St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s chief of staff, Tim O’Connell, is leaving his position, the mayor’s office confirmed this afternoon. Krewson will hire City Assessor Steve Conway, previously alderman of the 8th Ward for almost three decades and Krewson’s longtime friend and ally.
The mayor’s spokesman Koran Addo said the transition will happen in the next few weeks.
O’Connell, who Krewson hired shortly after she was elected in April 2017, is leaving to go back to practicing law, Addo said.
“That is something he wanted to do,” Addo said. “The mayor is sad to see him go. No one was forced out. This is an amicable split.”
Before becoming Krewson’s chief of staff, O’Connell served as the legal counsel to the Board of Aldermen since November 2015, and he was previously an associate attorney for Bryan Cave. He was also on the legal team that fought for the release of George Allen, a wrongfully convicted man who served 30 years in prison.
On November 27, Krewson appointed Conway city assessor with a salary of $125,000. He had previously served as 8th Ward alderman for 27 years, and he chaired the aldermanic Ways and Means Committee. Krewson believes Conway is a “strong candidate” for the position, Addo said.
“He was a longtime alderman,” Addo said. “He understands how government works.”
While serving as alderman, Conway was the chief financial officer for Imo’s Pizza, a position he resigned from when he became city assessor. This experience taught him how to manage people, Addo said.
Conway said that the chief of staff position came to his attention a few weeks ago, but he just got the call that Krewson would, in fact, appoint him this morning.
“I’m just coming in to do some management and make sure everything is running the way it’s supposed to be running,” Conway told the American. “She has got some incredible, competent people. I’m impressed with the individuals that are there.”
Despite Krewson’s confidence in Conway, some progressive aldermen do not see Conway as a good fit for the mayor’s office.
“The appointment of Stephen Conway once again demonstrates a commitment on the part of Mayor Krewson to the same failed status quo policies of the last 30 years, rather than taking the opportunity to chart a new path toward a more fair and just St. Louis,” said 15th Ward Alderwoman Megan Ellyia Green.
Staffing decisions say a lot about your values. Appointing an opponent of raising the minimum wage and other progressive reforms as the mayor’s chief of staff says a lot about how this mayor plans to govern. It’s a disappointing betrayal of the progressive values that the mayor sometimes pretends to hold.”
As alderman, Conway voted against Board Bill 203, which added pregnancy and reproductive health decisions (such as birth control, in vitro fertilization, and abortion) to the list of protected classes from discrimination in employment and housing in the City of St. Louis. Conway was also on the aldermanic team that battled for taxpayer funds to underwrite St. Louis’ most recent bid to lure yet another NFL franchise to the city, helping vote the measure out of committee. He had been a proponent of tax incentives and sponsored Proposition P, the regressive sales-tax increase to pay police and firefighters.
When asked for the mayor’s response to Green’s sentiment, Addo said he would arrange an interview with the mayor next week.
In response to Green, Conway told the American, “I don’t have any policies or agendas personally. I’m not the person setting the policies for the city.”
Since becoming city assessor, he said that he has taken a break from commenting on social media or engaging in politics.
“I still have political thoughts in my mind, but that aspect has dropped out of my brain,” Conway said.
He has enjoyed his work in the assessor’s office, he said. They received 2,800 property assessment appeals this past year, and now they are down to six. They haven’t lost a case yet, he said. Some of the cases that are still in play involve large abandoned buildings downtown, including the 1.4 million square-foot AT&T building at 9th and Pine.
The owners believe the building is valued at $13 million, Conway said, but he’s defending the value of $80 million.
“That’s a lot of tax dollars,” he said.
O’Connell’s salary is $149,552. The position is listed at $151,814 in the upcoming budget that’s currently being reviewed, according to the city budget director. This would give Conway a bump in his wages, but he said he’s not doing it for the money.
“Lyda is a friend of mine,” he said. “I’ve known her for a long time at the Board of Aldermen. We were not on the same side on a lot of issues. She still gives me a hard time about it. I didn’t know that this was as a big deal to this many people. I’m just making sure the ship is running smoothly.”
