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Cool Valley Mayor Ousted After Impeachment Hearing | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

January 27, 2023

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click to enlarge THEO WELLING Jayson Stewart was the mayor of Cool Valley.

Jayson Stewart, 32, began his political career nearly three years ago vowing to bring jobs and better government to the financially ailing village of Cool Valley, a north county town of 1,200 people near Lambert International Airport.But after more than two years as mayor, Stewart’s abysmal track record became too much for the Cool Valley City Council. To all of it — the broken promises, erratic behavior, pie-in-the-sky schemes, city hall dysfunction, petty insults, penchant for going MIA and refusing to obey aldermen, the inexplicable failure to provide even the most basic city services — the council said enough.The council voted 3-1 Wednesday night to remove Stewart from office after finding him guilty on six charges of insubordination and malfeasance, including the refusal to return a city-owned car, to draft a 2022-23 city budget, and to turn over bank passwords and records necessary to track down $230,000 in badly needed federal COVID-relief funds.Defiant to the end, and adamant that his enemies not have the pleasure of seeing him brought low, Stewart emailed the council and city attorney five minutes before the impeachment hearing was set to begin, informing them he “was retiring from politics.” Since his email and its terminology did not adhere to state law governing how an elected official resigns, the council went ahead with Stewart’s impeachment hearing anyway.Stewart did not return calls seeking comment.Floyd Blackwell, one of Stewart’s main antagonists, took over as interim mayor by virtue of his role as aldermanic president. Blackwell could barely conceal his glee as he took repeated victory laps around Stewart’s political corpse.

At the end of the council meeting that followed the hearing, Blackwell told the audience that he and other council members had spent the past year “trying to right the ship. And yet there are so many leaks all over the place…I’m tired of playing games. I’m ready to move forward.”Stewart, a graduate of the prestigious John Burroughs School in Ladue, leaves behind a town in even worse shape than he found it, with the Missouri auditor’s office actively pursuing an investigation of the city’s finances after a whistleblower complaint and rumors of a federal investigation swirling around the missing COVID-relief funds.Paul Martin, the attorney the city hired to prosecute the impeachment case against Stewart, led witnesses through a 90-minute hearing that was a road map of Stewart’s malfeasance and dereliction of duty.“There were several missteps by the mayor,” Martin said during his summation. “He interfered with a business license when he had no authority to do that. He kept a city car for many, many months when the board clearly indicated they wanted the car returned…And he obviously hasn’t provided or attempted to provide financial information to the board so that the board could understand finances and get a budget passed on a timely basis.”Stewart, a self-described multimillionaire businessman, won the Cool Valley mayoral race in a landslide in April 2020 after campaigning on a platform of reform and bringing employers to the beleaguered town. Cool Valley lost its two main employers — a Schnucks supermarket and DRS, a defense contractor — in recent years, at a cost of hundreds of jobs.Instead, Stewart focused on things most city residents found irrelevant, such as a hydroponic garden that provides leafy greens to a few St. Louis restaurants, and a nebulous pledge to give every city resident $1,000 worth of bitcoin. The latter promise garnered lots of national attention and even led to an invitation to speak at Harvard University Law School, but so far has failed to result in anything tangible.Meanwhile, Stewart showed an utter indifference to the nuts-and-bolts of small town governance, turning even his staunchest partisans against him. Grass on city properties went uncut, trash uncollected, snow unplowed and giant potholes unfilled after years of neglect.Stewart, officially at least, does not become ex-mayor until February 22, when the council is set to vote on the hearing’s findings of fact.Stewart’s impeachment and ouster from office culminated a nearly year-long process that began with a concerted citizen campaign to remove him. Also leading the charge was Alderman Jermaine Matthew, who, along with his wife Melanie, relentlessly demanded accountability from Stewart, a master of double-speak and verbal evasion.Alderman Matthew looked visibly relieved over Stewart’s removal, but expressed none of Blackwell’s glee.“I just hate that we had to go through this in the first place,” Matthew said. Mike Fitzgerald can be reached at [email protected]Coming soon: Riverfront Times Daily newsletter. We’ll send you a handful of interesting St. Louis stories every morning. Subscribe now to not miss a thing.Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

11 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

11 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

11 months ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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