Legislation increasing the St. Louis county executive’s salary from $140,000 to $195,000 failed at the County Council’s Feb. 3 meeting.
As the bill failed, the county executive’s salary will remain as is; if it had passed, the salary increase would have gone into effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
The bill was introduced by District 6 Councilman Mike Archer (R-Oakville), who, at the meeting, moved to perfect it. District 1 Councilwoman Rita Heard Days, the council’s chairwoman, got ready to call for a vote when District 3 Councilman Dennis Hancock instead took the floor, commenting that he would be “abstaining on this and any subsequent votes on this particular bill,” as he has already announced his candidacy for the county executive seat. The election for the St. Louis county executive will be held on Nov. 3, following party primaries on Aug. 4. Current St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced on Dec. 18 that he will not seek reelection to his post in 2026.
“I took a look at the … pay for the county executive and for the assessor’s office and found that they were not commensurate in terms of numbers of employees, in terms of duties and responsibilities, in terms of other county executives across the country. That was the impetus for filing that legislation for the increase in pay,” Archer told The Call, emphasizing that the salary increase, per the Missouri Constitution, would have gone into effect after Page had left the seat. “It’s not a big secret that (Page) and I don’t see eye to eye on a lot of different issues, but by that same token, I’m looking at the office, I wasn’t looking at the person.”
As is typical at County Council meetings, a voice vote on the bill was held; unlike a typical voice vote, however, it was not directly clear if the bill had passed or not, as multiple voices were heard saying both “nay” and “aye.” Days, at first, was seemingly under the impression that it had indeed passed, prompting her to move the meeting along, though to ensure accuracy, District 7 Councilman Mark Harder inquired for a roll call vote on the bill, getting a second from District 5 Councilwoman Lisa Clancy.
The bill garnered three votes in favor — from Archer, Days and District 4 Councilwoman Shalonda Webb — and three votes opposed — from Clancy, Harder and District 2 Councilwoman Gretchen Bangert. Hancock abstained, leading the motion to fail, and the bill to die.
“It was disappointing, but I have to respect the vote of the council,” Archer said.
