Dellwood Alderman James Lovings was impeached on four out of the five articles of impeachment by the Dellwood Board of Aldermen on March 25.
Lovings, who is running for mayor on April 2, was found guilty of engaging “in conduct that compromises the best interest of the city,” according to his articles of impeachment which The St. Louis American obtained through a Sunshine request. Though impeached as alderman, Lovings is still eligible to run for mayor on Tuesday.
Lovings was one of the four aldermen who refused to attend board meetings for more than five months, in protest to voting on a resolution to dissolve the Dellwood Police Department and contract with St. Louis County Police.
Lovings, an alderman of four and a half years, protested to save the Dellwood Police Department, even though investigations found that the Dellwood police officers were selling confiscated evidence, among other offenses.
In an interview with The American, Lovings said he plans to appeal the impeachment decision immediately after the 10 days it takes to legally process the board’s action. The appeal will go to an appellate court with three judges, he said.
“I am very confident I will win that appeal,” he said.
After the city voted to dissolve the Dellwood Police Department in November 2012, several white police officers filed lawsuits of discrimination against the city.
In December 2011, Lovings sent information via email to one of these police officer’s lawyers, Rick Barry, to strengthen his case against the city, according to copies of the emails that The American obtained through a Sunshine Law request.
After a four-hour meeting on Monday night, the aldermen voted, 5 to 2, to impeach Lovings. Lovings himself abstained. Aldermen Karen E. Bober and Ellis Fitzwalter Jr. voted against the impeachment. Mayor Loretta Johnson recommended that Lovings be found guilty of the first four articles.
The articles read:
“I. On or about Dec. 16, 2011, James Lovings sent an email communication to an attorney representing Sean Meyers, a former Dellwood Police who was actively pursuing a claim against the city, providing information that may assist said attorney in recovering relief against the City of Dellwood, Missouri; and
“II. On or about January 22, 2013, James Lovings made a false statement to the Mayor, Board of Aldermen, and the City Attorney, when he indicated that he had not assisted any individual in a lawsuit and or claim against the City of Dellwood; and
“III. On or about January 24, 2012, James Lovings made contact with Beckie Lewis, a former employee of the City, and encouraged her or supported her effort to file an EEOC complaint against the City; and
“IV. During James Lovings tenure of office, he has voluntarily assisted and or encouraged former employees in litigation against the City of Dellwood, using information he has gathered as a member of the Board of Aldermen, which is conduct unbecoming of an Alderman; and
“V. During James Lovings’ tenure of office, he has made attempts to project the City of Dellwood in a negative light using false information, to the media and general public, all to the detriment of the citizens of the City of Dellwood, Missouri.”
In the case of Sean Meyers, Lovings forwarded a witness statement from a resident to Meyers’ attorney. He wrote to the witness, “This will hopefully help in getting Officer Meyers back to work and/or his pay returned to him.”
Lovings told The American that he reached out to the City Attorney Donnell Smith and did not get a response. That’s why he sent the statement to Meyers’ attorney.
In regards to his involvement in Beckie Lewis’ case, he said, “I told her to go file an EEOC complaint. I’m being impeached for telling her information that’s clearly posted.”
Lovings was represented by Attorney Patrick Chassaing with the law firm Curtis, Heinz, Garrett & O’Keefe, P.C. One of the principals in the law firm is Kevin M. O’Keefe, who is the city attorney for nearby municipalities of City of Bellefontaine Neighbors and City of Cool Valley.
Lovings, a former U.S. Marine, was an auto worker for Ford Motor Company for 14 years and now operates a go-cart business.
Black fire chiefs support Lona Moore
An association of African-American fire chiefs is supporting Lona Moore in her campaign for board director at the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District. Moore and Tracy Porter are challenging incumbent board director Clarence Young in the April 2 general election.
Moore, a retired nurse, was previously a Northwoods alderwoman for 10 years and has lived in Northwoods for 35 years.
Prior to becoming a board director in October, Young was aggressively outspoken at times and has been a strong supporter of board director Bridget Quinlisk Dailey, the nemesis of former Fire Chief Angelia Elgin and former board director Rhea Willis. Young is quiet these days, and some suspect he’s been told to behave until after the election.
Slay tries to freeze North City funds
St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay voted against allocating $300,000 in development funds to a North City community education and wellness center March 21 at the St. Louis City Board of Estimate and Apportionment meeting.
The Ujamaa Cultural Arts, Education and Wellness Center is a 15,000-square-foot community center located in the core of the Mark Twain neighborhood at 5076 West Florissant Ave. Ward 1 Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe is a leader in the project.
Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed and Comptroller Darlene Green argued that the center’s progress should not be held up because young people need a place to “get off the streets” when school ends.
Reed and Green voted in favor of the allocation, and the funds were approved.
Reed questioned whether Slay wanted to hold back the funds because of the scathing September audit from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development stating that the city did not comply with federal stimulus requirements. The audit recommended that the city pay back more than $1.3 million in federal funds, Reed said.
“It has nothing to do with anything else,” Slay said.
Slay waited until after the primary election, where he was running for re-election, to recommend that the community center’s funds be pulled off the agenda, Reed said. Troupe did not support Slay in his race for mayor and about 77 percent of Ward 1 residents voted against Slay in the primary election.
“Now that the city has to pay back that money, I want to make sure we aren’t going to be holding up projects downstream as a way to pay that $1 million back,” Reed said.
Slay said he based his opposition on a March 20, 2013 letter that Jill Claybour, acting director of the Community Development Administration, sent to Eddie Roth, operations director, asking the members to take the approval of Ujamaa funds off the board agenda. However, Claybour was also the person who asked the board to place the allocation on the agenda.
“I didn’t give it the kind of thought that I should have,” Claybour said. “We came to a phase break that would allow us time to regroup and examine where we are. And certainly increase our oversight.”
The funds are not being reallocated to another project, she said.
Both Reed and Green said that allocating the funds to the center shouldn’t mean that the CDA could not increase oversight.
“I support your oversight, and this allocation is not a payout,” Green said. “It was troubling to see that it was withdrawn so quickly. The alderman and the community organization will provide to you the documentation before you go forward with spending those dollars.”
The funds for Ujamaa came from the North Side Initiative, an annual pot of money that’s allocated every year by the Aldermanic Black Caucus. The initiative’s funds come from the annual federal Community Development Block Grant funds. The aldermanic committee has already approved those funds for Ujamaa.
Claybour said she doesn’t have a sufficient operating budget and needs more concrete plans about how the organization plans to move forward. And if the center does not remain open for five years, the city would have to pay back federal funds allocated to the project.
Various trade unions, such as the Electrical Workers Union, Sheet Metal Workers, and Plumbers & Pipefitters volunteered labor and donated funds for the center. Reed said this may impact how the CDA is looking at the center’s planning process.
“It may look unorganized, but if you were involved in the daily operations and considered how the volunteers were lined up, you may see it differently,” Reed said. “It is an important project, and the center can’t move forward without those resources.”
