CLAYTON 鈥 A judge on Tuesday blocked the 最新杏吧原创 County Council鈥檚 effort to gain the power to fire department heads.
Circuit Judge Bruce F. Hilton on Tuesday morning ordered the elections board to remove the measure from the April ballot.
The language of Proposition B, Hilton wrote, is 鈥渕isleading, insufficient, inaccurate, argumentative, prejudicial and unfair.鈥
The order came just hours before the cutoff for the April 8 ballot.
Council Chair Rita Heard Days didn鈥檛 immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.
County Executive Sam Page, who appoints the department heads, on Tuesday called the ballot measure 鈥渁 ridiculous proposal.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 time to move forward and do the work of the people in 最新杏吧原创 County,鈥 he said in a statement.
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Days, a Democrat from Bel-Nor, first introduced the proposal in early January, and, two weeks later, the council approved putting it on the ballot.
Then, last week, six county department directors sued the council and the Board of Elections, asking a judge to order the elections board to block the proposition.
The directors claimed the ballot language is misleading because it fails to tell voters that the proposition would 鈥渞adically amend鈥 最新杏吧原创 County law. The proposition could also give the council the power to fire the chief of police, the suit said, an authority only the Board of Police Commissioners has.
An attorney for the council, Kimberley Mathis, argued in court filings that the lawsuit was without merit because the directors don鈥檛 have legal standing to have it removed from the ballot, and 鈥渁re simply opposed to it.鈥
鈥淧laintiffs dedicate a large portion of their petition to complaining about the content of the ballot proposal, alleging that it represents some sort of gigantic, unprecedented shift of power that they oppose. The proposal is not so earth-shattering,鈥 Mathis wrote in her argument. 鈥淧laintiffs have not alleged that the ballot proposal violates any statute, ordinance, or constitution or that it is illegal.鈥
鈥淭he county charter can be amended by ballot proposal adopted by the County Council,鈥 Mathis wrote.
The council, in a special meeting on Friday, promised not to conduct a wholesale firing of department directors if the measure went into effect. But Republican Councilman Mark Harder, of Ballwin, said department directors haven鈥檛 cooperated with the council in the past, sometimes withholding important information.
鈥淒epartment heads are supposed to be experts in running this government, not us. It is very important that we get the right information and when we don鈥檛, there has to be consequences,鈥 Harder said.
Mathis said the council had already appealed the case to the Missouri Court of Appeals.
最新杏吧原创 County Executive Sam Page takes reporters questions at a press conference on Jan. 9, 2025. He discusses a bill that would allow the county council to remove a county executive, as well as the recent decision on the state appointing a county prosecuting attorney. Video courtesy of 最新杏吧原创 County via Sam Page's Facebook page, edited by Jenna Jones.
