Metro East politician accuses mayor of ‘locking out’ elected officials from meetings
By Deion Broxton
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — A Metro East trustee is accusing a mayor of preventing elected officials from holding meetings about village business.
Washington Park Trustee Ferris Williams told First Alert 4 he filed paperwork in St. Clair County accusing Mayor Leonard Moore of abusing his power and violating open meeting laws.
Williams said he and other trustees hadn’t had access to the Village Hall for committee meetings and special meetings. He added that trustees have been meeting at neighborhood churches.
“The mayor locked us out of the building,” Williams said. “It just doesn’t seem right when you have to go to a building in East St. Louis, and you was elected in Washington Park.”
Moore admits to not giving the trustees access for extra meetings.
Mayor Moore said the monthly Board of Trustees meeting is held on the third Tuesday of each month. The board has always met at the old senior citizen center inside Village Hall, but the space is currently being used by the police department.
The police, fire and public works departments lost their buildings in a fire in October 2021.
The mayor said any extra meetings would compromise police work and public safety because people will occupy the space, and officers must be present during these meetings.
“I have told those trustees from day one — I have no problem with working with you,” Mayor Moore said. “They wanna have the special meetings. Now we’re going into where we got to take the officers off the street and have them standing by. We have prisoners in and out.”
“We’re not doing that much arresting in Washington Park,” Williams said in response.
There is no timeline for when the village’s new police station will be built.
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