North County electeds’ long-running feud is escalating

When a scuffle between two North County elected officials devolved into an alleged assault in September, it was just the latest in a long-running feud between St. Louis County Councilwoman Shalonda Webb and state Senator Angela Walton Mosley.

The physical fight, which occurred at the end of a Bellefontaine Neighbors town hall the last Thursday in September, included hair pulling and punches thrown. It has already led to a civil lawsuit as well as rumors of potential criminal charges—though against whom isn’t clear. The lawsuit was filed by both Mosley and her sister, former County Councilwoman Rochelle Walton Gray, who was at the town hall that night and was unseated by Webb in 2020. The overlap between Webb’s and Mosley’s districts is substantial, with both women representing Florissant, Spanish Lake, Black Jack, and other municipalities. Politically speaking, Webb and Mosley’s families have been likened to North County’s Hatfields and McCoys.

An amended petition filed by Mosley and her sister accuses Webb of assault and battery and certainly seems to buttress the feuding families analogy, as it details two years of the women trading physical and verbal barbs at town halls, at ceremonial ground breakings, and even at the polls on election day—at times invoking their relatives as they do. 

Mosley’s lawsuit, like pretty much every lawsuit, only tells one side of the story. It claims that in all their confrontations leading up to the one in August, Mosley “maintained the dignity of her office as a state senator” and didn’t engage in the hostility directed toward her by Webb. Webb did not respond to a text message or multiple phone calls asking to speak to her or her lawyer. (No attorney representing Webb had made an entrance in the case as of press time.) Webb has told the Post-Dispatch that Mosley and Gray instigated the scuffle, and that Mosley hit her in the face, knocking off her glasses. Webb subsequently filed a police report with Bellefontaine Neighbors police and asked the court for an order of protection from the sisters. 

The first of the scraps that Mosley details in her lawsuit took place at a January 2023 town hall that Mosley organized to discuss Missouri’s recent marijuana legalization. Mosley says that Webb was not an invited speaker, but at one point grabbed the microphone from Mosley’s hand and began addressing the crowd.

About four months later, Mosley says Webb went behind her back to work with state Senator Brian Williams (D-University City) to secure $6 million in redevelopment funds for the site of the Old Jamestown Mall, which Mosley paints as a breach of state legislative protocol because the mall was in Mosley’s district—not Williams’. Mosley’s lawsuit says she got the money removed from the budget (an odd admission from a lawmaker purportedly interested in helping her district). The suit says it was only added back in after Webb met with Mosley, a meeting that featured “a lot of hostility emanating from Webb and her husband,” the lobbyist Steve Webb, who had come along.

That September, the two women met again at an event at the Jamestown Mall site to kick off its state-funded demolition. Mosley says in her lawsuit that Webb physically blocked Mosley from taking the dais. She also alleges that, despite Webb not being one of the event’s organizers, she then allegedly got on the mic and started making “caustic and false remarks” about Mosley and her sister, Gray. 

Then, last August, both Webb and Mosley were working the polls on election day at Hazelwood Central High School. As Mosley went over to meet a voter, she says that Webb accosted her and bumped into her while repeating, “I don’t play these games. I don’t play these games.” Webb allegedly spent the rest of her time at the polls “barking commands” at Mosley in an effort to prevent her from speaking with voters. 

As Mosley’s lawsuit tells it, the scuffle at the Bellefontaine Neighbors town hall in September actually began when an attendee tried to facilitate a reconciliation between the two electeds. At the close of the town hall, as Webb was speaking to a woman named Precious Jones, Mosley passed by. Jones suggested that Mosley come speak to Webb so that the two might discuss their “political differences.” Mosley declined. Webb began shouting that Mosley was rude for not stopping to chat. Webb’s shouting grew louder, drawing the attention of Bellefontaine Neighbors Councilwoman Alease Dailes, who tried to redirect Webb. Webb accused Mosley and her family of “prosecuting” her son and husband. Gray, who had been drawn into the exchange, asked Webb if she was angry about something to do with Mosley and Gray’s father.

It’s unclear exactly what Webb was referring to in her alleged comments about Mosley prosecuting her family or what Gray meant by invoking her father. However, Webb’s husband, Steve, did serve 45 days in jail for stealing $3,000 worth of campaign funds a decade ago.

Regardless, at the mention of these family ties, what sounds like a melee ensued. The suit alleges that Webb then brandished an ink pen in Gray’s face and said, “Rochelle, I know that you are not that bold.” Webb then walked over to Mosley and “violently bumped her chest” against Mosley. 

According to the suit, Dailes pulled Webb away, but Webb broke free from her grasp, ran back up to Mosley and “angrily and violently poked” her. Mosley then pushed Webb away. Webb lunged at Mosley, who grabbed Webb’s hair. Gray inserted herself between her sister and Webb. Webb pulled Gray’s hair, causing her “excruciating” pain. At one point, Webb tried to strike Mosley with a closed fist, but the state senator dodged the punch and admits she again grabbed Webb’s hair. Webb punched Mosley in the head and scratched her. 

After the Thursday night scuffle, Webb went public first, giving an interview to the Post-Dispatch, which ran a story Monday quoting Webb accusing Mosley of assault. The first version of Mosley’s lawsuit came later that day, the more detailed court filings a few days later.  

A spokesman for St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith confirmed her office has recused itself from any criminal charges that might be filed over the incident. The reason for the recusal hasn’t been stated, but it’s not hard to imagine why Smith’s office wouldn’t want to touch a case in which a member of the County Council, which controls her office’s budget, is the defendant, victim, or both.

As if Mosley and Webb needed more fuel for their fiery regard of each other, Mosley is an ally of current St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, who got along well with Gray when the two were on the County Council together. Though he hasn’t officially announced, Page is widely expected to run for reelection next year. His toughest challenger in the primary is looking like it will be Williams, the state senator whom Webb originally worked with on the Jamestown Mall funding. 

Then, last week, both Webb and Mosley attended the groundbreaking for a new Animal Protective Association facility in the county. Webb called the police. “Normally you wouldn’t have a police presence at a groundbreaking for a dog shelter,” says a county government insider. 

At the event, Webb spoke first, then Mosley, and then again Webb, who wanted the last word. The insider refers to this as “Jamestown Mall 2.0.”

Says the insider, “That relationship is escalating.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated that state Senator Mosley wasn’t invited to last week’s groundbreaking of the APA shelter. We regret the error.