FLORISSANT, Mo. — Five candidates vying to be the next executive of St. Louis County met at St. Louis Community College – Florissant Valley tonight to offer their vision for the region’s future.
Eyes have largely been on incumbent County Executive Charlie Dooley and his Democratic primary challenger, Steve Stenger. The two have been engaged in a bloody and expensive primary for months. Also present were Republican candidates, Tony Pousosa and former Rep. Rick Stream, and Constitution Party candidate, Joe Passanise.
The evening largely saw candidates trading barbs on their opponent’s shortcomings. Stenger and Dooley traded numerous shots over the handling of funds aimed at helping children, trash collectors, and the county health department embezzlement scandal.
Stenger spent the evening characterizing Dooley’s time as executive as plagued with mismanagement and scandal. Dooley looked to paint Stenger as a dishonest opportunist. The evening comes just hours after Dooley released a new television ad that is critical of Stenger’s handling of a human sex trafficking case during his time as a public defender.
Dooley painted a picture of a county thriving despite recent economic hardships.
“Make no mistake, experience does count and leadership does matter,” Dooley said. “True leadership sometimes gets it wrong, but always makes it right. In St. Louis County, we have an outstanding strategic plan.”
Stenger, on the other hand, said he expected voters to reject Dooley’s rosy outlook on the county.
“For 10 years, St. Louis County has been plagued by mismanagement, dishonesty, cronyism, and incompetence,” Stenger told The Missouri Times. “I’m not running on a 10-year record of mismanagement. I’m running as someone who has stood up to that, who has conducted himself honestly and who will be accountable to the taxpayers.”
Republican candidates Pousosa and Stream staked out positions in opposition to the perpetually-debated merger of St. Louis County and City. Pousosa is considered an underdog to Stream, who chaired the powerful Budget committee in the House for 8 years after a long stint on the Kirkwood School Board. Pousosa was deeply critical of not only Dooley, but of Stenger’s failure to correct some of Dooley’s supposed mismanagement during his time as a county councilmember.
“You’ve been a part of county government and you’ve had every opportunity to correct some of this mismanagement,” Pousosa said to Stenger.
Stream may have walked out of the hall the victor of the evening, despite having landed no zingers against any other candidates. Stream was the only member of the forum who made no direct criticisms of his opponents. The favorite in the Republican primary, Stream appeared content to sit back and allow Dooley and Stenger — one of whom will likely square off against him in November — to bloody each other with attacks.
“In the eight elections I’ve been in, I’ve never said anything negative about my opponents,” Stream said. “I run on my record and my values, and that’s what the voters respond to.”
Dooley and Stenger staffers indicated that more ads, almost certainly negative, would be released within the next few weeks leading up to the August 5 primary.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
