A crowded, warm room in the basement of the Sheraton Clayton Plaza Hotel was Steve Stenger’s first official stop on a campaign that will almost certainly become heated.
Stenger, a first-term St. Louis County Council member, announced that he's seeking to unseat County Executive Charlie Dooley by winning the Democratic nomination next August.
He said his goal is to save St. Louis County residents from “misguided, unaccountable government."
“People expect better, and they deserve better,” he said.
Backed by dozens of supporters, including fellow council member Mike O’Mara and county prosecutor Bob McCulloch, Stenger said residents seek a “county free of embarrassment and scandal.”
In introducing Stenger, McCulloch reminded the audience of a series of scandals and missteps that have plagued Dooley’s last year in office, including charges of cronyism in hiring and appointments.
There's an ongoing FBI investigation of a $3.5 million contract awarded to a company co-owned by Gregory Sansone, a former chair of the St. Louis County Police Board. Dooley is also dealing with the alleged theft of almost $3 million through fraud by a high-ranking health department official who committed suicide after improprieties were discovered.
“There is no oversight," McCulloch said. "That’s how business is done in the county. It’s a terrible situation, one we have to correct."
Stenger said he'd thought about running for county executive for months, but Dooley’s hostile reaction to McCulloch when the prosecutor suggested that he not seek re-election “was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Stenger also implied Dooley holds some responsibility for the continuing environmental problems at the smoldering underground fire at the Bridgeton landfill. “The current administration has been a bystander, not a leader,” he said.
While Dooley has embraced the idea of a city-county merger, Stenger said “we need to have more facts.” He did not rule out a merger altogether, though.
“I’m open to hearing results [of current studies on a future merger]," he said. "It’s premature to make an endorsement on a matter of such importance. I don’t want to theorize.”
With Stenger’s base in South County and Dooley’s in North County, the issue of race will likely come up in the campaign before the August 2014 primary. Stenger said he would “absolutely” campaign in all parts of the county and that he will have “a universal message that appeals to everyone in the county.” He also said he will have a “diverse cabinet... There will be diverse county government.”
Dooley spokesperson Patricia Washington later told Kevin Killeen of KMOX “any fair-minded person” would consider all that Dooley has accomplished during his years in office and not just recent negative events.
Commentary by Alvin Reid
