ST. LOUIS - County Council Chairman Sam Page was appointed County Executive during a special meeting Monday night. This happened less than 12 hours after Steve Stenger resigned after being indicted in a "pay to play" scheme.
Some residents are not happy with how the decision was made. They feel like there was a lack of public input.
During the special council meeting, a number of people walked out after the council voted 5-1 to replace Stenger with Page. They left frustrated that the public didn’t get a chance to comment.
The County Charter states that the council gets to pick Stenger’s replacement. It must be someone from the same political party but does not have to be a council member.
Page is a Democrat and the chair of the council so he seemed like a likely pick.
Yet, Councilwoman Hazel Erby has seniority and feels she should have been considered. Others were hoping that Mark Mantovani, the Democrat who ran against Stenger would have at least been talked about.
There is a regularly scheduled council meeting Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. in which they will take public comments.
