(St. Louis Public Radio) – St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger has resigned after being indicted on three federal charges related to county contracts given to campaign donors.
“I have determined after much thought that it is in the best interest of our County and my family that I resign as St. Louis County Executive effective immediately,” Stenger wrote in a letter to Peter Krane, the St. Louis County Counselor. “The past four years have been some of the most fulfilling of my professional career.”
The St. Louis County Council is likely to hold an emergency meeting tonight to select Stenger’s successor.
A federal grand jury on Thursday charged Stenger with honest services bribery and mail fraud. Stenger will be arraigned at 1 p.m. Monday. If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
“Stenger and various individuals and companies schemed to defraud and deprive the citizens of St. Louis County of their right to his honest and faithful services, and the honest and faithful services of the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership’s Chief Executive Officer, through bribery and the concealment of material information,” federal prosecutors wrote in a statement issued Monday.
“Specifically, the indictment alleges that Stenger, in exchange for campaign donations and several fundraising events, took official action to insure that John Rallo and his company, Cardinal Insurance, obtained insurance contracts through St. Louis County during 2015 and 2016,” the news release states. “Further, the indictment alleges that Stenger took official action to insure that John Rallo and his company, Cardinal Creative Consulting, obtained a 2016 consulting contract through the St. Louis County Port Authority.
“Additionally, Stenger took official action to insure that John Rallo and his company, Wellston Holdings, LLC, obtained options to purchase two properties in Wellston, Missouri which were held by the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of St. Louis County during 2016 and 2017,” the release continues. “The indictment also alleges that Stenger, in exchange for campaign donations and fundraising activities, took official action to insure that “Company One,” as set forth in the indictment, obtained a 2019 – 2021 state lobbying contract from the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. The indictment alleges that Stenger took steps to hide, conceal and cover up his illegal conduct and actions, including making false public statements.”
Stenger’s adversaries have long accused him of granting contracts to campaign donors. For instance: Mark Mantovani made the Northwest Plaza deal a major emphasis of his unsuccessful 2018 Democratic primary campaign. Stenger also came under fire for how he interacted with the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.
Stenger, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has long denied any wrongdoing with how he handled county contracts. Stenger said earlier this year that overlap in who donates to him and who secures contracts is inevitable with the high costs of running a county executive campaign.
Rallo, with Cardinal Creative Consulting, also did not respond to a request for comment.
Stenger’s adversaries have long accused him of granting contracts to campaign donors. For instance: Mark Mantovani made the Northwest Plaza deal a major emphasis of his unsuccessful 2018 Democratic primary campaign. Stenger also came under fire for how he interacted with the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.
Stenger, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has long denied any wrongdoing with how he handled county contracts. Stenger said earlier this year that overlap in who donates to him and who secures contracts is inevitable with the high costs of running a county executive campaign.
Succession plan
St. Louis County’s charter directs the county council pick a Democrat to fill out the rest of his term.
The council could effectively choose any Democrat they want — including sitting state lawmakers or non-elected official as Mantovani. But a more likely scenario is that a member of the council would be Stenger’s replacement.
One strong possibility is Page, a former state lawmaker who has been the council’s chairman for the past three years. If Page would want to take on the job, he would likely get strong support from the rest of the council — including the three GOP members.
But Page has indicated in the past he wasn’t interested in becoming county executive. The county charter mandates that he would have to give up his job as an anesthesiologist, which would mean he would have to take a substantial pay cut even if he’s only county executive through 2020.
Another possibility is Councilwoman Hazel Erby, a University City Democrat who is the council’s most senior member. After Stenger was elected, Erby was the only consistent Stenger critic on the council — meaning she had little influence to get her priorities to Stenger’s desk.
But Erby’s influence over policy increased dramatically after the 2016 election season. She got the council to approve a longstanding desire to deliver more contracts to women and minorities. And she recently secured county money to help overhaul the America’s Center Convention Complex in Downtown St. Louis.
If Erby, Gray or Councilwoman Lisa Clancy were selected as county executive, they would be the first woman to hold the post. The person picked for the job would serve until after a special election during 2020.
Local politicians react
Mark Harder, a Republican from Ballwin who represents the council’s 7th District, said he and his colleagues have a big decision to make.
“We’re all trying to understand our positions, understand the important task we have before us. And whoever we pick will be the county executive for the next year and a half — and could go on to an election situation,” Harder said.
Third Ward Councilman Tim Fitch, R-St. Louis County, said the announcement was not a surprise to him.
“That’s why I called for his resignation several weeks ago,” Fitch said. “I felt it going in that direction based on my experience with the criminal justice system.”
Fitch said he hoped Stenger’s resignation would allow the county to move past the “dysfunction” of the last four months and focus on its serious budget issues.
Fifth Ward Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-Maplewood, said she would wait to comment on the news until she had had a chance to read and digest the indictment. Erby called the news “sad,” and that she was reeling from the announcement.” Council members Rochelle Walton Grey, D-Black Jack and Ernie Trakas, R-St. Louis County, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, who had been a close political ally of Stenger, said on Twitter that he had made the right decision to step down, and that she would work with whoever was picked to be county executive.
“These are very serious charges. This clearly would’ve had a negative effect on the county executive’s ability to govern. That affects the whole region, she said.”
Full collapse
The indictment marks a startling collapse of political support for Stenger. When he narrowly won election to the county executive post in 2014, he had the support of six of the seven members of the St. Louis County Council — giving him free reign to institute his agenda.
But that stout majority began to crumble quickly, especially when the council’s two Republicans started voting against Stenger’s initiatives. Once Councilwoman Rochelle Walton Gray and Ernie Trakas were elected in 2016, Stenger no longer had a functioning majority of allies on the council.
Previous supporters, like Councilman Sam Page, turned against him after the 2016 election. Page, D-Creve Coeur, accused Stenger of being duplicitous and vindictive. Page ultimately became a leader of an opposition bloc of council members that bedeviled Stenger on a multitude of issues. After the 2018 election, every single member of the county council was considered a Stenger antagonist.
Despite the acrimony, Stenger was able to get reelected by narrowly edging out Mantovani last August. And he was primed to become the ‘metro mayor’ under a city-county merger plan, which would have given him substantial power over the direction and operation of a united St. Louis and St. Louis County.
But things quickly evaporated for Stenger after his administration got hit with an extensive federal subpoena. Although it denied a connection, the Better Together merger organization changed its petition to effectively remove Stenger as the first metro mayor. And Stenger basically went underground, barely talking to reporters as news of the subpoena descended on his administration.
Republished with permission of St. Louis Public Radio: https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/stenger-resigns-after-being-indicted-federal-pay-play-allegations
