After they were informed that the St. Louis County charter prohibits members of the St. Louis County Reapportionment Commission — the bipartisan appointed body tasked with redistricting in the county — from holding other public office, two members of the Commission have agreed to step down. St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced their two replacements on Monday: John Kelly, a Republican from St. Ann (Dist. 2), and Karen Cloyd, a Democrat from Wildwood (Dist. 7).
“If this individual is allowed to stay on the commission, any decision this commission makes could be challenged in court because that decision would have been made in violation of the County Charter.” – St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell said.
For the weeks prior to this announcement, it was unclear whether one former commissioner was planning on resigning. Curtis Faulkner also served on the Board of Education of the Special School District of St. Louis County, which made his service on the redistricting commission in violation of the County Charter. When presented with this conflict, Faulkner declined to resign from the school board to continue his service on the redistricting commission.
County Prosecutor Wesley Bell sent out a statement calling for Faulkner to resign his position. “This commission does serious and necessary work and only has until December 2 to complete it, and Mr. Faulkner’s refusal to comply with the charter is preventing them from fulfilling their mandate,” he stated in a press release. He argued that Faulkner’s refusal to step down meant that any maps the commission made could be thrown out. “If this individual is allowed to stay on the commission, any decision this commission makes could be challenged in court because that decision would have been made in violation of the County Charter.”
Bell filed a Quo Warranto petition in court to expedite Faulkner’s removal from his position, which was granted by judge Thomas C. Albus on Nov. 1. Faulkner will be replaced on the commission by another Republican, in order to maintain its bipartisan structure.
The new council districts that the Reapportionment Commission determines will apply to the Nov. 2022 general elections.
