By Gloria Lloyd
Staff Reporter
news3@callnewspapers.com

The County Council voted unanimously last week to re-elect Chairman Sam Page, D-Creve Coeur, to lead the body for another year in a break with typical council protocol that the chairmanship rotates among the members of the majority party.
That has usually meant that the council’s Democrats all get a chance at chairing the county’s legislative body for a year at a time, with the next council member on tap serving as vice chair the year before.
This year, the rotating chairmanship would have belonged to 1st District Councilwoman Hazel Erby, D-University City, who last served as chair in 2014.
But Page was re-elected without discussion, and Erby was re-elected unanimously as vice chair.
“I’m honored to have the County Council elect the same leadership team going forward into 2018,” Page said after the meeting. “I think we have a good working group, and we are committed to responsible leadership. The council’s committed to good government.”
Surprisingly, one of Page’s biggest supporters this year has been 6th District Councilman Ernie Trakas, R-Oakville.
“I think that’s a reflection of solid leadership,” Trakas said of the vote to keep Page as chair. “Sam Page did a great job in 2017. He clearly was able to establish communication and ties across the aisle and put together a working majority that was focused on good governance. And so if something’s working, don’t fix it.”