ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo.—County Executive Dr. Sam Page delivered his State of the County address in the Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Tuesday morning. With his department directors behind him, Page took time to recognize employees from each department, highlighting those who have gone above and beyond or successes of programs, projects and departments.
“It didn’t take long for me to realize the focus should be on our county employees and the work they do under the leadership of our department directors,” said Page. “That is why I asked my cabinet to join me on stage. They are who we are.”
He added the cabinet included both home-grown talent and expertise from across the county to make St. Louis County “opportunity central.”
Among those opportunities include classes for the residents at the Justice Center. Page mentioned those awaiting trial that can learn new skills and be valuable asset after incarceration with a high-school equivalency test, college classes, beauty school classes and certification on safe-food preparation.
He celebrated the upcoming St. Louis Zoo WildCare Park, noting a rare breed of zebra born at the park called “Roxie.”
Also, he spoke favorably on the recent opening of two police precincts in north and south St. Louis County, a precinct on the way in Maryland Heights and a regional police training facility being built.
Then the stage became a platform for a brief discussion on Prop B, which asks voters next month to decide if county council should have the power to remove department heads.
“B is bad. B is a power grab and B does nothing good for St. Louis County,” said Page. “The circuit court weighed in calling the ballot language ‘misleading insufficient inaccurate argumentative prejudicial and unfair.’ I agree.”
Spectrum News caught up with county councilman, Mark Harder, about Page’s comments on Prop B.
“I mean it was pretty obvious, the way this was put together this was an effort to persuade those that look at this event to not vote in favor of prop b,” said Harder.
Before all was said and done, the county unveiled their new St. Louis County flag.
Other topics discussed included the web-traffic for the county’s website approaching 10 million page views last year and the IT department for stopping 2.1 billion cyber threats.
A new legal services low-bono program could be in the works for people who do not qualify for pro-bono.
“The record of deeds office has been approached by legal services of eastern Missouri,” said Page. “To develop a low-bono program. This exciting development will allow us to expand these services to even more residents.”
Spirit of St. Louis saw technological improvements for safety, an airport that provides an economic impact of $400 million.
The Public Administration Department had five successful restorations with each case typically being complicated involving hundreds of hours by the public administration team.
“His team is commonly known as the guardian of last resort. Appointed by the court the office serves as a guardian and conservator for incapacitated and disabled county residents.”
A successful restoration is when the court declares an individual competent and regains their rights.
“These restorations are an example of what’s possible when people with disabilities are appropriately supported by their community,” said Page.
By the end of the State of the County, Page signed a bill into law to officially provide UMSL with unspent ARPA funds from the General Revenue for a multi-year effort to transform their campus and continue UMSL’s mission to be more deeply involved with the community.
