Voters in the 2nd, 4th and 6th Districts of the St. Louis County Council will head to the polls next month to choose their party’s candidates for the general election.
The vote comes at a crucial time for the county. It’s struggling with a budget that has been out of balance for years, and reserves that have been used to close the gap are dwindling. Its aging headquarters building in Clayton will require major upgrades to comply with new fire codes. And the council and County Executive Sam Page are feuding over the distribution of federal COVID relief dollars to local nonprofits and the full implementation of a senior property tax freeze.
Nonetheless, 11 people have signed up for a chance to serve on the council. There are contested primaries in three races – Democrats in the 2nd and 4th Districts, Republicans in the 6th.
Here are the candidates seeking their party’s nominations in the Aug. 6 election.
2nd District
In the Democratic primary for the 2nd District, which covers parts of northwest and central St. Louis County, former Creve Coeur City Council member Nicole Greer is running against Gretchen Bangert, who is term-limited from the Missouri House of Representatives. This is an open seat – incumbent Kelli Dunaway chose not to seek reelection.
Nicole Greer
Greer works for AT&T and helped found WECAN, the West County Community Action Network. She chose to run for county council instead of reelection in Creve Coeur to give the district “someone who is going to engage with them, show up for them, listen, and respond.”
If elected, Greer said she will focus on public safety and the cleanup of radioactive waste from Coldwater Creek, though that is an area in which the council has little say. She said her background as a community organizer makes her the best person to address those needs.
“I made sure that elected officials were held accountable and trained and that they were transparent,” she said. “If I expected that of elected officials, I have been and will continue to be that type of elected official.”
Gretchen Bangert
Bangert, who is finishing up eight years as a state representative, said the county council was a logical place to continue serving her community.
“I’ve always had a great love for my community,” she said. “I want to see it grow and prosper, and at this point, everything I see in the paper it’s just like, we’re infighting. We’re not looking toward our future.”
Before being elected in 2016, she was the director of education programs for Junior Achievement of St. Louis. Earlier in her professional life, she worked for St. Louis County in a variety of roles, including as an assistant auditor.
“I understand how the county budget works,” she said. “I understand how extremely important the internal auditor’s office is. There should be audits done all the time. There hasn’t been very many done.”
Like Greer, Bangert said she will focus on public safety and Coldwater Creek if elected. She also promised to encourage the growth of the logistics industry.
County Executive Sam Page reportedly offered Bangert a job if she would drop out of the race – she has the endorsements of some of his rivals on the council. Greer posted on Facebook that Page had also asked her if she thought she could improve county government by working in a staff role, and that while she considered dropping out, she chose to remain in the race. Greer said she was never offered a specific job.
Bangert and Greer are running against a third Democratic candidate, Lequeshiah Young. She has not reported raising or spending any money – her website touts a focus on violent crime and economic development.
4th District
The Democratic primary for the 4th District, which covers the northern tip of St. Louis County, is essentially a rematch of the 2020 contest. Council Chairwoman Shalonda Webb is seeking a second term. To earn it, she’ll have to fend off a challenge from Rochelle Walton Gray. Webb beat Gray in 2020.
Shalonda Webb
Webb, who works at Boeing, said she’s seeking to remain in office at the request of her community.
“Those who are the people who came to me and said, ‘Councilwoman Webb, we're making some great strides,’” she said. “They want to continue to work with me.”
The district appreciates the work to secure funding to demolish Jamestown Mall, Webb said, plus her focus on derelict properties and her legislation to ban the open carrying of weapons without a permit.
Webb and Page have clashed frequently during her time on the council and as chair, but Webb said her background as a software engineer has taught her to work with whomever she needs to accomplish a single goal.
“We may not be best friends, but our objective is to put that F-18 in the sky. Do your part, I'm going to do my part, and we're going to get the aircraft in the sky,” she said.
Rochelle Walton Gray
Gray, a former state representative, served a single term before her loss to Webb in the August 2020 primary. She wants to return to the council to take care of unfinished business.
“I do a lot of community projects,” said Gray, who is currently handling government relations for A Red Circle, a north St. Louis County nonprofit that addresses food insecurity. “It’s a much smoother process when you're an elected official.”
A Red Circle is one of eight nonprofits that are waiting for a promised allocation of federal COVID relief funding. Page is withholding that money, saying the county needs it to balance its budget, and has suggested using money from the settlement over the departure of the Rams from St. Louis for the nonprofits instead.
Like Webb, Gray wants to focus on economic development, especially at the site of the now-demolished Jamestown Mall and around the new WildCare Park. She also understands the need to balance the county’s budget but would focus on new sources of revenue.
“We can’t keep cutting our budget in order to fix the deficit, because when we cut the budget, it’s the people who lose. It’s the voters, it’s the taxpayers.”
6th District
The 6th District, which covers south St. Louis County, is the only one with a contested Republican primary. Incumbent Ernie Trakas, who is seeking his third term, has a GOP opponent for the first time – attorney Michael Archer.
Ernie Trakas
Trakas said he filed for a third term because “there was still protection of the 6th District that needed to go on."
“I’m very conscientious of zoning changes,” he said. “What I'm looking for is positive commercial development. We don't need apartments, we don't need storage facilities.”
Trakas said it was important to have someone in the post who understands the importance of the role of the 6th District council member. The district has the largest percentage of unincorporated territory, making the county council the most local form of government, and the council person is the point of contact for issues ranging from trash collection to zoning.
Trakas has voted with Page and Democrats on the council and said he would not change that if he’s reelected. He said he was not surprised to face a Republican challenger, saying the “Republican machine” wanted a yes-man in the post.
“The job of every council member, although you'd never know it, looking at council meetings in the last year, is to govern,” he said. "That means trying to find common ground when you can find it.”
Michael Archer
Archer began considering a run for county council after talking to business owners in south St. Louis.
Developers, he said, found Trakas difficult to work with.
“A lot of their business projects were being thwarted,” he said. “They had already gone through planning and zoning, and he wasn't pushing those through. And a lot of those business projects were costing a lot of people a lot of money.”
Politicians aren’t supposed to be yes-men, Archer said, but constituents deserve a phone call or an explanation.
Archer has raised more than twice as much money as Trakas. While money doesn’t hurt in campaigns, he said, it’s the endorsements from organizations like the St. Louis County Police Officers Association that mean more to him.
“When people put their faith in me, I want to work harder and stronger,” he said. “I'm very proud of the police endorsement, because I have a lot of friends that are police officers.”
Whoever wins the primaries moves on to the Nov. 5 general election.
