A dispute over when St. Louis County’s Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) program expires has evolved into a bitter political fight, with County Executive Sam Page’s administration and members of the County Council offering sharply different interpretations of the law.
At the center of the dispute is whether the ordinance governing the program automatically ended it or whether the County Council must take formal legislative action before it can expire.
Page says the original M/WBE ordinance included a sunset provision that ended the program in May 2026. Because the program was created by ordinance, he says only the County Council can reestablish it through legislation.
Some council members disagree.
Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, D-4th District, said county officials previously gave the council a different timeline.
“We asked, ‘When was the renewal needed’ for the M/WBE program … we were told February of 2027, and now this date or goalpost has moved to say that it was the beginning of May or in May of 2026,” she said.
The disagreement centers on language in the ordinance stating the M/WBE program “will sunset in eight years from adoption of the program.” Because the County Council repealed and reenacted that section in 2022 — establishing the M/WBE program “by adoption of this section” — Webb and other supporters argue the eight-year clock may have restarted.
The county commissioned a disparity study completed in 2024. It found minority- and women-owned businesses received about 17% of county contract dollars despite representing roughly 40% of firms available to perform the work, and recommended continuing and refining the program.
Webb argues the study and the ordinance require additional review before the program can expire.
In a letter to Page, Webb — a self-described advocate of the M/WBE program — wrote that because of the repeal and reenactment of the 2022 ordinance, “there remains a legitimate question as to whether the sunset period should be measured from the original date or the 2022 reenactment.”
The dispute is the latest communication breakdown between the administration and some council members. Last month, a budget dispute over health care funding for the St. Louis County Jail and Juvenile Detention Center required the council to approve a $3 million emergency measure just days before funding expired.
The disagreement has since become increasingly personal.
Speaking with First Alert 4 on June 24, Webb accused the administration of trying to dismantle the program without being transparent.
“For the county executive and the Department of Administration to try through the cover of night to dismantle that program and not be forthcoming and open about it is disrespectful and despicable,” she said.
Page disputes that characterization.
In a letter to Webb, the county executive wrote that although he believes the M/WBE program has sunset under the ordinance, he remains committed to expanding opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses.
He said his administration will continue promoting opportunities for minority businesses “whenever possible and as permitted by law.”
Page also urged the council to work with his administration on “a long-term strategy” and find “common ground on a path forward.”
Page spokesman Doug Moore rejected claims that the administration eliminated the program.
“Any statements claiming the program has been eliminated by the county executive are patently false,” Moore said, adding that only the County Council can reestablish the program through legislation.
Moore also blamed Webb for the impasse, saying she has refused for two years to move Chapter 107, a rewrite of the county’s procurement code that includes language supporting the M/WBE program.
“She has held this up for two years because she did not like the people in the procurement office,” Moore said. “It is through her pettiness that we are where we are today.”
In a letter responding to Webb, Rodney Gee, director of the county’s Department of Administration, accused her of making “untrue assertions” and “spreading lies” that misled fellow council members, county officials and the county executive’s staff.
Webb did not respond to Moore’s or Gee’s criticisms.
Council Chair Rita Days also did not respond to the St. Louis American’s request for comment after Moore said Page repeatedly sought meetings with her over the issue but that she had been “a no-show for at least four months.”
The St. Louis County branch of the NAACP has urged county leaders to resolve the uncertainty.
In a memorandum to Days, NAACP President Adolphus M. Pruitt II wrote that the ordinance contemplated both an eight-year time limit and a required disparity study before the program sunsets. While acknowledging Page’s position that the program has expired, Pruitt said the council should determine whether the ordinance has expired, remains partially operative, or should be reenacted or amended.
“The core question is whether the Executive’s position fully reflects what the ordinance actually requires,” Pruitt wrote.
The NAACP recommended the council review the disparity study, clarify the ordinance’s legal status and publicly explain which portions of the M/WBE framework remain in effect.
For now, county officials, council members and community leaders remain divided over whether the ordinance automatically ended the county’s M/WBE program or whether further legislative action is required.