Hazel Erby, who has been a champion for racial equity on the St. Louis County Council for 15 years, is resigning from her council position to become the director of diversity, equity and inclusion under interim County Executive Sam Page.
She will take her newly-created position on Monday, May 13. Erby’s salary will be $121,000.
“Councilwoman Erby has led County government in pursuing equal opportunity for all of our residents,” Page said. “She and I have worked as a team for years, and I’m elated our partnership will continue.”
Erby, 73, has served on the County Council in the 1st District seat since 2004. She won re-election for the fourth time in November.
Her seat in the 1st District will remain vacant until a special election is held. The County Council has introduced legislation calling for it to take place on Tuesday, August 6. Once that bill is passed, the political party committees will have until 5 p.m. on the date midway between the date the election is called and August 6 to select a candidate, according to Eric Fey, Democratic director of the St. Louis County Election Board.
In her new position, Erby will be in charge of overseeing some of the initiatives that she championed as a councilwoman, including minority participation and the creation of a North County recreation center.
“You know she’s not going to back down from the fight, and that’s what we’ve been needing for a long time,” said Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis City NAACP.
“When you look at her experience with the County Council for 15 years, she knows where the wrongs are buried and where the inequities have occurred most often. Also, the employees of St. Louis County have just gotten the strongest advocate that I can think of in the county’s history.”
She will be overseeing the Office of Community Empowerment, which was established after the Ferguson unrest to help facilitate access to resources for county residents. She will also oversee diversity efforts on publicly funded construction projects, working with Jack Thomas Jr., who became the county’s first chief diversity officer in July 2018
On the council, Erby sponsored Board Bill 350 to establish goals for how many minority workers and businesses are employed on publicly funded projects and county contracts.
“We are all aware of some efforts to stymie the full extent and benefit that we were entitled under that bill,” Pruitt said. “She is going to be able to guide Jack Thomas, who is new to county government, and be able to bring the office of county executive directly involved in these areas of county government.”
“My new job will empower me to focus on issues that are vital to St. Louis County,” Erby said. “The fact that Sam and I worked so well together on the council during one of the county’s most challenging periods is bound to make this effort more effective.”
Erby voted against Page becoming interim county executive last week because she said that she was the council’s senior Democrat in line for the position. However, she said that her recent disagreements with council members when they elected Page would not carry over to her new role.
She said, “My husband reminded me that Hillary Clinton put aside her disagreements to serve successfully with President Barack Obama. I intend to do the same for County Executive Page.”
