campaign finance reports filed last week show the five-way race for the Mehl-ville Board of Education attracted the most money of any of the local races in Tuesday’s election, with the Lindbergh Schools Proposition G bond issue attract-ing the most overall contributions for its “Yes on Prop G” campaign.

Incumbent Mehlville board Secretary Rich Franz raised the most new money of any Mehlville school board candidate, followed by former board member Venki Palamand — who had the most cash raised overall from his previous campaign committee — and newcomers Samantha Stormer, Jean Pretto and Randy Howard.

The five were vying for three seats in Tuesday’s election, which occurred after the Call went to press. For election results, visit www.callnewspapers.com.

Many candidates for local office do not file reports with the Missouri Ethics Commis-sion since candidates only have to file finan-cial disclosure reports if their committees received more than $500 in contributions,

(See MONEY, Page 12A)

Our town ..................... Page 2AArea news ................... Page 3AOpinions ..................... Page 4ASports .......................... ANuptials ...................... Page 8ACalendar...................... Page 9AHomes and gardens .... Page 10ASenior living ............... Page 13AClassifieds ................... Page 14ACrossword puzzle ....... Page 15A

Inside the Call

A - Call Publishing, Thursday, April 10, 2014

• PledgesThose who supported Prop L‘got buffaloed,’ Hamilton says(Continued from Page 1A)

“After Prop L went through, the library’s attitude changed,” Ed Ryan, secretary of the Mehlville Fire Protection District, told the County Council April 1. “‘We got the money, we don’t need to listen.’”

The new libraries are being funded through an $11 million-a-year tax-rate increase, Proposition L, which will not sunset after the $108 million in countywide construc-tion projects and renovations are completed.

Library Executive Director Kristen Sorth said the library told voters that the Tesson Ferry Branch would be replaced on a new site before they voted for Prop L.

“So we’ve really been talking about it publicly in board meetings since 2008, and then before the tax campaign, we were defi nitely talking about replacing it on a different site,” Sorth said. “We never said during the campaign that we were going to build on that site. We always said we’ll replace it at another location.”

When Dooley told the groups against the new libraries that residents had voted for the tax-rate increase knowing what it was for, Ryan noted that the new campaign against the libraries was spurred by information about the land that he received through a Sunshine Law request that only had to be fi lled after the library closed on its new site at Gravois and Musick in February.

When citizens voted for Prop L in November 2012, they did not expect the new Tesson Ferry Branch to be moved to Gravois and Musick, Green Park Ward 1 Alderman Carol Hamilton told the coun-cil, adding that the largest advantage to locating the library at that intersection is the view of Grant’s Farm across the street.

“I can slowly drive down Gravois Road and steal a glance if I want to see a buffalo. I can ride the choo-choo train at Grant’s Farm if I want to see the buffalo,” she said. “I guess at the end of the day, you can say that everyone that voted for Proposition L got buffaloed.”

Among the Save Tesson Ferry group’s criticisms of the project is that the library overpaid for the $2.9 million tract of land it bought from developer McBride Berra, which is building two subdivisions next

to the library site and bought the property as part of a 65-acre tract for $6.5 million a year before selling to the library. Ryan, who is an engineer and helped buy and build on land for three MFPD fi rehouses, said he calculated the total costs of the dif-ferent sites the library was considering for the south county location and, when road improvements of an estimated $1.2 million are also included, the Gravois-Musick site is more expensive than the other sites.

The county Department of Highways and Traffi c’s current estimates project that improvements to Musick Road at the library and subdivision site could cost $1.2 million, with the county paying $700,000 and McBride Berra and the library split-ting the other $520,000, said Public Information Manager David Wrone.

The expenses will “likely increase slight-ly” due to right of way and utility reloca-tion, although it is not yet determined how the added costs would be split, he added.

Both before and after Prop L passed, library offi cials promised that public input would play a role in the library’s plans. So far in the library’s planned Phase I of the project, which included three new librar-ies being built at Tesson Ferry in Green Park, Lewis & Clark in Moline Acres and Meramec Valley in Fenton, all three of the libraries have faced opposition from residents and groups opposing the projects.

Then-Executive Director Charles Pace resigned for unexplained reasons last July, when then-Assistant Director for Admin-istration Sorth took over as interim and then permanent executive director.

“I can’t really speak to that,” Sorth said about pre-election promises that the public would be involved in selecting the site of the new Tesson Ferry Library. “I don’t really know what the plans were, what the thoughts were with that ... We started the process when Charles was still here to select the site, and he was still here through that selection. He’s not here anymore, so I can’t really speak to what he said then.”

The new Meramec Valley Branch is completely back to the drawing board after the Fenton Board of Aldermen rejected a special-use permit for it in January. The library has moved it back to a later phase of the project and moved up some of the planned system-wide renovations.

• RoofBoard to consider approvalof bid for new roof April 16(Continued from Page 1A)an “ice and water shield at all gutter edges prior to felt and shingles.”

Geissler’s price for the alternate was $400, while Lakeside’s price for the alter-nate was $610.

The specifi cations of the RFP call for

the roof replacement to be completed by May 1.

At the April 3 meeting, Chief Brian Hen-dricks said he and his staff will review the bids for compliance with the RFP’s speci-fi cations and make a recommendation to the board at its next meeting.

The board will meet at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, at the district’s headquarters, 11020 Mueller Road, Green Park.

• RecommendsSite plan for new restaurantmeets all city requirements(Continued from Page 3A)Surveying & Engineering to do a site plan, and it’s in your packet now. So it’s a more complete site plan that includes everything

that’s required by the city,” the city engi-neer added.

Sanders asked Baker, “So everything’s in compliance?”

Baker said, “Correct, according to the site plan. The site plan is in compliance with the city requirements.”

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A firefighter/paramedic recently was honored by the Kiwanis Club of Gravois. Read more on Page 3A.

Library news ............... Page 2AOur town ..................... Page 3AOpinions ..................... Page 4ACounty news ............... Page 6ACalendar...................... Page 7ASenior living ............... ACrestwood news ......... Page 10AClassifieds ................... Page 11ACrossword puzzle ....... Page 12AMFPD news ................ Page 15A

Inside the Call

Officials to fast-trackconstruction of newTesson Ferry Library

This rendering provided by the St. Louis County Library shows the cafe/atrium of the new $16 mil-lion Tesson Ferry Library that will be constructed at Gravois and Musick roads in Affton, across from Grant’s Farm. Construction of the new library could start as soon as Aug. 18.

Ex-alderman tells Sime he’s lost confidence in his ability to move Crestwood forward

Financial condition of MFPD remains strongBy MIKE ANTHONYExecutive Editor

The financial condition of the Mehlville Fire Protec-tion remains strong, with its net position increasing by nearly $1.1 million during fiscal 2013.

The Board of Directors recently voted unanimously to approve the fire district’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, audited by Hochschild, Bloom &

Co., for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2013.Robert Offerman of Hochschild, Bloom & Co.

told the board June 25 that the district received an “unqualified opinion” on its 2013 financial state-ments — the best possible opinion that can be given.

In addition, the fire district earned a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from

(See STRONG, Page 15A)

Panel given history lesson on Watson Road Corridor

Volume 17, Number 28 1 Section, 16 Pages Thursday, July 10, 2014 callnewspapers.com9977 Lin Ferry DriveSt. Louis, MO 63123

First of two partsBy MIKE ANTHONYExecutive Editor

A Crestwood panel received a history lesson last week about the rise and fall of the Watson Road

Corridor from a longtime planning consultant for the city.

John Brancaglione, vice president of Peckham Guyton Albers & Viets Inc., or PGAV, outlined the his-tory of the Watson Road Corridor

from the early 1980s to the pres-ent during a June 30 meeting of the city’s Economic Development Commission.

The panel, with recently appointed(See HISTORY, Page 10A)

A local commercial real es-tate company has purchased the former Johnny’s Market at Gravois and Sappington roads. K2 Commercial Group pur-chased the 2.5-acre site at 11555 Gravois Road that features the more than 20,000-square-foot store. Read more by visiting www.callnewspapers.com.

Web exclusive


St. Louis County Library officials are fast-tracking their time line for opening the new Tesson Ferry Library and hope to have the new $16 million building open and operating by fall 2015.

Under the library’s current construction time line, presented to the Library Board of Trustees in June, officials are sending the project out this week to construction companies for bids, after the architect completed final designs July 1.

The winning bidder could be approved at the board’s August meet-ing after bids close July 28, and construction could start as soon as Aug. 18, said Todd Hornburg, vice president of Fenton-based Landmark Contract Management. The company is managing the library’s $108 million facilities master plan, under which the library is replacing the Tesson Ferry, Meramec Valley and Lewis and Clark

(See LIBRARY, Page 2A)


A former longtime Crestwood alderman recently told City Administrator Mark Sime that he has lost confidence in Sime’s ability to move the city forward.

Former Ward 3 Alderman Jerry Miguel, who joined

other aldermen in voting 7-0 to hire Sime in January 2013, cited a series of decisions made by Sime that have caused Miguel to lose confidence in the city administrator.

During a period for public comment at the June 24 Board of Aldermen meeting, Miguel said he had been out of town for a couple of weeks and when he returned, he was

surprised to read a headline in the Call that stated, “Sime declines to explain his attempt to reclassify Crestwood clerk’s post.”

In that article, the Call reported that Sime declined to ex-plain why he attempted earlier this year to reclassify the

(See LOST, Page 4A)

Veto of diversity legislationwould be a first for DooleyBy GLORIA LLOYDStaff Reporter

In nearly 11 years as county executive, Charlie Dooley has never vetoed any legislation approved by the County Council — but there is a first time for everything.

Last week, Dooley promised to veto legislation the council adopted July 1 that mandates hiring goals for minorities and women in county contracts and overrides a similar executive order that Dooley, the first African-American county executive, issued June 18.

The measure was approved 5-1, with Chairwoman Hazel Erby, D-University City, opposed. Erby is the only African-American on

(See VETO, Page 6A)

A - Call Publishing, Thursday, July 10, 2014

• LibraryMcBride says fast-trackingunrelated to site opposition(Continued from Page 1A)libraries and renovating the 18 other librar-ies in the county library system.

“We would immediately start construc-tion, assuming we receive your approval,” Hornburg told the board.

That means Tesson Ferry Library opera-tions could switch to the new library at Gravois and Musick roads in Affton, across from Grant’s Farm, in little more than a year. The decision to fast-track the library has nothing to do with the protests of local offi cials and hundreds of resi-dents who oppose the new library location, library Communications Manager Jennifer McBride said.

“Obviously, we want it to be open as soon as possible — even though the cur-rent Tesson Ferry Branch is going to remain open (during construction), we don’t want there to be a big disruption of service,” she said. “Of course, this is subject to change, depending on how the construction moves along.”

Local offi cials who formed the Save Tesson Ferry Library Committee orga-nized an email campaign to County Exec-utive Charlie Dooley last spring in which hundreds of south county residents urged Dooley to either keep Tesson Ferry in the current building, which opened in 1958, or build a new library on the same site.

Although the library fi rst fi led for rezon-ing of the Gravois-Musick site last sum-mer, residents got a late start mounting an opposition to it, over what committee orga-nizer and Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors Secretary Ed Ryan contends is library offi cials’ lack of trans-parency about its decisions surrounding the move. Many documents were not available to the public until after the property pur-chase closed Feb. 7, but Ryan said it was still diffi cult to get documentation about the move from the current Tesson Ferry Branch, on Lin Ferry Drive in Green Park.

“They made it very diffi cult and very expensive (to get public records),” Ryan told the Call. “I never did receive votes on who voted to move the property, who voted to buy the property. They said it was in the minutes — I requested the minutes, but it wasn’t in there. It was like pulling teeth, very secretive.”

Although Green Park offi cials and hun-dreds of south county residents spoke out against the library’s move, the reaction from other local offi cials was more mixed.

Dooley, who appoints the fi ve-mem-ber library board that oversees the sepa-

rate taxing district, said voters made the decision to move the library when they approved the $108 million plan in 2012, but he promised to review the decision. Dooley spokeswoman Pat Washington said the review is fi nished, but the Call did not receive a copy before it went to press.

Sixth District Councilman Steve Stenger, D-Affton, said he takes no position on the library since the feedback he has received from residents is split down the middle on the issue.

In a letter to the Call, Rep. Mike Leara, R-Concord, wrote, “The recent ill-consid-ered decision to move the Tesson Ferry Branch County Library, which was based upon questionable logic, is neither in the best interest of the citizens who utilize the library’s many services or the commu-nity as a whole ... Taxpayers are ill-served when not given the opportunity to express their concerns about potentially expensive public projects.”

Although Dooley cited sinkholes found at the current library as a reason it must move, two studies conducted by the library found sinkholes only on adjoining prop-erty, including in the middle of South Lindbergh Boulevard — not at the library itself.

Despite that, at some point an architect made the recommendation to the Board of Trustees that it move the library to a new site, advice the board followed.

At the same time that Dooley promised to veto a construction diversity bill that sets goals of 20 percent minorities and 5 percent women for county construction contracts, Hornburg told the library board that construction manager S.M. Wilson has pledged construction of the new Tesson Ferry Library will be diverse, with goals of 15-percent minority and 5-percent women participation on the project. S.M. Wilson has a full-time diversity coordinator that it can use for the project.

An outreach meeting to minorities and women is slated for 10 a.m. Friday, July 11 at Library Headquarters in Frontenac to encourage them to bid on the Tesson Ferry project, Hornburg noted.

Executive Director Kristen Sorth told the board that library staffers have split the renovation projects into phases.

Renovations to the Cliff Cave Branch County Library in Oakville will happen during the second half of the fi rst phase of renovation, in fall 2015.

Library offi cials have declined to reveal their plans for the current Tesson Ferry Branch, but Sorth has previously said that the library has received interest from many potential buyers of the property.

Forum set for county executive candidatesThe League of Women Voters of St.

Louis will moderate a free public forum for candidates running in the August pri-mary election for St. Louis County execu-tive at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, at the St. Louis Community College’s Florissant Valley Student Center, 3400 Pershall Road.

The public will have the opportunity to learn more about the county executive can-didates by hearing them speak and answer questions in a public forum.

All candidates have been invited, accord-

ing to a news release.In ballot order, the candidates are: incum-

bent Charlie Dooley, D-Northwoods; 6th District County Councilman Steve Stenger, D-Affton; Democrat Ron Levy of Affton; Republican Tony Pousosa, a Ward 1 alderman in Green Park; Rep. Rick Stream, R-Kirkwood; Libertarian candidate Theo “Ted” Brown Sr. of north county; and Constitution Party candidate Joe Passanise of Creve Coeur.

The Greater North County Chamber of Commerce is co-sponsoring the event.

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