Taking Apart A Town

Despite Opposition, Bob Burns Named Executive to Disincorporate St. George

Four St. George residents came to the St. Louis County Council meeting Tuesday night to speak against Burns.

Despite intense opposition from four fellow St. George residents, Bob Burns was elected by the St. Louis County Council to oversee the disincorporation of St. George. In the public comment section of the county council meeting Tuesday night, one St. George resident after another stepped up to speak against Bob Burns being named the executive to oversee the disincorporation. Later, five council members voted for Burns, and two abstained, giving Burns the job of overseeing the disincorporation of the city. Brian Wilkerson spoke first. He said Burns had been involved in many of the disputes in the community over the years, and that Burns would open old wounds and create new ones. “Don’t let our citizen action be reduced to cronyism, political…

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St. George Write-Ins Fined for Missing Disclaimers

April's write-In candidates, including the mayor, were fined $100 for not including "paid for by" on some campaign materials.

It seems ironic given how things eventually turned out: St. George Mayor Carmen Wilkerson is being fined for activities during her April write-in campaign; but in just one short month she won't be mayor any more, and the city she worked to disincorporate will no longer exist. Nonetheless, the gears of beauracracy have ground their way to Wilkerson's chit. According to a South County Times article this week, the Missouri Ethics Committee has fined Wilkerson and the three other write-in candidates $100 each for not having "paid for by" on some of their early campaign materials. The slap-on-the-wrist violation applied to one mailing and 10 yard signs. Afterward, Wilkerson worked with the elections commission to resolve the issue, and the rest…

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Taking Apart A Town

St. George Disincorporation Passes

The city’s business will soon be St. Louis County’s knot to unravel.

Unofficial election results are now in: St. Louis County is about the have one less city. The ballot measure to disincorporate St. George has passed. The tiny, often scandal-fraught municipality will be dissolved as a legal entity and the neighborhood will become part of unincorporated Affton. The measure, placed on the ballot by a petition circulated earlier this year, won with 73 percent of the vote: 345 voted ‘yes’ and 128 voted ‘no.’ Only a 60 percent majority was required to pass. “We won it, baby,” said soon-to-be-former mayor Carmen Wilkerson, who lead the charge for disincorporation, beginning with a write-in campaign for mayor last spring. “I feel jubilant and totally intoxicated.” On a rainy election day with no other races on …

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Taking Apart A Town

Election Day: St. George Votes on Disincorporation

The disincorporation measure needs to get 60 percent of the vote to disband the municipality.

Less than a year after write-in candidates ousted the town's political establishment in a last minute campaign, Mayor Carmen Wilkerson and her allies are on the brink of potentially achieving their singular aim: disincorporating the tiny city of St. George. On an otherwise off-year, unexciting election day, St. George's approximately 1300 residents will get to vote on whether or not to continue to be a municipality, or join unincorporated St. Louis County. The measure, placed on the ballot by a petition signed by more than half the registered voters in the city, must get at least 60 percent of the vote to pass. "We’ve worked hard the last couple weeks to get out the vote," Wilkerson said, adding that she was nervous but pretty positive …

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Taking Apart A Town

St. George Weighs Taxes, Streets and Future at Disincorporation Town Hall

Officials also discussed the fate of the small city’s park.

With just weeks left before the disincorporation vote, St. George residents gathered at the Southridge Condominiums clubhouse Thursday night for the first of two town halls with city and county officials about the implications of dissolving their city. Taxes, services and the future of the tiny municipality’s roads and park were the main focus of the presentation by St. Louis County officials, headed by Comprehensive Planning Manager Lori Fiegel. Fiegel laid out a tax comparison between St. George and unincorporated St. Louis County. Post-disincorporation, residents would not have to pay city property taxes, but their utilities taxes would go up from 2 percent to 5 percent and expand to cover more utilities. The final difference would vary…

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Taking Apart A Town

It’s Official: St. George To Decide Fate in November

The St. Louis County Council voted to put disincorporation of the municipality on the November ballot.

St. George residents will get a chance this November to decide whether their city should continue to exist. The St. Louis County Council approved a ballot item on Tuesday that, if approved, would disincorporate the tiny municipality. St. George residents will vote on the issue Nov. 8. The unanimous decision by the council to put the issue up for a vote prompted a small cheer from St. George Mayor Carmen Wilkerson, who attended the meeting, along with several other supporters. In an interview, Wilkerson said she was very excited’ about the voters getting to “make a choice for themselves.” Those in support of disincorporation have spoken to citizens about the importance of registering to vote. “Now we get out the vote,” Wilkerson said. Asked…

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Taking Apart A Town

St. George Disincorporation Signatures Verified

The St. Louis County Council will now prepare an ordinance to put disincorporation on the ballot in November.

The St. George petition to disincorporate the tiny municipality was verified by the St. Louis County Board of Elections and a recommendation to put disincorporation on the ballot was presented Tuesday to the St. Louis County Council. The petition was verified with a total of 463 valid signatures, or about 60 percent of registered voters in the city of 1300. 93 percent of signatures on the petition were accepted. Now County Councilor Patricia Redington’s office will draft an ordinance putting the disincorporation measure on the November 8 ballot. The ordinance requires three readings at County Council meetings before it can be passed. County Council President Steve Stenger said that the “democratic process is in play and the residents of St…

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Taking Apart A Town

STL County Council Takes Another Step on St. George Petition

The signatures to put a disincorporation measure on the ballot will be verified by the Board of Elections.

At a meeting Tuesday the St. Louis County Council accepted the petition to put disincorporation of the tiny municipality of St. George on the ballot. St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said the signatures will be referred to the St. Louis County Board of Elections. He said that entity will certify the signatures so that the question can be posed to voters. “It’s up to the citizens,” Dooley said when asked if St. Louis County had any position on the move. “They know what they want.” St. George Mayor Carmen Wilkerson, an advocate of disincorporation who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said the goal is to get the question on the November ballot. She said she is pushing the issue because there isn’t a reason for the town to exist anymore. “…

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Taking Apart A Town

St. George Disincorporation Petition Submitted

Mayor Wilkerson hopes to put the disincorporation measure on November ballot.

Wednesday, disincorporation supporters in St. George submitted the petition to dissolve the tiny municipality on an upcoming ballot, Mayor Carmen Wilkerson said. The petition was submitted to St. Louis County with 504 signatures, Wilkerson said, or about 60 percent of registered voters. To be approved, the petition must be signed by half of all registered voters in St. George. This number has been a moving target in the last several months, as the city cleans the names of residents who have died or moved away from its voter registry and as petitioners register new voters. Wilkerson said the total number of registered voters remains fluid, but as of Wednesday stood at 829. Now the petition must be verified by the St. Louis County Board of …

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Taking Apart A Town

St. George Traffic Warrants Plague Drivers Years On

Mayor Wilkerson is looking at shutting down the municipality’s court.

Correction: Mayor Carmen Wilkerson originally told Patch that she believed the warrants had “expired” but had been “reactivated” by the previous administration. However, she said she now believes that they may have instead only renewed efforts to enforce these citations and collect on the fines. The old warrants may have shown up on background checks regardless of any actions by the previous administration. Applying for a job or joining the military is challenging enough. Imagine, however, turning in your paperwork only to discover you’ve been flagged by the background check: There is a warrant out for you, for a years-gone traffic ticket you barely remember. It may sound like an unlikely stressful dream, but for some drivers who were …

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