A St. Louis County grand jury on Wednesday indicted County Executive Sam Page on charges involving the use of public money to campaign against Proposition B ahead of the April election.
The measure would have allowed the St. Louis County Council to fire certain department heads with five of seven votes. Six of the council's seven members are generally combative with Page.
The county sent out a mailer in the weeks leading up to the election outlining consequences of the issue. The front of the mailer listed groups that opposed Proposition B and included wording from a court ruling ordering a change in the language appearing on the ballot. The "paid for" line said St. Louis County.
The county also printed flyers it distributed at various community events that contained the same information as the mailers.
State law forbids any elected official to spend public funds to campaign for or against a ballot measure. Page faces two misdemeanor election offenses and two counts of felony theft "by deceit" over the spending of county money.
Page has said the mailer was informational only and did not advocate a position.
Page did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. His attorney, Jeff Jensen, also did not immediately return a phone call. Page had told the county council on Tuesday that he had turned his phone over to investigators and said he would cooperate fully with law enforcement.
"I can't imagine that anyone has done anything wrong," he said. "I'll also be focused on the good work that we're doing for the county," he said.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Bailey said he ordered the investigation because "the people of St. Louis County deserve accountability, not corruption."
"The Missouri Constitution and our statutes are clear: public money must never be used for political campaigning," Bailey said. "Any intentional misuse of taxpayer dollars in an attempt to rig the outcome of an election is illegal."
The charges were first referred to the office of St. Louis County Prosecutor Melissa Price Smith. But due to a conflict of interest, likely that Page appointed Price Smith to the position, the case was transferred to the attorney general's office. Court records show that a special prosecutor had been at work since June 3.
Page spent more than $35,000 in county funds to produce and distribute 50,000 mailers to sway the election outcome, Bailey said. The amount of money pushed the theft charges to a felony.
Chuck Hatfield, an attorney who has handled high-profile governmental policy cases, said it's "very aggressive" to indict anyone over this type of activity.
"Sending out pieces that explain ballot measures is very common. School districts do it all the time when there are bond measures on the ballot. And there's always a discussion about how far can a flyer go in explaining what is at stake or what the effect of a vote might be," Hatfield said.
Hatfield said he's never heard of anyone being prosecuted with a crime for this type of situation.
He also said there is clearly a political factor to the case. Hatfield said that Bailey, who is a Republican, is interested in "doing things that make a splash" and that Page is a prominent Democrat official and is "himself a little bit controversial."
"I would be shocked if anybody else would be indicted for this exact same behavior," Hatfield said.
Council members react
First District Councilwoman Rita Days, D-Bel Nor, the county council's chair, said the indictment doesn't bode well for St. Louis County.
"It just does not seem that we can get our act together and get good leadership," Days said.
Days also said that while Bailey is "not shy of the limelight" and that Page's position as a Democrat likely was a factor, that doesn't negate what Page did.
"His name was on the flyer for God's sake, the name St. Louis County was on the flyer. We knew that the postage that was coming out of there was from the postage meter from St. Louis County," Days said. "You know, these are the kinds of things that a general layperson knew, and so we knew that just was not good for us."
On whether Page should resign, Days said, "I think that's the decision that he is going to have to make, which is in the best interest of the county, and also what is in the best interest of he and his family."
Third District Councilman Dennis Hancock, R-Fenton, said he made clear to Page that the printed materials were problematic.
"I don't want to be an 'I told you so,' but we did. And unfortunately, he didn't listen," Hancock said.
Though he did not call for Page to resign, Hancock said Page needed to think seriously about how an ongoing criminal trial would impact his ability to govern.
Sixth District Councilman Michael Archer, R-St. Louis County, agreed.
"It's going to be all-consuming for him," Archer said. "I don't think with him looking at felony charges and the potential for a jury trial that he could be an effective county executive. I think he's going to be hamstrung."
Fourth District Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, D-St. Louis County, called the indictment bad news for St. Louis County and initially demanded that Page resign.
"We cannot move ahead because of the behavior of leadership," she said.
Webb was much more measured in a later interview, saying that the decision to remain in office is Page's to make. But she was frustrated by the indictment, calling it one more barrier to getting the business of the county done.
"This county needs leadership, and we need leadership that puts the county first," Webb said.
Second District Councilwoman Gretchen Bangert, D-Florissant, said the indictment is disappointing.
"It's embarrassing for our entire region. We've got to get some honest, dedicated leadership in St. Louis County," Bangert said.
She said resigning is something Page should probably consider.
"I would think that if I was in that position, I would resign," Bangert said.
Fifth District Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-Maplewood, a Page ally, said the accusations against Page are serious, but the process needs to run its course.
"I don't know much about [it] and [I'm] not in a position to opine the merit of the allegations. That's what the courts and the process is for. But you know, I hate to see this kind of chaos happening," Clancy said.
Clancy also said it's "way premature" to call for Page to resign.
Bangert said the Page case reminds her of his predecessor's.
"The executive [Page] was one of the people at that time that really worked hard to have Steve Stenger removed for the things that took place. And now it looks like, here's another pattern of things taking place," Bangert said.
Webb added that her first reaction to the announcement was: "Not again, not something else."
Page was the 2nd District councilman and the body's chair when Stenger was indicted on federal corruption charges in 2019 and resigned from office. Page's colleagues picked him to serve until a 2020 special election, which he handily won. He then won a full term outright in 2022.
In both races, Page had to fight off stiff competition from within his own party, a situation that is likely to occur again in 2026 regardless of whether the criminal case has concluded.
Page is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 29.
This story has been updated with additional information and reaction from council members.
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